Frederic Charles Danvers (1833–1906), often Frederick, was a British civil servant and writer on engineering. The Superintendent of the
India Office Records
The India Office Records are a very large collection of documents relating to the administration of India from 1600 to 1947, the period spanning Company and British rule in India. The archive is held in London by the British Library and is public ...
between 1884 and 1898, he was also a historian and wrote works on
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 ...
.
Life
Born at
Hornsey
Hornsey is a district of north London, England in the London Borough of Haringey
The London Borough of Haringey (pronounced , same as Harringay) is a London borough in North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner Lo ...
on 1 July 1833, he was second son of Frederick Samuel Danvers of Hornsey, an officer in the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
's service, and his wife Mary Matilda Middleton, daughter of H. Middleton of Wanstead, Essex. After education at the
Merchant Taylors' School, London
Small things grow in harmony
, established =
, closed =
, coordinates =
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, type = Independent school (UK), Independent day school
, religion ...
,
King's College, London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
, and
Addiscombe College
The East India Company Military Seminary was a British military academy at Addiscombe, Surrey, in what is now the London Borough of Croydon. It opened in 1809 and closed in 1861. Its purpose was to train young officers to serve in the East India ...
, he studied for two years as a civil and mechanical engineer. Then he became, on 26 January 1853, a writer in the old East India House.
On the creation of the India Office Danvers was, in September 1858, made a junior clerk there. Deputed in 1859 to Liverpool and Manchester to report on the fitness of
traction engine
A traction engine is a steam engine, steam-powered tractor used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin ''tractus'', meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any t ...
s for use in India, where railway construction was still in its infancy, he was transferred on account of his technical knowledge to the public works department of the India Office in 1861. He there rose to be senior clerk in June 1867, and assistant secretary in February 1875.
He attended the
Exposition Universelle of 1867 in Paris, reporting in the ''
Quarterly Journal of Science
''Quarterly Journal of Science'' was the title of two British scientific periodicals of the 19th century.
The first was established in 1816 by William Thomas Brande, as the ''Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature and the Arts''. He edited it w ...
'' that other European nations were closing the technology gap with the United Kingdom.
Plans by Danvers for a tunnel under the
Hugli River
The Bhagirathi Hooghly River (Anglicized alternatively spelled ''Hoogli'' or ''Hugli'') or the 'Bhāgirathi-Hooghly', called the Ganga or the Kati-Ganga in mythological texts, is the eastern distributary of the Ganges River in West Bengal, Indi ...
to continue the East India railway into Calcutta were forwarded by
Sir Stafford Northcote
Stafford Henry Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh (27 October 1818 – 12 January 1887), known as Sir Stafford Northcote, Bt from 1851 to 1885, was a British Conservative politician. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1874 and 18 ...
to India in 1868. In 1877 he was transferred as assistant secretary to the revenue department of the India Office, and was in January 1884 made registrar and superintendent of records.
He undertook sorting and binding of records. A start was made on their publication, with lists, calendars and catalogues also produced. Work on the archive continued into the 1930s, but the scale was large, and projects, even though selective, were left incomplete. Another scholarly effort began in the 1960s.
Danvers was sent to
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
in 1891 to study records of Portuguese rule in the East. His report, based on research in the
Torre do Tombo
The National Archive of Torre do Tombo ( pt, Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, ) is the Portuguese national archive located in the civil parish of Alvalade, in the municipality of central-northern Lisbon. Established in 1378, it was renamed the ...
archives and the public libraries in Lisbon and Evora, was published in 1892. He retired from the India Office in July 1898.
His work on Portuguese records and history was recognised with the
Order of Christ, knight commander. Archival researches 1893–5 at
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
into Dutch maritime history were the subject of a further report, published in 1945 as ''Dutch activities in the east''.
Danvers died on 17 May 1906 at Broad Oaks,
Addlestone
Addlestone ( or ) is a town in Surrey, England. It is located approximately southwest of London. The town is the administrative centre of the Borough of Runnymede, of which it is the largest settlement.
History
The town is recorded as ''Attels ...
, Surrey, and was buried at All Saints' Church,
Benhilton
Benhilton is a suburban parish in north Sutton, Greater London. It is dominated by All Saints Church, which is a Grade II* listed building designed by Samuel Sanders Teulon in a Gothic Revival style and opened in 1863. It also containAll Saint ...
