THEOBALD, William. Marylebone, London 1829 — Ilfracombe, Devon 31.3.1908. British Naturalist in India. Son of the elder William Theobald and Anna Bishop, early years unclear. He arrived at Calcutta in 1847, worked in a coal company and became acquainted with Joseph Hooker. He joined the Geological Survey of India and participated in the survey of Pegu (Burma) 1855-73. From 1876 its Deputy Superintendent of Bengal in Calcutta. Retired in 1881 and settled in Devon. He was a keen naturalist who found many new species of animals and plants, but also had wide literary interests.
Publications: Descriptive Catalogue of the Reptiles of British India. 298 p. Calcutta 1876, several works on freshwater snails and other writings on natural history.
– On the authorship of the sonnets attributed to Shakespeare. An inquiry into the respective claims of Bacon, Sir Philip Sidney, and others, to be their author. 27 p. 1896; and further Shakespearana.
– “Notes on some of the Symbols on the Coins of Kunanda”, JASB 55:1, 1886, 341; “A Revision of the Symbols on the ‘Karshapana’ Coinage, described in vol. LIX, JASB, 1890, Part I, No. 3 and Description of many additional Symbols”, JASB 70, 1901, 38–88; “Copper Coins of Ancient India”, JASB 70, 1901, 64-88; etc.
Sources: Wikipedia; parents in ancestry.com.
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