WILHELM, Erdmann Eugen. Neustadt an der Orla, Thüringen 5.6.1842 — 1923. German Iranian Scholar. Professor in Jena. Son of a Superintendent, educated in Weimar. Studies at Jena and Halle. Ph.D. 1864. In 1864 tutor in Holstein, from 1865 Oberlehrer at Eisenach Gymnasium. From 1876 Professor and acting Director at Jena Gymnasium. From…
WHITEHEAD, Richard Bertram. Liverpool 6.11.1879 — Cambridge 4.3. 1967. British Numismatist. Son of Rev. Robert Whitehead and Isabella Grimshaw. Educated at Liverpool College and Exeter College, Oxford. In 1902 he joined I.C.S. and in 1903 arrived in the Punjab. From 1904 Assistant Commissioner, first in Ambala, then in different parts…
WHEELER, James Talboys. Oxford 22.12.1824 — Ramsgate, Kent 13.1.1897. British Civil Servant and Historian in India. Son of James Luft Wheeler, a bookseller, and Anna Ophelia Talboys, privately educated. “Began as a publisher and book-seller. [During Crimean War] War Office extra clerk. Went to Madras to edit the Madras Spectator,…
WHEELER, Benjamin Ide. Randolph, Mass. 15.7.1854 — Vienna, Austria 3.5.1927. U.S. Classical and IE Scholar. Son of Rev. Benjamin Wheeler (1807–1876), a Baptist priest, and Mary Eliza Ide. Studies at Brown University 1871-75 (A.B. 1875, A.M. 1878), instructor at the same 1879-81. In 1881-85 further studies in Germany: Leipzig, Heidelberg,…
WESTMACOTT, Edward Vesey. Chastleton, Oxfordshire 1839 (or 1840?) — 1911. BritishCivil Servant in India. Son of Rev. Horatio W. (1806–1862) and Penelope Spencer Ruscombe. B.A. Oxford. Served in Bengal. Married 1874 Annie Mary Charlotte Richards (1850–1936), divorce 1898, three sons. Publications: Letter on the Identification of ancient towns in Bengal, ProcASB…
WESTERGAARD, Niels Ludvig. Copenhagen 27.10.1815 — Copenhagen 9.9.1878. Danish Indologist and Iranian Scholar. Professor in Copenhagen. Son of a master carpenter, Niels Nielsen W. (1772–1835) and Sophie Magdalene Nyeborg. As a schoolboy he became interested, from the example of Rask, in comparative linguistics and Oriental languages. From 1833 studied at…
WELLSTED, Thomas Arthur. London 3.4.1904 — Cheltenham, Gloucestershire ?.10.1989 (or 1990?). British Mining Engineer in India. Son of Thomas Wilhelm Wellsted (1865–1919) and Lucy Kayser. B.Sc. 1926 London, in mining. Manager of mine in Central India (Madhya Pradesh). In 1933 surveyed the remains of Ramtek. In 1938 living in Balaghat.…
WADDELL, Lawrence Austine. Cumbernauld, Dumbartonshire 29.5.1854 — 20.9.1938. British (Scottish) Physician and Tibetan Scholar in India. Son of Rev. Thomas Clement Waddell (1813–1880), a teacher and author, and Jean Chapman. Studied medicine and chemistry at Glasgow University, graduated in 1878 and worked two years as surgeon in Gasgow. In 1880…
ROCKHILL, William Woodville. Philadelphia, Pa. 1.4.1854 — Honolulu 8.12.1914. U.S. Diplomat, Traveller, Sinologist and Tibetan Scholar. Son of Thomas Cadwalader Rockhill (1819–1871) and Dorothea Anne Woodville (1823–1913). Lost his father when 13 (but ancestors.familysearch.org claims he died 19.2.1854) and the mother settled in Paris to avoid the Civil War. Studies…
ROBINSON, Richard H. Carstairs, Alberta 21.6.1926 — Madison 6.8.1970. Canadian Buddhist Scholar in the U.S.A. Professor in Madison. Son of a farmer, of Scottish-Irish ancestry. Educated in Carstairs, learned Chinese from a Chinese friend. In 1944-47 studies of economics, French and German at University of Alberta (B.A. 1947), then Chinese,…