COOPER, Roland Edgar. Kingston-on-Thames, London 16.6.1890 — Southend-on-Sea, Essex 31.1.1962. British Botanist. Lost his parents in the age of four and was raised by his aunt Emma Smith (b. 1878) and her husband, botanist William Wright Smith (1875–1958) – but not immediately, they were too young for that. In 1907-10…
BUCK, Stuart Henry. Attleboro, co. Bristol, MA 11.2.1911 — Lynchburg, VA 7.4.1997 (or 28.3.). U.S. Tibetologist and Mongolist. Son of Frederic Holden Buck (1875–1929) and Florence Hacket (1882–1979). Graduated from Harvard (A.B. 1933). Probably at Catholic University of America, Washington, DC. Served 35 years in National Security Agency as Intelligence…
MACGREGOR, Charles Metcalfe. Agra 12.8.1840 — Cairo 5.2.1887. Sir. British (Scottish) Colonial Officer, Geographer and Explorer in India. Son of Major Robert Guthrie M. of Bengal army. Educated at Marlborough College. At the age of 16 joined Indian army and had immediately to fight the 1857 uprising. Further military service in…
DAVIS, Samuel. West Indies 1760 — Croydon, Surrey 16.6.1819. British Engineer and Civil Servant in India, interested in Indian Astronomy. Son of an officer, John Davis and his wife, née Phillips. Lost early his father and came to England with his mother. He “went to Bengal as an officer of…
CHEVALIER, Jean-Baptiste. Blois 23.4.1729 — Conan near Blois 30.4.1789. French Traveller in India and Tibet. Son of Jean-Baptiste Chevalier, a lawyer and royal adviser, and Marie-Catherine de La Saussaye. In French colonial service left for Bengal in 1752, in 1755-57 explored still independent Assam, trying without success to get an…
CACELLA, Estevão. Aviz/Evora 1585 — Shigatse 6.3.1630. S.J. Father. Portuguese Missionary in India and Ladakh. Joined the S.J. in 1604, left for India in 1614. Served first in Malabar mission in Cochin, in 1626 he was sent together with —> J. Cabral to Shigatse (arrived in 1627 via Bhutan, being…
CABRAL, João. Cerolico/Guarda 1599/1601 — Goa 4.7.1669. S.J. Portuguese Missionary in India and Ladakh. From Celorico (Beira). Jesuit since 1619 (novice 1615), studied in Braga (1619-21) and Coimbra (1621-23), in 1624 to India. In 1626 he was sent together with —> E. Cacella to Shigatse (arrived in 1627 via Bhutan,…
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 and Oxford (New College). In 1891 joined Indian service in…
ARIS, Michael Vaillancourt. Havana, Cuba 7.3.1946 — Oxford 27.3.1999. British Tibetan Scholar, Specialist of Bhutan. Son of English father (John Arundel Aris, a British Council Officer) and Canadian French mother (Josette Vaillancourt), one of identical twins (brother Anthony Aris). Educated at Worth School in Sussex, then studied modern history at…