Sir James Braithwaite Peile (27 April 1833 – 25 April 1906) was a British administrator during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, who served as the acting

Governor of Bombay Until the 18th century, Bombay consisted of seven islands separated by shallow sea. These seven islands were part of a larger archipelago in the Arabian sea, off the western coast of India. The date of city's founding is unclear—historians tr ...

in March 1885.

Life

Born in Liverpool, Peile was educated at

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school in the English Public school (United Kingdom), public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, ...

, where his father, Thomas Braithwaite Peile, was headmaster,''Dictionary of National Biography'', 1912 supplement, vol. 3, ed. Sidney Lee, p. 95 and then went up to

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

. He was appointed to the Bombay civil service in 1855. He held a number of positions over the following thirty years, including municipal commissioner of Bombay, political agent in

Kathiawar Kathiawar () is a peninsula, near the far north of India's west coast, of about bordering the Arabian Sea. It is bounded by the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest and by the Gulf of Khambhat (Gulf of Cambay) in the east. In the northeast, it is ...

, and vice-chancellor of Bombay University. He was offered, but declined, the position of commissioner of

Sind Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

. After a career mostly spent in Bombay, he retired in 1887 and was appointed to the

Council of India The Council of India was the name given at different times to two separate bodies associated with British rule in India. The original Council of India was established by the Charter Act of 1833 as a council of four formal advisors to the Governor ...

, a position he held for a further fifteen years. Politically, he supported increased devolution of powers to the Indian provinces and a limited increase in Indian participation in the civil service. His son,

James Peile James Hamilton Francis Peile (2 August 1863 – 4 April 1940 was an eminent Anglican priest in the first half of the twentieth century. Peile was educated at Harrow School, Harrow and matriculated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford in 1882, grad ...

, became a clergyman, later

Archdeacon of Warwick The Archdeacon of Warwick (now called Archdeacon Missioner) is the senior ecclesiastical officer in charge of the archdeaconry of Warwick in the Diocese of Coventry. The Archdeaconry of Warwick has five Deaneries which centre on Warwick and Leami ...

and

Archdeacon of Worcester The Archdeacon of Worcester is a senior clergy position in the Diocese of Worcester in the Church of England. Among the archdeacon's responsibilities is the care of clergy and church buildings within the area of the Archdeaconry of Worcester. Hi ...

. His first cousin was the philologist

John Peile John Peile (24 April 1838 – 9 October 1910) was an English philologist. Life He was born at Whitehaven, the son of geologist Williamson Peile, F.G.S., who died when his son was five years old.Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement ...

References

''The India List and India Office List'' (1905)
p. 585 * Governors of Bombay 1833 births 1906 deaths People from Liverpool Knights Bachelor {{UK-diplomat-stub