Sir Alexander John Arbuthnot (11 October 1822 – 10 June 1907) was a British official and writer.
Early life
He was born at Farmhill,
County Mayo, the third son of
Alexander Arbuthnot and his second wife Margaret Phoebe Bingham, daughter of George Bingham.
was his brother and Major-General George Bingham Arbuthnot a half-brother. He was uncle of Brigadier-general
Alexander George Arbuthnot.
Arbuthnot was 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. ...
.
Career
Arbuthnot served in
Madras (now
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
) as the director of Public Instruction (1855); he was a key force in the incorporation of
Madras University
The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...
(1857) where he served as the Vice Chancellor from 1871 to 1872; he was the chief secretary to the Madras Government (1862–67); he was a member of the Legislative Council (1867–72); he was a member of the Madras Executive Council; he served on the
Viceroy's Executive Council The Viceroy's Executive Council was the cabinet of the government of British India headed by the Viceroy of India. It is also known as the Council of the Governor-General of India. It was transformed from an advisory council into a cabinet consistin ...
(1875–80); he was acting
Governor of Madras
This is a list of the governors, agents, and presidents of colonial Madras, initially of the English East India Company, up to the end of British colonial rule in 1947.
English Agents
In 1639, the grant of Madras to the English was finalized b ...
, India, for about three months, from 19 February 1872 to 15 May 1872. He later served as a member of the Council of the
Secretary of State for India
His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...
from 1888 to 1893.
Arbuthnot was honoured by the Crown with the titles of Knight Commander of The Most Exalted
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 appointmen ...
(1873) and Companion of The Most Eminent
Order of the Indian Empire
The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:
#Knight Grand Commander (GCIE)
#Knight Commander ( KCIE)
#Companion ( CIE)
No appoi ...
(CIE).
Later life
In 1880 Arbuthnot returned to England, his term on the Executive Council having come to an end. He settled at
Newtown House, near Newbury.
He lived there from 1881. The property, owned to 1879 by Edmund Arbuthnot, then came to him through a family connection, on the death in 1889 of William Chatteris of
Sandleford Priory, whose first wife Anne was Arbuthnot's sister.
Arbuthnot contributed to the ''
Dictionary of National Biography'' from its inception in 1885.
He was a noted amateur
rose
A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...
grower.
Family
Arbuthnot married, firstly, Frederica Eliza Fearon (died 1898), daughter of Robert Bryce Fearon (died 1851) of the
40th Foot
The 40th (the 2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1717 in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunteers ...
. They had no children.
His second wife, married in 1899, was Constance Angelena Milman (died 1936), daughter of
Sir William Milman, 3rd Baronet
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...
.
She was a novelist.
Publications
* ''Select reports of criminal cases determined in the Court of Foujdaree Udalat of Madras'' (1851)
* ''Papers Relating to Public Instruction in the Madras Presidency'' (1855)
* ''Sir Thomas Munro, bart., governor of Madras: selections of his minutes and other official writings'' (1881)
* ''Lord Clive; the foundation of British rule in India'' (1899), with Henry Francis Wilson, Builders of Greater Britain series
* ''Memories of Rugby & India'' (1910), with Constance Arbuthnot
References
External links
*
Image
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arbuthnot, Alexander John
1822 births
1907 deaths
Arbuthnot family
Indian Civil Service (British India) officers
Indian Education Service officers
British non-fiction writers
Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire
Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India
People educated at Rugby School
People from County Clare
Vice Chancellors of the University of Calcutta
Vice Chancellors of the University of Madras
British male writers
Male non-fiction writers
Members of the Council of the Governor General of India