Sir Thomas Pycroft KCSI (4 December 1807 – 29 January 1892) was a British administrator and civil servant who served as a member of the

Madras Legislative Council Tamil Nadu Legislative Council was the upper house of the former bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It began its existence as Madras Legislative Council, the first provincial legislature for Madras Presidency. It was initia ...

from 1862 to 1867.

Early life

Thomas Pycroft was born in the parish of St John,

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

to barrister Thomas Pycroft and his wife Mary Pycroft on 4 December 1807. He was the elder brother of British writer

James Pycroft James Pycroft (1813 – 10 March 1895) is chiefly known for writing ''The Cricket Field'', one of the earliest books about cricket, published in 1851. Pycroft mythologised cricket as a noble, manly and essentially British activity ("Cricket is e ...

. He was schooled privately and at

Bath Grammar School King Edward's School (KES), Bath, Somerset, England is an independent co-educational day school providing education for 1,016 pupils aged 3 to 18. The school is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school was establi ...

and graduated M.A. from

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

in 1829. On completion of his education, he was offered a "writership" by the President of the Board of Control of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

Career

Pycroft arrived in Madras in August 1829 and served, initially, as a writer and then, in the revenue and judicial departments in

South Arcot South Arcot District was a district in the Madras Presidency of British India. It covered the area of the present-day districts of Cuddalore, Kallakurichi and Viluppuram in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The district was divided into eight tal ...

from 1829 to 1839 when he returned to the United Kingdom. In 1843, Pycroft came back to India after a three-year hiatus and was transferred to the Madras secretariat. Pycroft was initially appointed Sub-Secretary and then, promoted to Secretary of the Revenue Department in 1845. The very same year, he was appointed acting Tamil translator to the Madras government. Pycroft became Chief Secretary in 1855 and served from 1855 till 1862 when he nominated to the Madras Legislative Council. Pycroft served as a member of the council for five terms from 1862 to 1867.

Death and family

Pycroft died at

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

on 29 January 1892 at the age of 84. His eldest son, Henry Thomas Pycroft (1842–1909), was the father of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

ornithologist Arthur Pycroft (1875–1971).

Honours

In the 1866 Birthday Honours, Pycroft was made a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes: # Knight Grand Commander (GCSI) # Knight Commander ( KCSI) # Companion ( CSI) No appointments ...

. In Madras, the street in which he lived was named Pycroft's Road in his honour.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pycroft, Thomas 1807 births 1892 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India Members of the Madras Legislative Council