Sir Alexander Cuming
(1691 – 1775)
Did
you know there is an Indian chief buried at St Mary the virgin?
Sir
Alexander Cuming: ‘Chief of the Cherokees’ was born in Edinburgh in 1691, of
Scottish nobility. When he was 12 he attained a Captain’s commission from Queen
Anne and he led a company during the Jacobite uprising in 1715. He had also
became a lawyer and declined the Governorship of Bermuda in 1722.
In
1729 he became a member of the Royal Society of London and had been granted
the King’s leave of absence to travel. America was his choice to
visit and in March 1730 he made the dangerous journey to the Cherokee
mountains (now in South Carolina and Virginia) as a self-styled diplomat
on behalf of his country although he had no authority
from the King or the government.
But Sir Alexander was an independent man and his dream was to visit the
people of the Cherokee people.
He must have impressed them as by the 3d of April 1730, in a general meeting
of chiefs, he was crowned commander and chief ruler of the Cherokees and
was presented with the scalps of their enemies.
He then set off for Charlestown arriving on April 13, with seven Indian
chiefs that he was taking to London and on 5th June they arrived at Dover.
A few days later Cuming presented the Indians to George II at Windsor.
Among them was Oukou-naka, who was later to be known as Attacullakulla
(the Little Carpenter) one of the greatest Cherokee Chiefs who ever lived.
On
their way to London
Presented to King George II
Cuming
saw little of the Indians during their stay where they went to the theatre,
dined with bishops, were amazed at the crown jewels in the Tower of London
and received an audience with the royal family.
The population of the Cherokees was estimated to be around 60,000 and
an alliance with the French was close to being forged but Cumings stopped
that and on June 22nd 1730 a treaty was signed between the English and
the Cherokee Nation (even though no such ‘nation’ actually
existed!)
Shortly
after that Sir Alexander Cuming was thrown in jail for debt and was unable
to accompany the Cherokee delegation on their return trip to America.
The
Indians loved Cuming, and were much impressed by his imprisonment. They
regarded the white men as exceedingly foolish to place a man in jail for
debt, thus making it impossible for him to pay!
Little is known of Sir Alexander’s later life although it is known
he returned to the army.
He died aged 84 and was buried in East Barnet churchyard on 28th August,
1775 but there is no sign of his grave which has been either damaged or,
through time, the inscription has eroded.
The name of Sir Alexander Cuming may not mean anything to the people of
Barnet but to the Cherokee he was an important part of their history.
If you want to know more about the Cherokees go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee
If you want to know more about Alexander Cuming go to
http://www.scottishtartans.org/cuming.html