GRIFFITHS, Percival Joseph. Middlesex 15.1.1899 — 14.7.1992. Sir. British Civil Servant in India. Son of Joseph Thomas Gr., educated in London. M.A. Cambridge, then went to India in 1922, mainly served in Bengal. Finally District Magistrate of Medinipur in Bengal from 1933. Retired 1937, but stayed in India as a representative…
CAPPER, John. Lambeth, Surrey 29.9.1814 — Fulham, Middlesex 31.3.1898. British Journalist and Writer in Sri Lanka. Son of Benjamin Pitts C. and Maria Margaret Bessell. In 1837 he joined a coffee wholesale business and was sent to Ceylon. He was interested in journalism and in 1840 founded short-lived (to 1842)…
KEENE, Henry George. Haileybury, Hertfordshire 1826 — Westward Ho, Devon 26.3.1915. British Civil Servant and Historian in India. Son of the elder —> H. G. K. and Anne Wainwright, educated at Rugby, Oxford (Wadham College) and Haileybury. In 1847 entered I.C.S. and served in N.W. Provinces. He was often in…
FURBER, Holden. Boston 13.3.1903 — Bedford, MA (or Concord?) 19.1.1993. U.S. Historian of Colonial India. Professor in Philadelphia. Educated in Boston area, graduated 1924 from Harvard. Further studies at Queen’s College, Oxford (B.A. 1925, M.A. 1930). Ph.D. 1929 Harvard. Nine years Lecturer at Harvard. In 1934 visited South-East Asia and…
CRANE, Robert Irwin. Delhi 1920 — Syracuse, NY 1997. U.S. Historian of South Asia. Born in India to missionary parent. Studies at Duke, B.A. 1941 just before WW II. In war service again in South Asia. Renewed studies at Yale. Ph.D. 1951 Yale. Worked as Instructor at Chicago, Associate Professor…
COX, George William. Benares 10.1.1827 — Walmer, Kent 9.2.1902. Rev., 14th Baronet. British Historian. The eldest son of Captain George Hamilton Cox and Eliza Kearton. Sent to England in 1836, educated in Bath, Ilminster and Rugby. Studies at Trinity College, Oxford (B.A., 1859 M.A.), ordained 1850. Served 1851-53 as chaplain…
SYKES, William Henry. near Bradford, Yorkshire 25.1.1790 — London 16.6.1872. British Colonial Officer in India, with wide scholarly interests. Colonel. Son of Samuel Sykes, an estate owner. Entered as cadet in 1803, Lieutenant in Bombay Army 1805, participated in the siege of Bharatpur. Learned soon Hindī and Marāṭhī and became…
SCOTT, Jonathan. Shrewsbury 1754 — Shrewsbury 11.2.1829. British Colonial Officer and Oriental (Arabic and Persian) Scholar in India. Son of Jonathan Scott and Mary Sandford, brother of John Scott (1747–1819), an officer in India and supporter of Warren Hastings. Educated in Shrewsbury. “To India, in the 29th N.I., in 1772,…
SLEEMAN, William Henry. Stratton, Cornwall 18.8.1788 — at sea 10/25.2.1856. Sir. British Colonial Officer in India. Son of yeoman Philip Sl. and Mary Spray, lost his father in 1798, mother 1818. In 1809 joined the Bengal Army as infantry cadet, was immediately sent to India. From 1810 Ensign, 1814 Lieutenant,…
SIDDONS, George Richard. Fort Marlborough, Bengkulu, Sumatra 1.12.1809 — at sea ?.7.1857. British Colonial Officer in India. Major. Son of George John S. of Bengal Civil Service and Mary Fombelle, born in the British base in Sumatra, baptized in Calcutta. Lieutenant in the 1830s, then Captain, finally Major. Married 1850…