Background
He was fifth son of John Lumsden of Cushnie, Aberdeenshire.
He was fifth son of John Lumsden of Cushnie, Aberdeenshire.
He was educated at King"s College, Aberdeen, Scotland, and held a professorship of Persian and Arabic at the College of Fort William, India.
After being educated at King"s College, Old Aberdeen, he went to India as assistant professor of Persian and Arabic in the college of Fort William, and in 1808 succeeded to the professorship. In 1812 he was appointed secretary to the Calcutta Madrasa, and superintended translations of English works into Persian then in progress. From 1814 until 1817 he had charge of the company"s press at Calcutta, and in 1818 he became secretary to the stationery committee.
An account of this journey was published by Lieutenant Lumsden in 1822.
Lumsden returned to India in 1821. He died at Tooting Common, Surrey, on 31 March 1835.
From King"s College, Old Aberdeen, to which he presented his own and many other oriental works, he received in 1808 the degree of Doctor of Laws