FORSTER, Henry Pitts. 1766? (or 1761) — Calcutta (?) 10.9.1815. British Civil Servant in India and a Pioneer of Indology. Possibly studied at Oxford. In 1783 joined the Bengal Civil Service, from 1793 Collector of Tipperah, from 1794 Registrar of the Sadr Diwani Adalat of 24 Parganas. From 1803 in…
FORSTER, George. 1752 — Nagpur 5.1.1792. British Civil Servant and Traveller in India. Served in Madras as early as 1776. In 1782 he travelled from India using the unusual route through Kashmir, Afghanistan, Herat, by the Caspian Sea to Baku, then to Astrakhan and Moscow and by ship from St.Petersburg…
FORBES, James. London 19.5.1749 — Aix-la-Chapelle 1.8.1819. British (Scottish) Civil Servant in India. In 1765 he came to Bombay as a writer, 1775 private secretary to colonel Keating. After a visit to England in 1780 collector and resident in Dabhoy. In 1781 visited Taj Mahal and made the first European…
FORBES, Alexander Kinloch. London 7.7.1821 — Poona (Pune) 31.8.1865. British (Scottish) Civil Servant in India and Pioneer of Gujarātī Studies. Son of John Forbes-Mitchell (1781–1822) and Anna Powell. Educated in Finchley (London) and Haileybury. Arrived at Bombay in 1843 and became Assistant Judge in Ahmedabad, then in Surat, later Commissioner…
FLEET, John Faithfull. Royston (Chiswick) 1.5.1847 — London 21.2.1917. British Indologist (Epigraphist and Historian). Son of John George Fleet, a wholesale sugar dealer, and Esther Faithful, educated at Merchant Taylor’s School in London. In 1865 he passed the I.C.S. examination and began studies at University College in London, including Sanskrit…
FAWCETT, Frederick. 1853 — Vienna 20.7.1926. British Civil Servant and Ethnographer in India. Served in Kerala, Superintendent of Malabar Police. Retired before 1911 as Deputy Inspector General of Police in Madras. An amateur archaeologist and anthropologist. Married. Publications: “On the Saoras (or Savaras), an Aboriginal Hill People of the Eastern…
FAWCETT, Charles Gordon Hill. Southsea, Portsmouth 28.6.1869 — Exmouth, Devon 7.3.1952. Sir. British Civil Servant and Historian of Colonial India. Son of Lieutenant-Colonel Rowland Hill F. and Eliza Rose Wood. Educated at Harrow, from 1888 studies at Pembroke College, Cambridge. In 1890 joined the I.C.S. in Bombay. In the end…
FANSHAWE, Herbert Charles. Lanchester, Durham 28.3.1852 — Poole, Dorset 26.3.1923. British Civil Servant in India. Son of Rev. John Faithful F. and Elizabeth Upton. Educated at Bedford, Tonbridge, and Repton. Joined I.C.S. 1873, served mainly in the Punjab. In 1898-1901 member of Punjab Legislative Council, retired 1901. Married 1906 Harriet…
FALLON, Samuel William. Calcutta 1817 — London 3.10.1880. British Teacher in India, Folklorist and Lexicographer. “Entered the Bengal Education Department in his 20th year, was inspector of schools.” Published famous dictionaries, for which he was conferred a Ph.D. in 1862 at Halle University. Retired in 1878 and resided in Delhi,…
ERSKINE, William. Edinburgh 8.11.1773 — Edinburgh 20.5.1852. British (Scottish) Civil Servant and Lawyer. 1804-23 in India. Son of David E., a lawyer, and Jean Melvin. Educated at Royal High School and Edinburgh University (dr. iuris). He “was a lawyer’s apprentice, 1792-9, went to India in 1803-4 with Sir James Mackintosh”,…