John Sullivan

Who was John Sullivan?

John Sullivan, grandson of Lawrence Sullivan, Director East India Company, son of Stephen Sullivan, British Resident at the Court of Thangavur and Elizabeth Anne Forde, christened 7 July 1788 - St. Georges Hanover Square, Came out to India as a writer with the EIC at age 15 and was appointed the Collector of Coimbatore in 1817, India. He married Henrietta Cecilia Harington, daughter of Rev. William Harington and Anne Collet on the 2 February 1820 in Madras. John Sullivan is best known as the founder of the town of Ooty.

In 1819, he set out to explore the Nilgiris after obtaining an order from the British East India Company charging him with investigating the "origin of the fabulous tales that are circulated concerning the Blue Mountains to verify their authenticity and to send a report to the authorities".

With a detachment of Europeans and Indian sepoys, he set out on his mission on 2 January 1819. The journey involved crossing rough and harsh terrain, steep precipices and facing danger from wild animals. After an expedition that lasted for six days and the loss of the lives of many of the expedition members, Sullivan finally reached a plateau from where he proudly hoisted the British flag. After touring the area in 1819, John Sullivan, collector for Coimbatore district, began a personal campaign to persuade the government of Madras that the location's "unusually temperate and healthy" climate made it ideal as a "resort of Invalids." In 1821 the medical board of the presidency ordered three assistant surgeons to investigate these claims. Their reports persuaded the board that "we fully anticipate very great advantages from a resort to these Hills," and it recommended that fifty invalid soldiers be sent there to test the region's salubrity. Independently, Sullivan and other officials from neighboring districts established summer residences at Ootacamund, nestled in the heart of the Nilgiris. This nascent community soon attracted a stream of visitors in search of health and leisure.