.
Works
Danvers published ''History of the Portuguese in India'' (2 vols. 1894), an ambitious work. Sydney Ernest Fryer wrote in the ''
Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'' that it "was marred by want of perspective and incomplete reference to authorities.
Outside his official duties, Danvers wrote mainly on technical areas. He contributed articles on public works in India to ''Engineering'' (1866–75), and a volume "India" (1877) in the series ''Information for Colonial Engineers'' published by E. and F. N. Spon. He besides compiled memoranda on Indian coal, coal washing, and artificial fuel (1867–9), and publishing ''Statistical Papers relating to India'' (parliamentary paper, 1869), ''Coal Economy'' (1872), and ''A Century of Famines, 1770–1870'' (1877). He read papers before the
Society of Arts
The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...
on ''Agriculture in India'' (1878), ''Famines in India'' (1886), and ''The India Office Records'' (1889). The first and third of these papers gained the Society's silver medal. He was elected a fellow of the
Royal Statistical Society
The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is an established statistical society. It has three main roles: a British learned society for statistics, a professional body for statisticians and a charity which promotes statistics for the public good.
...
in 1880, subsequently served on its council, and read papers before it on ''Agriculture in Essex'' (1897) and ''A Review of Indian Statistics'' (1901).
He was elected a member of the Society of Arts in 1890.
Danvers also wrote:
*''Bengal, its Chiefs, Agents and Governors'', 1888.
*''The Second Borgian Map'', 1889.
He edited ''Memorials of Old Haileybury College'' (1894), and wrote introductions to ''Letters received by the East India Company from its Servants in the East'' (1896); ''List of Factory Records of the late East India Company'' (1897); and ''List of Marine Records of the late East India Company'' (1897). ''The Covenant; or, Jacob's Heritage'' (1877) and ''Israel Redivivus'', 1905, an endeavour to identify the
Ten Tribes
The ten lost tribes were the ten of the Twelve Tribes of Israel that were said to have been exiled from the Kingdom of Israel after its conquest by the Neo-Assyrian Empire BCE. These are the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Ashe ...
with the English people, belong to the literature of
British Israelism
British Israelism (also called Anglo-Israelism) is the British nationalist, pseudoarchaeological, pseudohistorical and pseudoreligious belief that the people of Great Britain are "genetically, racially, and linguistically the direct descendant ...
. The latter is mentioned in the ''
Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics
The ''Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics'' is a 12-volume work (plus an index volume) edited by James Hastings, written between 1908 and 1921 and composed of entries by many contributors. It covers not only religious matters but thousands of an ...
'' article "Anglo-Israelis".
Family
Danvers married in 1860, at
Hove
Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...
, Louisa (b. 2 November 1837), daughter of
Elias Mocatta
Elias Mocatta (1798–1881) was a British merchant and financier, significant in the early credit history of Venezuela and other South American countries.
Early life
Mocatta was born on 16 February 1798, and was from a Bristol background. He is re ...
. She died at Sutton, Surrey, on 29 May 1909, and was buried beside her husband. They had three sons and five daughters.
Lilian, the youngest daughter, married in 1901 Charles William Danvers-Walker and was mother of
Bob Danvers-Walker
Cyril Frederick "Bob" Danvers-Walker (11 October 190617 May 1990) was a British radio and newsreel announcer best known as the offscreen voice of Pathé News cinema newsreels during World War II and for many years afterwards.
His voice was des ...
. The eldest son, Alan, was also honoured by
Carlos I of Portugal
''Dom'' Carlos I (; English: King Charles of Portugal; 28 September 1863 – 1 February 1908), known as the Diplomat ( pt, o Diplomata), the Martyr ( pt, o Martirizado), and the Oceanographer ( pt, o Oceanógrafo), among many other names, was ...
in 1893, as
Baron Danvers, Knight (Cavaleiro) of the Order of Christ; he was a telephone engineer, manager in
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
of the
He was born in 1861, and married in 1885 Alice Isabel Bowerbank.
References
External links
India Office: Frederick Charles Danvers
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Danvers, Frederick Charles
1833 births
1906 deaths
British Israelism
Commanders of the Order of Christ (Portugal)
Civil servants in the India Office
Alumni of King's College London
Alumni of Addiscombe Military Seminary
British non-fiction writers
British historians