FARIA Y SOUSA, Manuel de. Pombeiro 18.3.1590 — Madrid 3.6.1649. Portuguese Historian and Poet. Born of an ancient noble family, educated in Braga, from c. 1604 in the service of the Bishop of Porto. In 1631-34 member of Portuguese embassy in Rome, then mainly living in Madrid. Married Catarina Machado. Often wrote…
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)…
BELL, Thomas Evans. London 11.11.1825 — Kensington, London 12.9.1887. British Colonial Officer in India. Major. Son of William Bell and Elizabeth Kinnear, 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 Commissioner of…
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…
BARROS, João de. Vila Verde, Viseu (?), Portugal 1496? — Ribeira de Litém near Pombal 20.10.1570. Portuguese Humanist, Civil Servant, and Contemporary Historian of Early Colonial India. Illegitimate son of nobleman Lopo de Barros from Northern Portugal. Attracted attention of the court with his literary products. In 1522 he was sent to…
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…
SICÉ, François Eugène. 1 Pondichéry 10.7.1816 — 28.3.1881. French Colonial Officer in India, interested in Indian Law. Son of Louis Sicé, a police officer, and Jeanne Laforgue. Sous-commissaire de la marine, in Pondichéry from 1838, 1846 commissaire, later also in Karikal. Married 1838 Josephine Commiade, one son (or more). The…