Maurice Vidal Portman (21 March 1860 – 14 February 1935) was a British

naval officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent contex ...

, who is best known for documenting several Andamanese tribes between 1879 and 1901 when he was posted as a superintendent of the Andaman Island Penal Colony.

Life and career

Portman was born in Canada, the third son of Maurice Berkeley Portman and Helen Vidal Harris. His father was in turn the third son of

Edward Portman, 1st Viscount Portman Edward Berkeley Portman, 1st Viscount Portman (9 July 1799 – 19 November 1888) was a British Whig politician. He was an active supporter of the Royal Agricultural Society of England from its commencement in 1838, and served as president in 184 ...

, and Emma Portman, Baroness Portman. He joined the

Royal Indian Marine Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

at the age of 16 and was some time in charge of the Viceroy's yacht. In July 1879 he was stationed at

Port Blair Port Blair () is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headquarters for the district of South An ...

in the Andaman Islands and made Officer in Charge of the Andamanese, a post which he held for more than 20 years with few interruptions (including December 1880 to December 1883 on sick leave, March 1887 to March 1888 on furlough).

Port Blair

During his time as a colonial administrator at Port Blair, Portman took a large number of photographs of the Andamanese, including some at the request of

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

(at his own expense) and the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

(on payment). Portman also undertook an expedition to

North Sentinel Island North Sentinel Island is one of the Andaman Islands, an Indian archipelago in the Bay of Bengal which also includes South Sentinel Island. It is home to the Sentinelese, an indigenous people in voluntary isolation who have defended, often by ...

to contact the previously uncontacted tribe inhabiting the island. During the expedition, the Sentinelese fled at the sight of the expedition, though his party kidnapped two adults and four children, taking them to the capital of the

South Andaman Island South Andaman Island is the southernmost island of the Great Andaman and is home to the majority of the population of the Andaman Islands. It belongs to the South Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman an ...

. The adults died of illness soon after reaching Port Blair, and Portman ordered the children to be sent back with a large number of gifts after a few weeks. (1935)
Obituary – Mr. M.V. Portman – 'Father' of Andaman Islanders
". ''The Times of London'', 22 February 1935. Reproduced by G. Weber in

'', Appendix A The illness carried by the returning children, who had acquired them in Port Blair, has been suggested by some as the cause of the hostility displayed by the Sentinelese towards outsiders. During his time as a colonial administrator, Portman noted the devastating impact outside diseases, such as

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

, had on the Andamanese. Portman continued to take photographs of the Andamanese in Port Blair until the end of his stay in the island, documenting information about their

anthropological Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

details, showing a marked interest in measuring the penises of the Andamanese. A significant portion of his photography involved posing the Andamanese in mock-Greek

homoerotic Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be temporary, whereas "homose ...

compositions. Portman repeatedly praised the male Andamanese body, writing that "many of the men are very good-looking; as they have none of the thick lips, high cheekbones, and flat noses of the negro type; though the women are rather of the

Hottentot Venus Sarah Baartman (; 1789– 29 December 1815), also spelt Sara, sometimes in the diminutive form Saartje (), or Saartjie, and Bartman, Bartmann, was a Khoikhoi woman who was exhibited as a freak show attraction in 19th-century Europe under the n ...

order of beauty". The plates made by Portman are now scattered among several museums around the world and may be partly unpublished. He also wrote two books, ''Notes of the Languages of the South Andaman Group of Languages'' (1898)Portman, M.V. (1898), ''Notes of the Languages of the South Andaman Group of Languages'' and ''A History of Our Relations with the Andamanese'' (1899).Portman, M.V. (1899), '' A history of our Relations with the Andamanese''
Volume I
an
Volume II
Office of the Government Printing, Calcutta, India. Portman also composed a significant collection of ethnographic objects during his time on the Andaman Islands that are now in the collections of the

.British Museum Collection
/ref>

Later life

His obituary stated that he had a "frail physique" and suffered from ill health. After retiring as an invalid in 1901, he went back to Britain where he did some journalism and "some valuable Secret Service work" during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was a member of the Union Club. He never married and left no descendants.

References

External links

* *13-volume collection of photos held at the British Library: ''Andamanese Islanders'' (1893)
Volume IVolume IIVolume IIIVolume IVVolume VVolume VIVolume VIIVolume VIIIVolume IXVolume XVolume XIVolume XIIVolume XIII
(Portman Collection) {{DEFAULTSORT:Portman, Maurice Vidal 1860 births 1935 deaths People from Axbridge Royal Indian Navy officers Andaman and Nicobar Islands Maurice Vidal Linguists