![Harry Charles Purvis Bell portrait ~1890](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Harry_Charles_Purvis_Bell_portrait_~1890.jpg)
Harry Charles Purvis Bell,
CCS (21 September 1851 – 6 September 1937), more often known as HCP Bell, was a British civil servant and the first
Commissioner of Archaeology in Ceylon.
Early life
Born 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 ...
in 1851, he was sent to England for his education at
Cheltenham College
("Work Conquers All")
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public school Independent School Day and Boarding School
, religion = Church of England
, president =
, head_label = Head
, head = Nicola Hugget ...
.
Civil service career
Without going to university, Bell came to Ceylon as a civil officer in the
Ceylon Civil Service and went on to serve as a
customs officer
A customs officer is a law enforcement agent who enforces customs laws, on behalf of a government.
Canada
Canadian customs officers are members of the Canada Border Services Agency. It was created in 2003 and preceded by the Canada Customs and ...
. He thereafter served as a
District Judge.
Archaeology
Appointed an official archaeologist, in July 1890 the
Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019
The Governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonialism, colonial powers:
Portuguese Ceylon
* List of Captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551)
* List of Captain-majors of ...
, Sir
Arthur Gordon, appointed Bell as the first Archaeological Commissioner and Head of the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon. he carried out many excavations in Ceylon (now
Sri Lanka) for the Archaeological Survey during an appointment running from 1890 to 1912 and claimed to dig treasures hidden in the
Sigiriya
Sigiriya or Sinhagiri (''Lion Rock'' si, සීගිරිය, ta, சிகிரியா/சிங்ககிரி, pronounced see-gi-ri-yə) is an ancient rock fortress located in the northern Matale District near the town of Dambull ...
and sent to England.
After retirement, he also investigated the
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
and
epigraphy of the
Maldives
Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...
, where he had been earlier in his life.
and studied the linguistics of the Maldivian language. Bell had developed a good friendship with the king of the Maldives, who put his own royal schooner ''Fath-ul-Majid'' at his disposition to carry out archaeological research in certain atolls south of Malé.
More Information
Harry Charles Purvis Bell (1851-1937) was the son of a Major-General of Irish/Scottish descent, who was stationed in India. He was sent to England in 1864 for a public school education at Cheltenham College. After schooling, he did not enter University but spent two years tutored by a ‘Crammer’ who specialised in preparing students for the Civil Service examinations. He sat for the examination and passed it, being posted to the Ceylon Civil Service (CCS) in 1873. After several miscellaneous postings within the CCS, Governor Gordon appointed him in 1890 as the first Archaeological Commissioner and Head of the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon. Incidentally it was called a ‘Survey’ and not a department as the Government then believed that all items of archaeological interest could be completely surveyed in about twenty years and after that all operations could cease. Bell continued in the post of Archaeological Commissioner until 1912 when he retired after nearly forty years of service. Although during this period of time he was entitled to several paid furloughs in Britain, he never availed of them, preferring to spend his leave in Ceylon. Bell was married to Renee Sabine Fyers, the daughter of A. B. Fyers, the eighth Surveyor General of Ceylon, they had three sons and three daughters. After his retirement he chose to live in Kandy, where he died in 1937.
Works
*
* ''The Maldive Islands. Report on a Visit to Málé, Colombo'', 1921.
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See also
* Judiciary of the Maldives
Notes
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Harry Charles Purvis
1851 births
1937 deaths
People educated at Cheltenham College
British people in colonial India
Scientists from Kolkata
British archaeologists
Maldivian culture
British civil servants in Ceylon
20th-century archaeologists
Historians of Sri Lanka