Roper Lethbridge

Sir Roper Lethbridge KCIE (23 December 1840 – 15 February 1919) was a British academic and civil servant in India and a Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1892.

Roper Lethbridge KCIE
Member of the United Kingdom Parliament for Kensington North
In office 1885–1892
Preceded by	New constituency
Succeeded by	Frederick Frye
Personal details
Born	23 December 1840
Died	15 February 1919 (aged 78)
Political party	Conservative
Education	Exeter College, Oxford

Early life and education

Lethbridge was the son of E. Lethbridge of Ste. Addresse, France. He was educated at Exeter College, Oxford and entered Inner Temple in 1864.

Career

He was appointed a Professor in the Bengal Educational Department in 1868, and became a Fellow of University of Calcutta and Secretary of Simla Educational Commission. He was Editor of the Calcutta Quarterly Review from 1871 to 1878. In 1877, he moved to the Indian Political Department, as Political Agent, 1st class, and was appointed Press Commissioner in 1878 when he was awarded Companion of the Indian Empire. He was knighted in 1885. Lethbridge was Hon. Member of the Anjuman-i-Punjab, a Member of the Asiatic Society and the Asiatic Society of Bengal and a Member of Council of East Indian Association and of the National Indian Association.[1]

At the 1885 general election Lethbridge was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kensington North.[2] He was re-elected in 1886 held the seat until he stood down at the 1892 election.[2] He was awarded a KCIE in the 1890 Birthday Honours.

Lethbridge wrote several works about India which have been considered to be of sufficient value to republish.

Lethbridge died at the age of 78.

Personal life

Lethbridge married Eliza Finlay in 1865. Their daughter Caroline married Frederick Gorell Barnes. He married his second wife Emma Neave in 1897.[3] They lived at Cornwall Terrace, Regent's Park, London.[4]

Publications

• A Short Manual of the History of India (1881)[5]
• Lethbridge, Roper, Sir (1893). The History of India. London : Macmillan.
• Lethbridge, Roper (November 2006). The Indian Offer of Imperial Preference PS King 1913 and Read Books, 2006. ISBN 1-4067-2001-1.
• The Golden Book of India: A Genealogical and Biographical Dictionary of the Ruling Princes, Chiefs, Nobles, and Other Personages, Titled Or Decorated of the Indian Empire. Aakar Books. 2005. ISBN 81-87879-54-8.
• Swadeshi and British Fiscal Policy
• Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries 1919

References

1. Debretts House of Commons and Judicial Bench 1886
2. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 27. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
3. the Peerage,com
4. "Cornwall Terrace". Archived from the original on 12 October 2012.
5. "Review of A Short Manual of the History of India by Roper Lethbridge". Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art. 52 (1342): 83–84. 16 July 1881.

External links

• Media related to Roper Lethbridge at Wikimedia Commons
• Works by or about Roper Lethbridge at Internet Archive
• Works written by or about Roper Lethbridge at Wikisource
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Roper Lethbridge