Sir George William David Stark Forrest (1845–1926) was a British educator, journalist and historian, in India from 1872 to 1900.

Life

He was the second son of

George Forrest George Forrest may refer to: * G. Topham Forrest (George Topham Forrest, 1872–1945), principal architect for the London County Council *George Forrest (author) (1915–1999), American author and musician *George Forrest (botanist) (1873–1932), ...

VC, born at Nasirabad, Ajmer. He matriculated at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

in 1866, graduating B.A. in 1870. He entered the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1872, but was not

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call t ...

. He began to write for periodicals including the '' Saturday Review''. As a journalist, he was known for work published in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its s ...

'', particularly a scoop in 1880 with the Battle of Maiwand. Forrest was appointed to Bombay Educational Department, late in 1872. He was Census Commissioner at Bombay in 1882. He was seconded to work on the Bombay Records, 1884-8, becoming Professor of English History,

Elphinstone College Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1823, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the ed ...

, in 1887. He was Director, Bombay Records, in 1888, Assistant Secretary, Government of India, and Director, Government of India Records, 1894–1900. In bad health, Forrest returned to the United Kingdom in 1900. He went in 1904 to Iffley Turn House just outside Oxford, was knighted in 1913, and died there on 28 January 1926.

Works

Forrest published books: *''Selections from the Official Writings of Mountstuart Elphinstone'' (1884) *''Selections from the State Papers in the Foreign Department'' (1890) *''The Administration of the Marquis of Lansdowne as Viceroy and Governor'' (1894) *''Sepoy Generals'' (1901) *''Cities of India Past and Present'' (1903) *''History of the Indian Mutiny'' (1904–1912, 3 vols.), a documentary history. John Laband wrote in 1976 of historiography of the Indian rebellion of 1857 in terms of "the voluminous literature of British historians such as Kaye,

Holmes Holmes may refer to: Name * Holmes (surname) * Holmes (given name) * Baron Holmes, noble title created twice in the Peerage of Ireland * Chris Holmes, Baron Holmes of Richmond (born 1971), British former swimmer and life peer Places In the ...

and G. W. Forrest." Rudrangshu Mukherjee, writing in 2008, stated that "Much of what we write and say today about 1857 is possible because of the work of Ramesh_Chundra_Majumdar_and_ Ramesh_Chundra_Majumdar_and_Sashi_Bhusan_Chaudhuri">S_B_Chaudhuri.html" ;"title="Sashi_Bhusan_Chaudhuri.html" ;"title="R._C._Majumdar.html" ;"title="urendra Nath Sen, Ramesh_Chundra_Majumdar_and_Sashi_Bhusan_Chaudhuri">S_B_Chaudhuri">Sashi_Bhusan_Chaudhuri.html"_;"title="R._C._Majumdar.html"_;"title="urendra_Nath_Sen,_R._C._Majumdar">Ramesh_Chundra_Majumdar_and_Sashi_Bhusan_Chaudhuri">S_B_Chaudhuriand_of_the_great_narratives_produced_in_the_second_half_of_the_19th_century_and_early_20th_century_by_Charles_Ball,_John_William_Kaye.html" ;"title="R. C. Majumdar">Ramesh Chundra Majumdar and Sashi Bhusan Chaudhuri">S B Chaudhuri">Sashi_Bhusan_Chaudhuri.html" ;"title="R._C._Majumdar.html" ;"title="urendra Nath Sen, R. C. Majumdar">Ramesh Chundra Majumdar and Sashi Bhusan Chaudhuri">S B Chaudhuriand of the great narratives produced in the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century by Charles Ball, John William Kaye">John Kaye, G W Forrest and others." *''Selections from the Travels and Journals Preserved in the Bombay Secretariat'' (1906) *''Life of Field-Marshal Sir Neville Chamberlain, G.C.B., G.C.S.I.'' (1909), on Neville Bowles Chamberlain. *''Selections from the State Papers of the Governors-General of India: Warren Hastings'' (2 vols., 1910) *''Life of Lord Roberts'' (1914) *''The Life of Lord Clive'' (2 vols., 1918) *''Selections from the State Papers of the Governors-General of India: Lord Cornwallis'' (2 vols., 1926) Other works were: *''The Famine in India'' (1897), pamphlet *Articles on the

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...

of India in the '' Bombay Gazette''.

Family

In 1877 Forrest married Emma Georgina Viner, daughter of Thomas Viner of Crawley, Sussex. They had a son and a daughter.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forrest, George William David Stark 1845 births 1926 deaths 19th-century British historians English journalists 20th-century British historians