Sir Arthur William Buller (5 September 1808 – 30 April 1869) was a British

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

, who in his early career served as head of a commission of inquiry into education reform in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

Background and education

Buller was born in

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 ...

into a prominent Cornish family, the son of

Charles Buller Charles Buller (6 August 1806 – 29 November 1848) was a British barrister, politician and reformer. Background and education Born in Calcutta, British India, Buller was the son of Charles Buller (1774–1848), a member of a well-known Corn ...

(1774–1848), MP for

West Looe West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

, and Barbara Isabella Kirkpatrick, daughter of General William Kirkpatrick. His elder brother was MP

. He was educated at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, taking his MA in 1834, the same year he was called to the bar at

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Career

From 22 August – 2 November 1838, he served as a member of the Special Council that administered Lower Canada following the

Lower Canada Rebellion The Lower Canada Rebellion (french: rébellion du Bas-Canada), commonly referred to as the Patriots' War () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now southe ...

. Buller also prepared a report that made recommendations on further directions for education in the province. Although many of his suggestions were implemented, two key elements of the report, encouraging the use of English over the French language and an emphasis on generic Christian rather than

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religious education, were met with strong opposition. After he left North America, Buller was

crown attorney Crown attorneys or crown counsel (or, in Alberta and New Brunswick, crown prosecutors) are the prosecutors in the legal system of Canada. Crown attorneys represent the Crown and act as prosecutor in proceedings under the Criminal Code and vario ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

from 1840 to 1848. He was afterwards a judge of the Supreme Court of Calcutta in India from 1848 to 1858. He was

for Devonport from 1859 to 1865, and for

Liskeard Liskeard ( ; kw, Lyskerrys) is a small ancient stannary and market town in south-east Cornwall, South West England. It is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth, west of the Devon border, and 12 miles (20 km) eas ...

from 1865 until his death in 1869.

References

External links

* * 1808 births 1869 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Liskeard UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Members of the Special Council of Lower Canada Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Attorneys General of British Ceylon British India judges Arthur William {{England-Liberal-UK-MP-stub