KNOX, Robert. London 8.2.1641 — Wimbledon, London 19.6.1720. British (Scottish) Traveller. In South Asia in 1657-94 (1659-79 prisoner in Ceylon). Son of Robert Knox, a Puritan and commander in E.I.C.’s service. Grew up in Wimbledon, Surrey. After mother’s death sailed with his father in January 1657 to Fort George. On…
KILIAN, Klaus. Karlsruhe 27.2.1939 — Bonn 28.5.1992. German Archaeologist, excavated in Sri Lanka. Ph.D. Director of the “Kommission für Allgemeine und Vergleichende Archäologie (KAVA) des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts (DAI)” in Bonn. In 1976-82 led excavations at Tiryns and from 1987 in Sri Lanka in cooperation with S. Bandaranayake and the…
HOCART, Arthur Maurice. Etterbeek near Brussels, Belgium 26.4.1883 — Cairo 9.3.1939. British scholar of Sri Lankan Archaeology and Ethnology. Son of James H., a Protestan missionary in Belgium, and Mary Mathieson Doulton (1850–1890), educated in Brussels and Guernsey, where the family originated. Graduated 1906 from Oxford (Exeter College) in classics,…
JOHNSTON, Alexander. Carnsalloch, Dumfriesshire 25.4.1775 — London 6.3.1849. Sir. British (Scottish) Civil Servant in Sri Lanka. Son of Samuel J. and Hester Napier. Grew up in Madurai, where his father served as official and where Chr. Fr. Schwarz was his teacher. Learned Tamil, Telugu and Hindustani. In 1792 the family…
IEVERS, Robert Wilson. Limerick 1850 (or 1851) — Ireland 10.2.1905. British (Irish) Civil Servant in Sri Lanka. Son of Robert John I., a wine merchant, and Elizabeth Browne. Educated at Queen’s University, Belfast (M.A.). Entered Ceylon Civil Service in 1872, worked in various positions mainly in the north-west, living in…
HARINGTON, John Herbert. Woodford, Witshire 12.3.1765 — London 9.4.1828. British Civil Servant and Oriental Scholar in India. In India 1780-1819 & 1822-28. Son of Rev. John H. and Rachel Hawes (d. 1782). Came to India in 1780 as a Writer of E.I.C. in Calcutta, 1781 Assistant in Revenue Department, from…
HARDY, Robert Spence. Preston, Lancashire 1.7.1803 — Headingley near Leeds 16.4.1868. Rev. British Methodist Missionary in Sri Lanka. Son of John Hardy and Ann Spence. From 1819 printer in York, in 1825 ordained as Wesleyan minister and left for the first time as missionary to Ceylon where he worked three…
HAMILTON, John Herbert Fearnley. 1858? — Ratnapura 20.5.1894, when 36. British Civil Servant in Sri Lanka. Son of Peter H. Entered C.C.S. in 1879 and retired 12 years later as District Judge of Ratnapura (but Lewis lets us understand that he was still judge there when died). The list of…
GUETH, Anton Walter Florus (Nyānatiloka Mahāthera). Wiesbaden 19.2.1878 — Colombo/Ceylon 28.5.1957. German Bauddha and Buddhist scholar in Sri Lanka. Son of Anton G., principal of gymnasium, and Paula Auffahrt, the family was Roman Catholic. School and gymnasium in Wiesbaden. In 1897 briefly at monastery, Maria Laach. Studies of music and…
GRIMBLOT, Jean Paul Auguste. Marseille 28.6.1817 — Florence 23.5.1870. French Diplomat and Indologist. Studies of Indology in Paris under Burnouf. Traveled in Germany, U.K. and Italy. From 18?? French Consul in Ceylon and Burma. In Ceylon he learned Pāli and studied Buddhism, and achieved a fine collection of manuscripts for…