BODEN, Joseph. 1763 — Lisbon 21.11.1811. British Colonial Officer. Founder of the famous Boden chair of Sanskrit at Oxford University. Entered the Bombay Native Army in 1781 as Lieutenant, held appointments in the staff in Bombay, and was member of the Military Board. Lieutenant-colonel 1806, retired in 1807 and moved…
BODE, Mabel Kate Haynes (née Haynes). 28.10.1864 — Shaftesbury, Dorset 20.1.1922. British Indologist (Pāli scholar). Daughter of Robert William Haynes (1828–1879), a lawyer and law publisher, and his wife Emily (1833–1870). After parents’ death lived with an aunt, Janet Mary Haynes. Educated at Notting Hill High School for Girls in…
BOAKE, William John Slade. Colombo 1844 — London 2.6.1889. British (Irish) Civil Servant in Sri Lanka. Son of Rev. Dr. Barcroft Boake of Dublin (1814–1876), Principal of Colombo Academy in 1842-70, and Mary Katherine Slade (d. 1860). Obtained Lic. Med. of Trinity College, Dublin, and Diploma of Medicine and Surgery,…
BLUNT, James Tillyer. 1765/67 (bapt. All Saints, Fulham, Middlesex 26.5.1767) — 20.10.1834 (buried in Exeter). British Colonial Officer in India, visited and described Delhi. Son of Richard Tillyer Blunt (1743?–1822), a goldsmith. Educated at Merchant Taylors School, cadet 1782, arrived in Bengal 1783. Served in Bengal Engineers as ensign, assisted…
BLUMHARDT, James Fuller. Bengal 1844? — Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire 10.12.1922. British Indologist (NIA Scholar). M.A. First in I.C.S. in Bengal, then served long time in British Museum in the Dept. of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books. Also Lecturer in Bengali at Cambridge in 1883-88 (1883-84 also in Marathi), then at…
BLEECK, Arthur Henry. Westbury, Wiltshire 18.5.1829 — Kensington, London 27.1.1877. British Orientalist, said to be known of his remarkable linguistic talent (but translating Spiegel’s German Avesta is not so remarkable). Son of William Bleak (1801/2–1873), a school director, and Charlotte Goodman. Studies at University College, London. First employed in British…
BLANFORD, William Thomas. London 7.10.1832 — London 23.6.1905. British Geologist and Zoologist in India. Son of William Blanford (1792–1876), a factory owner, and Elizabeth (Harriet?) Simpson, educated at private schools in Brighton and Paris. Joined the family business in carving and gilding and because of ill-health spent two years in…
BLAND, Nathaniel (born Nathaniel Crumple). Liverpool 3.2.1803 — Bad Homburg, Hessen, Germany 10.8.1865. British Oriental (Persian) Scholar. Son of the elder Nathaniel Bland (Crumple, 1765–1840), who was of Irish origin, but had changed his name and settled at Randalls Park in Leatherfield, and Arabella O’Neil. Educated at Eton (1818-) and…
BLAKISTON, John Francis. Amersham, Buckinghamshire 21.3.1882 — Caernarvon 8.1.1965. British Archaeologist. Son of John Rochfort Blakiston (1840–1921) and Georgina Helen Cubbitt, educated as architect at Wellington College, Berkshire. Captain in cavalry, Indian Army (thus peerage, Wikip. calls him architect). Served from 1911 in the A.S.I., first as assistant, from 1916…
BIRDWOOD, George Christopher Molesworth. Belgaum, India 8.12.1832 — Ealing, London 28.6.1917. Sir. British Physician and Botanist in India interested in Science and in Colonial History. Son of General Christopher Birdwood (1807–1882) of Indian Army and Lydia Juliana Taylor, his brother was Herbert Mills Birdwood (1837–1907) of I.C.S., also a botanist.…