BURNES, Alexander. Montrose, Angus 16.5.1805 — Kabul 2.11.1841. Sir. British (Scottish) Colonial Officer (Lieutenant-Colonel) and Traveller in India, Afghanistan and Central Asia. Son of James Burnes (1760–1852, provost and a cousin of the poet Robert Burns) and Elizabeth Glegg, brother of —> James Burnes (1801–1862). After attending the famous college…
BROWNE, James. 1744 — Patna 22.6.1792. British Colonial Officer in India. Lieutenant-Colonel. Joined Indian army in 1765, 1772 aide-de-camp of Warren Hastings. “Collector of the Jungleterry districts, 1773; had difficult work in administering the country and settling disturbances. Sent by the Council on an embassy to Shah Alam at Delhi…
BROUGHTON, Thomas Duer. 1778 — London 16.11.1835. British Colonial Officer in India. Son of Rev. Thomas Broughton (Rector of St.Peter’s in Bristol) and his wife Mary., educated at Eton. Joined the Bengal Army in 1795, lieutenant 1797. Participated in the siege of Seringapatam 1799. In 1802 military resident with the…
BRIGGS, Henry George. Bombay 20.10.1824 — Bombay 4.7.1872. British Merchant, Traveller, and Orientalist. Son of Henry Briggs. In 1843 travelled in South Africa, in 1845 in China. In 1846 settled at the office of Briggs & Co. in Bombay. For a while lived in Karachi (1854/55), then from 1856 Assistant…
BOWER, Hamilton St.Clair. Portsea Island, Hampshire 1.9.1858 — North Berwick, East Lothian 5.3.1940. Sir. British (Scottish) Colonial Officer and Traveller in Central Asia. Son of Admiral James Paterson Bower (1806–1889) and Barbara Hickson (from Ireland). Educated in Edinburgh and at Royal Naval School. Served in British India from 1884. As…
BODEN, Joseph. 17?? — Lisbon 21.11.1811. British Colonial Officer. Founder of the famous Boden chair of Sanskrit at Oxford University. Entered the Bombay Native Army in 1781 as Lieutenant, held appointments in the staff in Bombay, and was member of the Military Board. Lieutenant-colonel 1806, retired in 1807 and moved…
BIRDWOOD, George Christopher Molesworth. Belgaum, India 8.12.1832 — Ealing, London 28.6.1917. Sir. British Physician and Botanist in India interested in Science and in Colonial History. Son of General Christopher Birdwood (1807–1882) of Indian Army and Lydia Juliana Taylor. The family came from Plymouth, and he was educated at Plymouth Grammar…
BEVERIDGE, Henry. Inzievar, Fife 9.2.1837 — London 8.11.1929. British (Scottish) Historian of Mughal and Colonial India. Son of the elder —> Henry Beveridge (1799–1863). Educated in Glasgow and Edinburgh, studies at Glasgow University and from 1856 at Queen’s College in Belfast. Joined the I.C.S. through competition in 1857, and served…
BEVERIDGE, Henry. Scotland 1799 — 1863. The Elder. British (Scottish) Lawyer and Historian of Colonial India. Father of —> Henry Beveridge the younger (1837–1929), himself son of David Beveridge (1770–1836) and Margaret Thomson. Originally intended ministry, but turned to law. Worked as advocate and author, from 1856 the editor of…
BALLHATCHET, Kenneth Arthur. Bristol 29.11.1922 — 13.3.1995. British Historian of South Asia. Professor in London. Educated at Clifton College in Bristol. From 1941 studies at Peterhouse College in Cambridge. The studies were interrupted by service in RAF in 1942-46, two years of which were spent in India. Back in Cambridge…