BRADDOCK, John. Westminster 1794 (bapt. 30.4.) — Madras 9.8.1840. British Colonial Officer in India. Son of John Braddock, a master refiner of saltpetre, and his wife Sarah. From 1813 served as engineer in Madras army as “an expert making gunpowder”. In the Preface to gunpowder book, signed in Madras 1830,…
BONET-MAURY, Amy Gaston Charles Auguste. Paris 2.1.1842 — Paris 20.6.1919. Rev. French Protestant Historian. Son of General Frédéric Bonet (catholic, 1792–1853) and Julie Chabrier (protestant). After school in Paris (lycée Henri IV) studies of theology at Geneva and Strasbourg, graduated 1867 from Strasbourg. Protestant pastor in Dordrecht 1867-72, Beauvais 1872-76 and Saint-Denis…
BOER, Richard Constant. Warnsveld near Zutphen 31.1.1863 — Amsterdam 20.8.1929. Dutch Linguist. Son of Richard Willem Boer and Constantia Gisius Nanning. Ph.D. 1888 Groningen. In 1888-1900 taught Dutch and geography at gymnasium in Leeuwarden, also PD at Groningen. In 1900-29 Professor of Old Germanic and Sanskrit at Amsterdam, after 1921…
BETTS, Ursula Violet Graham (née U. V. G. Bower). Wiltshire 15.5.1914 — Fordingbridge, Hampshire 12.11.1988. British Anthropologist. Daughter of Commander John Graham Bower (1886–1940) of Royal Navy and Doris Violet Coghlan White (1893–1985). Educated at Roedean School, but family difficulties prevented planned studies of archaeology at Oxford. First visit to…
BERTRAND, Marguerite Marie Gabrielle. Reims 29.3.1908 — Paris 16.2.1961. French Traveller, Reporter, Writer and Photographer. Of Lorraine, daughter of Paul Louis Anatole Bertrand and Marie Rose Héloise Ducrée, lost her father in WW I. Studied at a hospital in Paris, but did not pass medical examination. Then she worked in various…
BERNOT, Lucien. Gien (Loiret) 2.12.1919 — Brantes (Vaucluse) 14.7.1993. French Anthropologist. Son of farmer, grew up in country, from the age of 14 worked ten years as typographist. After WW II studied Chinese at É.L.O.V. (diploma 1947), then ethnography and Tibetan at É.P.H.É. In 1947-64 research scholar in C.N.R.S. In…
BELL, Thomas Evans. London 11.11.1825 — Kensington, London 12.9.1887. British Colonial Officer in India. Major. Son of William Bell (1786–1833) and Elizabeth Kinnear (1799–1888), educated at Wandsworth (London). Joined Madras Army in 1842. In 1855-60 Assistant Commissioner in Nagpur, lost his position because of disagreement with Chief Commissioner. In 1861-63 Deputy…
BEALE, Thomas William. India (?) 1??? — Agra 1875. British Civil Servant and Oriental Scholar in India. Very little is known of his life. He worked as clerk in the office of Board of Revenue, North-Western Provinces, in Agra. He had never been in Europe. Assisted H. M. Elliot in…
BAUMER, Rachel Van Meter. 1928 — 15.3.1995. U.S. Indologist (Bengali). Student of T. W. Clark. Ph.D. 1964 University of Pennsylvania. First taught at Michigan State University in East Lansing, from 1970 at University of Minnesota, later in the 1970s Professor and chairperson of the South Asia Program at the University…
BATESON, Joseph Harger. Kendal, Westmoreland 5.3.1865 — 5.10.1935. Rev. British Methodist clergyman in Burma. Son of Thomas Bateson (1833–1909) and Sarah Severs. From 1886 until 1913 Chaplain of territorial Forces, at least initially served in Burma, later in western India. Secretary of Wesleyan Army and Navy Board. Married 1892 Rose…