Francis Henry Bennett Skrine (1847–1933) was an English traveller, orientalist and official in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

Life

He was the son of the Rev. Clarmont Skrine of Warleigh Lodge,

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

, previously an army officer, and his wife Mary Anne Auchmuty Bennett, daughter of Major Charles Butson Bennett. He was educated at Blackheath School and entered the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...

in 1868. In 1870 Skrine was appointed assistant magistrate and collector in

Nadia district Nadia () is a district in the state of West Bengal, India. It borders Bangladesh to the east, North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts to the south, Purba Bardhaman to the west, and Murshidabad to the north. Nadia district is highly influentia ...

. He worked on famine relief in

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

during 1874, and in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

in 1877–8. He was officiating commissioner of

Bhagalpur Bhagalpur is a city in the Indian state of Bihar, situated on the southern banks of the river Ganges. It is the 2nd largest city of Bihar by population and also the headquarters of Bhagalpur district and Bhagalpur division. Known as the Silk ...

in 1893–4. He became collector of customs at

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 ...

in 1895, and commissioner of

Chittagong division Chittagong Division, officially known as Chattogram Division, is geographically the largest of the eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh. It covers the south-easternmost areas of the country, with a total area of and a population at the 2 ...

, retiring in 1897. Subsequently Skrine travelled in

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

Works

*''Memorandum on the Material Condition of the Lower Orders in Bengal During the Ten Years from 1881–82 to 1891–92'' (1892), an investigation covering the condition of agricultural workers. In 1891 Skrine had compiled a census report for

Shahabad district Shahabad district or Arrah district, headquartered at Arrah (now part of Bhojpur District, Bihar) was a Bhojpuri speaking district in western Bihar, India, making the western border of Bihar with Uttar Pradesh. In 1972, the district was split in ...

. *''Laborious Days: Leaves from the Indian Record of Sir Charles Alfred Elliott'' (1892) *''An Indian Journalist: being the life, letters and correspondence of Dr. Sambhu C. Mookerjee, late editor of "Reis and rayyet" Calcutta'' (1895) *''The Life of Sir William Wilson Hunter, K.C.S.I'' (1901), on

William Wilson Hunter Sir William Wilson Hunter (15 July 18406 February 1900) was a Scottish historian, statistician, a compiler and a member of the Indian Civil Service. He is most known for ''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' on which he started working in 1869, ...

, an authorised biography. *''The Heart of Asia: a History of Russian Turkestan and the Central Asian Khanates'' (1899) with

Denison Ross Sir Edward Denison Ross (6 June 1871 – 20 September 1940) was an orientalist and linguist, specializing in languages of the Middle East, Central and East Asia. He was the first director of the University of London's School of Oriental Studies ( ...

Annette Meakin Annette Mary Budgett Meakin (1867–1959) was a British travel author. She and her mother were the first English women to travel to Japan via the Trans-Siberian railway. Life Annette M. B. Meakin was born on 12 August 1867. Her parents were Edw ...

questioned some of the reporting of this book on Central Asian women. *''The Expansion of Russia, 1815–1900'' (1904) *''Fontenoy and Great Britain's Share in the War of the Austrian Succession, 1741–48'' (1906) *'' Bahaism, the religion of brotherhood and its place in the evolution of creeds'' (1912) *''Gossip about Dr Johnson and Others being Characters from the Memoirs of Miss Laetitia Matilda Hawkins'' (1926), from

Laetitia Matilda Hawkins Laetitia Matilda Hawkins (baptized 8 August 1759 – 22 November 1835) was an English novelist, associated with Twickenham. She was the daughter of Sir John Hawkins, an acquaintance of Samuel Johnson. Hawkins was an outspoken yet highly conserv ...

Family

Skrine married Helen Lucy Stewart, and was the father of Clarmont Percival Skrine.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skrine, Francis Henry 1847 births 1933 deaths Indian Civil Service (British India) officers English biographers 19th-century English historians English travel writers 20th-century English historians