John Keith Stanford OBE MC (29 April 1892 – 24 September 1971) was a British civil servant who worked in Burma and wrote several books on sport, humour, and natural history. Stanford was born in Aldringham, Suffolk and educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

and St. John's College, Oxford. He was commissioned into the

Suffolk Regiment The Suffolk Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army with a history dating back to 1685. It saw service for three centuries, participating in many wars and conflicts, including the First and Second World Wars, before bein ...

in 1915 and was attached to the

Tank Corps An armoured corps (also mechanized corps or tank corps) is a specialized military organization whose role is to conduct armoured warfare. The units belonging to an armoured corps include military staff, and are equipped with tanks and other armo ...

from 1917. At the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he held the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. Appointed to the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...

(Burma services) on 24 October 1919, he arrived in India on 24 December 1919. He married Evelyn Lushington née Hirst just before his move to India but the marriage failed and they had a child in 1922. After a divorce he married his Eleanor, née Davies, in 1927. He held the following positions: * Deputy director of Commercial Intelligence, Calcutta, January 1922. * Services placed at the government of Burma's disposal, June 1923. * Under Secretary Home and Police Department, December 1923. * Officiating Deputy Commissioner, June 1924 *

Registrar A registrar is an official keeper of records made in a register. The term may refer to: Education * Registrar (education), an official in an academic institution who handles student records * Registrar of the University of Oxford, one of the se ...

, High Court, Rangoon, June 1925 * Officiating deputy commissioner, June 1927 * District commissioner of Prome District 1929 * District commissioner of Insein District 1930 * Secretary Revenue Department, Burma, June 1932. * Deputy commissioner for Myitkyina from 1932 to 1936. Following his time in Prome & Insein District, he played a part in the suppression of the Burma Rebellion 1930–31. He was awarded an O.B.E., 1932. He retired in 1938 and then took part in Vernay-

Cutting Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the scal ...

expedition to the North-East Burma Hills. Between 1927 and 1939 he did much ornithological work in Burma. Amongst his other publications was ''The Birds of Northern Burma'' 1938. In 1939, he was commissioned

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in the

National Defence Companies The National Defence Companies of the Territorial Army were a voluntary military reserve force of the British Army, for the purpose of home defence in the event of war. Enlistment was limited to former members of the British Armed Forces between ...

. In 1940, Stanford transferred to the

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equip ...

. He retired in 1945 with the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. His granddaughter Melissa Stanford is the wife of William Pleydell-Bouverie, 9th Earl of Radnor.

List of works

Stanford wrote 27 books, and was a regular contributor to '' The Field'', ''

Shooting Times ''Shooting Times and Country Magazine'', more commonly known as the ''Shooting Times'', is a British shooting, fieldsports, and conservation magazine, published by Future plc. The magazine also features articles on fishing, deer stalking, gamekeep ...

'', ''

Ibis The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...

'', the journal of the

Bombay Natural History Society The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), founded on 15 September 1883, is one of the largest non-governmental organisations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research. It supports many research efforts through grants and publi ...

, and other magazines. He served as a secretary for the Kipling Society and was, for a period, Vice-President of the

British Ornithologists' Union The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds ("ornithology") and around the world, in order to understand their biology and to aid their conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, Henry ...

(BOU). Many of his books are about hunting and shooting,

ornithology Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

, and British colonial life between the world wars. He also enjoyed poetry and his witty ''Rarissima avis'' ("By far the rarest bird of all is the bird on the lawn of my aunt") which he recited often was included in his ''Bewilderment of Birds'' (1954). (dates from Bodleian Library catalogue) *''The Twelfth'' (1944, rev. 1964 as ''The Twelfth and After: being the life and death of

George Hysteron-Proteron Colonel the Hon. George Hysteron-Proteron CB (c. 1874–1942) is a fictional character created by the author J. K. Stanford. A British soldier, sporting gun, and Lord of the manor of Five Mile Wallop, Cambridgeshire, in his London home, the Qu'h ...

'') *''Far Ridges: a record of travel in north-eastern Burma 1938-9'' (1946) *''The Awl-Birds'' (1949) *''Guns Wanted'' (1949) *''Bledgrave Hall'' (1950) *''Reverie of a Qu'Hai, & other Stories'' (1951) *''Last Chukker'' (1951) *''No Sportsman at All'' (1952) *''House of Edward Stanford Ltd. 1852–1952'', by Lt Col J. K. Stanford and E. G. Godfrey (1952) *''Full Moon at Sweatenham: a nightmare'' (1953) *''A Bewilderment of Birds'' (1954) *''British Friesians: A History of the Breed'' (1956) *''Fox Me: the story of a cub'' (1958) *''Jimmy Bundobust'' (1958) *''Death of a Vulpicide'' (1960) *''Ladies in the Sun: the Memsahibs' India, 1790–1860'' (1962) *''Broken Lanterns'' (1962) *''And Some in Horses'' (1965) *''Tail of an Army'' (1966) *''A Keeper's Country'' (1968, re-issued 1989) *''The Complex Gun'' (1968) *''Partridge Shooting''

Sources

External links

Family site

Archival sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanford, J. K Officers of the Order of the British Empire British Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the Military Cross Suffolk Regiment officers Royal Tank Regiment officers Royal Army Ordnance Corps officers 1892 births 1971 deaths British ornithologists 20th-century British zoologists Military personnel from Suffolk Members of the Bombay Natural History Society British people in British Burma