Sir Alfred Woodley Croft (7 February 1841 – 29 October 1925) was a British educationist and administrator who spent most of his career in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. From 1877 until his retirement in 1897 he was Director of Public Instruction in

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

, and was appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) No appoi ...

(CIE) in November 1884. Born in Compton Gifford, he was the son of Charles and Charlotte Croft. He was educated at the Mannamead School. He graduated BA in philosophy from the

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth-oldest college of the un ...

in 1863 and an MA in 1871. He went to

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

to join the Bengal Education Service in 1866 as a professor of philosophy to Presidency College, then under the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

. Previously Croft was appointed a

in 1887 he was raised to a knighthood as a Knight Commander of the order and was described as a Director of Public Instruction for Bengal. He served as the vice chancellor of the

from 1893 to 1896. In 1897, the University awarded him with an

honorary doctorate degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

on the occasion of his retirement. He was also a member of the

Bengal Legislative Council The Bengal Legislative Council ( was the legislative council of British Bengal (now Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal). It was the legislature of the Bengal Presidency during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After reforms wer ...

from 1887 to 1892. Croft returned to England and never married, he died in

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13,028 ...

on 29 October 1925."Sir A. W. Croft." ''The Times'' ondon, England31 October 1925: 14. ''The Times'' Digital Archive. Web. 18 Sept. 2013.

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Croft, Alfred Woodley 1841 births 1925 deaths Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford People educated at Plymouth College Vice Chancellors of the University of Calcutta Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Presidents of The Asiatic Society