Henry George Impey Siddons (1851 – 18 September 1936) was an Indian educationist. He was born in

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is t ...

, India and died on 18 September 1936 at

Bath, Somerset Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

, England.

Career

Siddons was educated at the

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and then he returned to India, where his father had been a Captain in the Indian Army. He was the first headmaster of Mohammadan Anglo Oriental College (M. A. O. College) between 1875 and 1884 which later on became

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

. In 1880,

Sir Auckland Colvin Sir Auckland Colvin (1838–1908) was a colonial administrator in India and Egypt, born into the Anglo-Indian Colvin family. He was comptroller general in Egypt (1880–2), and financial adviser to the Khedive (1883–87). From 1883–92 he ...

laid the foundation stone of the Colvin Taluqdars School at Lucknow. When functional, Siddons became the first principal of this as well. The debating club

Siddons Union Club Siddons Union Club, commonly referred to as 'The Siddons Union', was established in the year 1884 at Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College, the present day Aligarh Muslim University. The club was named after Henry George Impey Siddons, the first pri ...

at M. A. O. College was named after him. He was succeeded by

Theodore Beck Theodore Beck (4 July 1859 – 2 September 1899Buckland, C. E., ''Dictionary of Indian biography'', 1906) was a Quaker and British educationalist working for the British Raj in India. From 1883 until his death in 1899 he was Principal of Muha ...

Family

Siddons was the posthumous son of William Young Siddons, a Captain in Indian Army and Susan Mary Earle. He was descendant of actress

Sarah Siddons Sarah Siddons (''née'' Kemble; 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831) was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified". She was the elder sister of John ...

(1755-1831). He bequested a portrait by Thomas Beach of his ancestor

Roger Kemble Roger Kemble (1 March 1721 – 6 December 1802) was an English theatre manager, strolling player and actor. In 1753, he married Irish actress Sarah "Sally" Ward (1735–1806) at Cirencester, Gloucestershire, and they had thirteen children, who f ...

to the Victoria Art Gallery, Bath

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siddons, Henry George Impey Academic staff of Aligarh Muslim University 1851 births 1936 deaths Alumni of the University of Oxford People from Bath, Somerset