BELL, Harry Charles Purvis. Bombay (Mumbai) 21.9.1851 — Kandy 6.9.1937. British Archaeologist of Sri Lanka. Son of General Harry Wainwright Bell (1821–1888) of Irish/Scottish descent, and Harriet Elizabeth Isabella Croker (1822–1900). From 1864 educated at Cheltenham College, but never went to a university. From 1873 in Ceylon Civil service, served…
BELL, Charles Alfred. Calcutta 31.10.1870 — Oak Bay, Victoria, B.C. 8.3.1945. Sir. British Tibetan Scholar, Traveller, and Civil Servant in India. Born as a son of a civil servant (in India) Henry Bell and his wife Anne. Educated at Winchester College, studies at Oxford (New College). In 1891 joined Indian…
BEAMES, John William. Greenwich 21.6.1837 — Clevedon, Somerset 24.5.1902. British Civil servant and Indologist in India, a Pioneer of Comparative NIA Studies. Served in India in 1858-93. The eldest son of the Rev. Thomas Beames (1815–1864) and Susanna Amelia Dewsnap (1811–1868). Educated first at Merchant Taylor’s School, then 1856-57 at…
BAYLEY, Edward Clive. St.Petersburg 17.10.1821 — Keymer, Sussex 30.4.1884. Sir. British Civil Servant in India, interested in Antiquarian Studies. The youngest child of the elder Edward Clive Bayley (1776–1841) of Manchester, merchant in St.Petersburg, and Margaret Fenton, educated at Haileybury. Served in India in 1842-54 and 1857-78. In 1842 he…
BAINES, Jervoise Athelstane. Bluntisham, Huntingdonshire 17.10.1847 — Kidlington, Oxfordshire 26.11.1925. Sir. British Civil Servant in India and an Ethnologist. Son of the Rev. Edward Baines and his wife Catherine Eularia. Educated at Rugby, and Trinity College, Cambridge. Served in the I.C.S. in Bombay 1870-89. Then Census Commissioneer under the Government…
BAINBRIDGE, Reginald Balipooreah. Channel Islands 2.5.1871 — Arrah, Bengal 1.5.1914. British Civil Servant and Ethnologist concentrating on the Saoria tribe (also known as Pahariya) of Bihar. He has been difficult to identify as he has not left many traces. He is not among members of A.S.B. in 1906. The study…
BADEN POWELL, Baden Henry (born Baden Henry Powell). Oxford 23.8.1841 — Oxford 2.1.1901. British Civil Servant in India. Son of Rev. Baden Powell (1796–1860, a mathematician and Oxford Professor) and Charlotte Pope (d. 1844). His half-brother was Robert Baden-Powell (1857-1941), the founder of the boy scout organization. Educated at St.Paul’s…
BABINGTON, Benjamin Guy. London 5.3.1794 — London 5/8.4.1865. British Physician interested in Tamil Language and Literature. Son of a London physician, William Babington (1756–1833, of Irish origin), and Martha Elizabeth Hough (1766–1849). Educated at Charterhouse 1803-07. He served in the navy until 1810, got then an appointment in India and…
ARCHER, William George (“Bill”). 11.2.1907 — Islington, London 6.3.1979. British Ethnologist and Art Historian of India. In India 1931-48, then in Victoria and Albert Museum. Son of William Archer, educated at Strand School. Studied history at Cambridge (Emmanuel College, M.A.) and aspired for a good position in Whitehall, but poor…
ARBUTHNOT, Forster Fitzgerald. Belgaum, Bombay Presidency 21.5.1833 — London 25.5.1901. British (Scottish) Civil Servant and Oriental Scholar in India. Son of Sir Robert Keith Arbuthnot, 2nd Bart. (1801–1873), and Anne Forster Fitzgerald (1799–1882), educated privately in Anhalt and Genoa. In 1851 went to Haileybury, in 1853 joined Bombay Civil Service…