They were both EIC India families, and John Augustus Shadwell must have known them. Solomon was out in India, his sons were out in India, and Solomon worked for the EIC at their depot or whatever it was. Those important support networks would be part of it. The families may have intermarried more than once, or there could be a second, different, Shadwell family involved! Or, more romantically, perhaps a Shadwell or an Earle saved the life of an Earle or a Shadwell, or maybe they shared a particularly bad military engagement at some point. It would be interesting to know.
It struck me how with John Bird & Emma's children back in the UK, a quite high-ranking EIC officer who had been based at, or visited, Cherrapunji, returning to London went to visit the children, taking letters or small items I think. Support network.
