Lt Col Michael Symes

Portraits: Member of the chief council and his wife in ceremonial dress.

 Michael Symes entered the Bengal Army of the East India Company at the age of 19 in 1780. He served in various roles until he was sent to Burma by the Governor-General of India, Sir John Soare, in 1795 to obtain assurances regarding British interests from the Emperor of Ava, Bodawpaya of the Koubaung Dynasty. Symes regarded his embassy as a success, giving a favourable impression of the British position only to be discounted by the Burmese who rebuffed the first British ambassador to be sent to Burma under the terms of Symes’s agreements, Capt Hiram Cox.

In 1800 Symes published the account of his travels An Account of an Embassy to the Kingdom of Ava sent by the Governor-General of India in 1795, the first detailed work available of the country with seventeen superb illustrations by the company trained Bengali artist Singey Bey and eight botanical plates by the botanist Dr Francis Buchanan-Hamilton. Bey was one of the numerous artists employed and trained by the East India Company to provide accurate visual records of their missions. Bey’s realistic depictions, a vast departure from the traditional static Burmese drawings, drew the attention of the Emperor who requested a portrait of the Buddha and one of Elephants. Bey’s illustrations provide an intimate portrait of life within a country that was shrouded in mystery to even experienced explorers. Symes was promoted to Lt Colonel and made a fellow of the Royal Society.

In 1802 he returned to Burma, to push once more for British interests but with little success and in 1806 returned to England to take up a position in parliament. Two year later he was serving again with the army in Spain and was wounded during Sir John’s Moore retreat at Coruna in 1809. Symes died from his wounds en route to England.