Charles Etty was born in York, England, in 1793. At the age of fourteen, he was working on the East India Company’s ships. He then became a Free Mariner, under an Indenture with ‘The Company’, and was based in Fort William, Calcutta, while sailing in the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea and Java Sea. He married a widow of mixed heritage and finally settled on the island of Java where he built the Wonolangan Sugar Mill and owned two others.  At our Online Talk #ViaIndia, his great-great-great-granddaughter Sarah Worboys tells us the story of his life and times, through nineteen letters written by him.

About the speaker

Sarah Worboys studied Italian language, literature, history and art at the University for Foreign Students in Perugia, Italy. She has worked as a make-up artist at the BBC in London, an air stewardess with British Airways and a secretary. She has also researched and written a book on her great-great-great-grandfather Charles Etty, ‘Letters of The Unknown Etty 1793 – 1856.’