bay Army: recommended for the C.B. by Lord Elphinstone, who constantly testified to his merits as a first-class commissariat officer: he became General in 1877 and retired after 52 years' service, 45 actually spent in India: died July 4, 1882.
BIRDWOOD, SIR GEORGE CHRISTOPHER MOLESWORTH (1831–)
Born at Belgaum, Dec. 8, 1832, son of General Christopher Birdwood, of the Indian Army (q.v.): educated at Plymouth Grammar School, Dollar Academy and Edinburgh University (M.D.): entered Bombay Medical Service 1854: served in Persian war, 1856–7, and on return to Bombay took a prominent part in the life of the city, influencing, by his great popularity with the leaders of native thought, the endowments which were made to the newly established University: the construction of some of the public buildings: and the carrying out of improvements which have earned for the town and island the title of "Bombay the Beautiful." He was for a time Professor of Anatomy and Physiology, and of Materia Medica and Botany at Grant Medical College: also Curator of the Government Central Museum: Hony. Secy. Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society and of the Agri-Horticultural Society: Registrar of the University: one of the founders of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the designer of the Victoria gardens at Byculla: Sheriff of Bombay, 1846: returning to England on account of ill-health, he joined the staff of the India Office, and was Special Assistant there in the Revenue and Statistical Department from 1878 to 1899, when he retired after two extensions of service beyond the ordinary age limit. He held a leading position in all the principal International Exhibitions from 1857 to 1901: founded Primrose Day: author of Economic Vegetable Products of the Bombay Presidency, 1888; The Industrial Arts of India, 1888; Report on the Old Records of the India Office, 1891: First Letter Book of the East India Company, 1895: of papers on The Genus Boswellia (Frankincense Trees): on Incense, and other articles in Encyc. Brit: and of erudite prefaces and introductions to various well-known works, such as Count d'Alviella's Migrations des Symboles, besides many official reports on economic products, etc.: a prolific contributor to leading journals and reviews, including the Times, the Athenæum, the Quarterly Review, and the Journal of the Society of Arts, the latter containing a great number of his speeches and essays in connexion with the work of the Society. C.S.I., 1877; K.C.I.E., 1877: LL.D. (Cambridge) 1886: Knight of Grace of St. John of Jerusalem.
BIRDWOOD, HERBERT MILLS (1837–)
I.C.S: born May 29, 1837: son of General Christopher Birdwood: educated at Exeter, Edinburgh University, and Peterhouse, Cambridge: wrangler in 1858: Fellow: went to Bombay in the Civil Service, 1859: Under Secretary to the Bombay Government, Judicial and Political Departments, 1863: Registrar of the High Court, Bombay: District Judge; Judicial Commissioner in Sind, 1881: Judge of the Bombay High Court, officiating, and permanently from 1885: Member of Council, Bombay, 1892–7: C.S.I., 1893: edited legal works.
BIRRELL, JAVRIL (1800–1878)
General: born Sep. 15, 1800: entered the E. I. Co's service in 1816: in the first Burmese war, 1825–6: in the Afghan war of 1839–40: at Ghazni, and in the Waziri valley: in the Satlaj campaign of 1845–6, at Firozshahr and Sobraon: General, 1876: died Oct. 27, 1878.
BISSET, SIR WILLIAM SINCLAIR SMITH (1843–)
Colonel: born Nov. 13, 1843: son of Rev. James Bisset,D.D.: educated at Woolwich: joined the Royal Engineers: to India, 1866: entered the Railway Branch, held a number of subordinate appointments connected with railway construction and management: served in the Afghan war, 1878–80: Manager of the Rajputana-Malwa Railway, 1875–84: Agent of the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway, 1884–93: C.I.E., 1888: Secretary to the Government of India, P.W.D., 1893–7, and Director-General of Railways: K.C.I.E., 1897: Government Director of Indian Railway Companies at the India Office, 1897–01: retired from the India Office, 1901: Chairman of the S. Mahratta Railway Co.
