William Erskine (8 November 1773 – 28 May 1852) was a
Scottish orientalist and historian.
The son of David Erskine and his wife Jean Melvin, he was born in
Edinburgh. He attended the
Royal High School, received a doctorate in law from
Edinburgh University, and went to
Bombay (now
Mumbai)
India in 1804 where he was
master in equity in the
recorder's court of
Bombay. He married Maitland Mackintosh, daughter of
Sir James Mackintosh by his first wife Katherine Stuart in 1809 in
Madras (now
Chennai) and they had fourteen children, one of whom, Frances, married the statistician and civil servant
Thomas Farrer, 1st Baron Farrer. Another daughter, Mary, was head nurse in the Naval Hospital at Therapia during the Crimean War, and looked after Florence Nightingale while she recovered from illness. Erskine's sister-in-law, Mary Mackintosh, married the eminent orientalist
Claudius James Rich. Erskine wrote principally on
mediaeval India, but he also completed
John Malcolm's biography of
Clive of India after Malcolm's death and translated the memoirs of
Zehir-Ed-Din Muhammed Babur, Emperor of Hindustan. He was removed from office in 1823 after being accused of defalcation and for many of his later years resided in
Edinburgh, as well as Pau in South West France. He was
Provost of
St Andrews, 1836–1869.