# Christopher Biden

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{{Short description|British sea captain}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = <!-- use common name/article title -->
| image              = Christopher Biden.jpg
| image_size         = 220
| landscape          = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank -->
| alt                = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption            = Christopher Biden (with dog Hector) by [George Chinnery](/source/George_Chinnery)
| birth_date         = 
| birth_place        = [Houghton](/source/Houghton%2C_Cambridgeshire), [Huntingdonshire](/source/Huntingdonshire), England
| baptised           = 13 May 1790
| death_date         = 25 February 1858 (aged 68)
| death_place        = [Madras](/source/Chennai), [India](/source/India)
| monuments          = [St George's Cathedral, Chennai](/source/St._George's_Cathedral%2C_Chennai)
| occupation         = Officer in the [East India Company](/source/East_India_Company) Mercantile Marine
| spouse             = Harriott Freeth
}}

'''Christopher Biden''' ({{circa|1789}}{{snd}}25 February 1858) was a British sea captain who worked for the [East India Company](/source/East_India_Company). He came from the village of [Houghton](/source/Houghton%2C_Cambridgeshire) in [Huntingdonshire](/source/Huntingdonshire). Retiring after more than twenty years at sea, he wrote a book about naval discipline, made two voyages in his own ship to India, and then settled in Madras as a civil servant of the East India Company.

==Early life and family==
[[File:cmglee Houghton Mill.jpg|thumb|right|John Biden held the lease of [Houghton Mill](/source/Houghton_Mill), a watermill on the [Great Ouse](/source/Great_Ouse) in [Huntingdonshire](/source/Huntingdonshire). It is now a [National Trust](/source/National_Trust) property and a [Grade II* listed building](/source/Grade_II*_listed_building).<ref name="nhle">{{National Heritage List for England|num=1128403|desc=Houghton Mill|access-date=1 December 2021|grade=II*}}</ref>]]

Biden was born in [Houghton](/source/Houghton%2C_Cambridgeshire), [Huntingdonshire](/source/Huntingdonshire), England.<ref name=Medium>{{cite web |title=Biden's Biden Roots: Westbourne or Huntingdon, England or maybe Nagpur, India? |author=Megan Smolenyak |url=https://smolenyak.medium.com/bidens-biden-roots-westbourne-or-huntingdon-england-or-maybe-nagpur-india-7ed1d67a6dfe|publisher=[Medium](/source/Medium_(website))|date=18 November 2020}}</ref> Biden's father, John Biden, leased [Houghton Mill](/source/Houghton_Mill).<ref name=Hunts>{{cite news |title=Here's the historical evidence of a possible link between Joe Biden and the tiny English village of Houghton |author=Julian Makey |url=https://www.huntspost.co.uk/news/could-quintessential-english-village-have-links-to-joe-biden-6619490|work=The Hunts Post|date=9 November 2020}}</ref> Biden and his younger brother William Henry Biden went to sea at a young age, their father having died in 1797 and was buried in St Mary’s Church, Houghton. An older brother, Henry Lloyd, went to [Cambridge University](/source/Cambridge_University) and became a clergyman.<ref>{{Acad|name=Henry Lloyd Biden|id=BDN808HL}}</ref> In 1818 Biden married Harriott Freeth in [Great Wilne](/source/Great_Wilne), a village in [Derbyshire](/source/Derbyshire) close to the town of [Sandiacre](/source/Sandiacre) where his brother was curate.{{fact|date=March 2023}}

==Career==

Between 1807 and 1818 Biden completed seven return voyages to India as a mate on the [East Indiaman](/source/East_Indiaman) [''Royal George''](/source/Royal_George_(East_Indiaman)). By 1821 he was captain of the East Indiaman [''Princess Charlotte of Wales''](/source/Princess_Charlotte_of_Wales_(ship)). Between 1821 and 1830 he completed four voyages to India as captain of the ''Princess Charlotte'' and one voyage to China as captain of the new ''Royal George''.<ref name=Gateway>{{cite web |title=Biden's ancestral Chennai connect |author=Tim Willasey-Wilsey |url=https://www.gatewayhouse.in/joe-biden-chennai/ |publisher=Gateway House |date=31 August 2020 }}</ref> Biden then spent two years in [Blackheath](/source/Blackheath%2C_London) with his family, publishing a book on naval discipline in 1830.<ref name=Gateway/> In 1832 and 1834 he sailed his own ship on voyages to India. On the second voyage he named [Nelsons Island](/source/Nelsons_Island) in the [Chagos Archipelago](/source/Chagos_Archipelago).<ref name=Gateway/>

In 1839 Biden returned to India to take up the position of Master Attendant and Marine Storekeeper at [Madras](/source/Madras) (now Chennai). Whilst at Madras he worked on improving safety for shipping in coastal waters and was involved in charitable activities.<ref name=Gateway/> He founded the Biden Home for Destitute Seamen at [Royapuram](/source/Royapuram).<ref name=Times>{{cite web |title=Joe Biden's roots are in the British Empire |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/joe-bidens-roots-are-in-the-british-empire-dpfgpmrch |author=Ben MacIntyre |work=[The Times](/source/The_Times) |date=15 January 2021}}</ref>

==Death==
[[File:Christopher Biden, St. George's Cathedral.jpg|thumb|Grave in  [St George's Cathedral, Chennai](/source/St._George's_Cathedral%2C_Chennai)]]
Biden died at Madras in February 1858 at the age of 68 and was commemorated by a plaque in [St George's Cathedral](/source/St._George's_Cathedral%2C_Chennai).<ref name=Gateway/> His widow died in London in 1880. He was also survived by two sons and a daughter, another daughter having died on the voyage out to India in 1839.<ref name=Gateway/>

==Legacy==

One of Biden's sons, Horatio Biden, joined the [Madras Army](/source/Madras_Army) and is said to have descendants living in India. In 2020 there was speculation in the media that the Bidens of India might be related to [Joe Biden](/source/Joe_Biden), later [president of the United States](/source/president_of_the_United_States). It was suggested that Joe Biden's immigrant ancestor William Biden, who died in [Baltimore](/source/Baltimore) in 1849, was Christopher Biden's brother William Henry Biden. However, William Henry Biden is recorded as having died at [Rangoon](/source/Rangoon) (Yangon) in 1843, so is not the William Biden of Baltimore and any common ancestor of Joe Biden and the Bidens of India would have to be further back than John Biden of Houghton.<ref name=Gateway/>

Harriott Biden kept a [common-place book](/source/common-place_book) with newspaper cuttings, letters, etc., relating to her husband's work in Madras. The book is preserved on microfilm at the [Centre of South Asian Studies](/source/Department_of_Politics_and_International_Studies%2C_University_of_Cambridge) at Cambridge University.<ref>{{cite web |title=Biden papers |url=https://www.s-asian.cam.ac.uk/archive/papers/item/biden-papers/ |access-date=27 January 2021}}</ref>

==Selected publications==
*''Naval Discipline: Subordination Contrasted with Insubordination''

==See also==
* [Monegar Choultry](/source/Monegar_Choultry)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biden, Christopher}}
Category:1858 deaths
Category:British East India Company civil servants
Category:British people in British India
Category:English philanthropists
Category:People from Huntingdonshire
Category:Year of birth uncertain
Christopher
Category:British sea captains

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Christopher Biden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Biden) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Biden?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.