Frederick Selwyn Copleston (1850–1935) was a member of the Indian Civil Service. He was the Chief Judge of the Chief Court of Lower Burma from 1900 to 1902.

Biography

Copleston was the son of Rev. R. E. Copleston, Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford and Vicar of Edmonton. He was a member of the Copleston family, lords of the manor of Copleston in Devon until 1659.

Reginald Stephen Copleston Reginald Stephen Copleston (26 December 1845 – 19 April 1925) was an Anglican priest and author who served as a bishop in India for more than 30 years. Biography Copleston was born in Barnes, London, the son of Rev. R. E. Copleston, Fellow of ...

, Bishop of Calcutta and

Ernest Arthur Copleston Ernest Arthur Copleston (1855 – 24 August 1933) was an Anglican bishop in the first half of the 20th century. He was born in Barnes, Surrey, the fourth son of Rev. Reginald Edward, vicar of Barnes, fellow of Exeter College, Oxford,"Ecclesiastic ...

, Bishop of Colombo were his brothers. After education at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

, Copleston joined the ICS in July 1873 and arrived in India in October 1873, when he was appointed Assistant Magistrate and Collector in

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

. He volunteer for service in Burma the following year and was posted there an Assistant Commissioner, and held various offices before being appointed Judicial Commissioner of Lower Burma in 1898. When the Court of the Judicial Commissioner was replaced in 1900, Copleston was appointed the first Chief Judge of the Chief Court of Lower Burma. He retired in April 1902 and returned to England. According to his family, he had been asked by Lord Curzon to serve as

Lieutenant-Governor of Burma The colonial governors of Burma were the colonial administrators responsible for the territory of British Burma, an area equivalent to modern-day Myanmar. As a result of the Second Anglo-Burmese War, Burma was initially setup as a province of ...

, but refused, whereupon Curzon struck off his name from the honours list. In retirement he was a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

Family

Copleston married Elizabeth Colley of Clontarf, of Dublin in 1883; she died in 1895. He married secondly Norah Margaret Little, daughter of Colonel Colhoun-Little, MD, IMS, in 1902; they had two sons, one of whom was the Jesuit philosopher and theologian Frederick Charles Copleston.

References

;Sources * Frederick C. Copleston, S.J. ''Memoirs of a Philosopher''. Kansas City, MO: Sheed & Ward, 1993. * ''The India List and India Office List for 1905''. London: Harrison and Sons, 1905. {{DEFAULTSORT:Copleston, Frederick Selwyn British Burma judges 1935 deaths Indian Civil Service (British India) officers People educated at Marlborough College 1850 births Administrators in British Burma English justices of the peace