Rickards, as a sound theologian of high character, many of his clerical brethren looked up for counsel and guidance in the controversies by which his times were marked.
He died at Stowlangtoft rectory on 24 Aug. 1865. He married on 6 Oct. 1821, and left a daughter Lucy. He was the author of: ‘Hymns for Private Devotion for the Sundays and Saints' Days,’ 1825; ‘The Christian Householder, or Guide to Family Prayer,’ 1830; and other small devotional works, besides ‘Poems,’ 1870.
[Rivington's Ecclesiastical Year Book, 1866, p. 332; Mozley's Reminiscences, 1882, ii. 78–91; Gent. Mag. 1865, ii. 650; Men of the Time, 1865, p. 694; Julian's Dict. of Hymnology; Foster's Alumni Oxon. 1715–1886; Literary Churchman, 1 Feb. 1858, p. 51; Notes and Queries, 3rd ser. 1865, viii. 249, 357, 8th ser. 1895, vii. 149, 454.]
RICKETTS, Sir HENRY (1802–1886), Indian civil servant, third son of George William Ricketts, was born at Lainston, near Winchester, on 25 March 1802. He was educated at Winchester College, and at the East India College, Haileybury, and entered the Bengal civil service in 1821. After passing some years in subordinate offices in the revenue and judicial departments, he was in 1827 appointed collector, and immediately afterwards judge and magistrate of the Cuttack district. In the following year he was transferred to Balasor, where he was employed in conducting a settlement of the land revenue of the district. In October 1831 the district was devastated by a hurricane, accompanied by an inundation of the sea, and resulting in the loss of twenty-two thousand lives. From that time until the hot weather of 1832 Ricketts was actively employed in mitigating the sufferings of the people by distributing food and clothing, advancing cash and seed, and stimulating cultivation, when on 7 Oct. of that year his efforts were frustrated by another gale even more violent than that of the previous year, and attended with great loss of life. The energy displayed by Ricketts in coping with these disasters, and subsequently in dealing with disturbances in the tributary states of Morbhanj and Nilghar, was highly appreciated by the government, and in 1836 Ricketts, though a civil servant of only fifteen years' standing, was appointed commissioner of Cuttack. It devolved upon him in that capacity to co-operate with the Madras authorities in suppressing a serious insurrection of the Kunds in Gumsur, and in inducing the tribes to abandon the custom of human sacrifices. This measure was not accomplished without opposition on the part of the chiefs. At the close of the insurrection Ricketts received the cordial thanks of the Madras government, especially for having effected the capture of Dora Bissoye, the leading insurgent, and thereby secured the peace and tranquillity of the disturbed district.
In 1839 Ricketts was compelled by ill-health to visit England. He returned to India late in 1840, and in February 1841 he was appointed special commissioner of the Chittagong division, with orders to carry out a much-needed resettlement of the land revenue. This important work was completed in 1848, and elicited high commendation from the government of Bengal and from the court of directors. In 1849 he was appointed a member of the board of revenue, and held that office until 1856. His attention had been for some years attracted to the ignorance of the native languages and of the laws manifested by many of the junior civil servants. While serving on the board he recommended the introduction of a system of examinations designed to test their practical qualifications. This system was introduced in 1853, and has since been continued with benefit to the public service.
In 1856 Ricketts was appointed commissioner for the revision of civil salaries and establishments throughout India, a very laborious and invidious duty which occupied him until September 1858. In the performance of this duty Ricketts visited the headquarters of every presidency and province in India, consulting the local authorities, and recording the result of his inquiries in a report which comprehended within its scope every branch of the civil administration. It dealt separately with 150 offices and classes of offices, embracing 2,625 officers, and explained the reasons for proposing increase or decrease of salary in each case. The result of his proposals, on the whole, was an increase of 981,451 rupees per annum; but he showed that if several proposed increases were rejected, there would be an annual saving of 931,086 rupees. The press of work occasioned by the mutiny prevented any immediate action being taken on the report, and as to many of the recommendations there was much difference of opinion; but the work, as a whole, was cordially approved by the government of India. The report is full of information on the vast range of subjects with which it deals, and embodies suggestions on important administrative questions, several of which, though opposed at the time, have
