Sir Bryce Chudleigh Burt (29 April 1881 – 2 January 1943) was an administrator in India during the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. He was awarded a knighthood on 1 January 1936. He was previously been made a Companion of the

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 (:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire, ...

in 1930 and a Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1919.

Life and career

Bryce Chudleigh Burt was born on 29 April 1881 at

Newark-on-Trent Newark-on-Trent () or Newark is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...

, England. He was educated at the Merchant Venturers' School, Bristol. Subsequently, he obtained a first class honours BSc (chemistry) from

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. Beginning his career as an assistant lecturer at

Liverpool University The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University, it received Royal Charter by King Edward VII in 1903 attaining the de ...

, before moving to India, Burt was the assistant government chemist and lecturer in tropical agriculture in Trinidad between 1904 and 1908. Based in

Cawnpore Kanpur ( Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary financial and commercial centre of northern India. Founded ...

, he was deputy director of agriculture for

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

from 1908 to 1921, having previously spent time collecting and classifying types of Indian wheat. From 1935 he was vice-chairman of the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research (later known as the

Indian Council of Agricultural Research The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is an autonomous body responsible for co-ordinating agricultural education and research in India. It reports to the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Ministry of Agriculture. Th ...

), for which he had been agricultural expert between 1929 and 1935. Having served as secretary between 1921 and 1928, he became president of the Indian Central Cotton Committee, a representative of the

Asiatic Society The Asiatic Society is an organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of " Oriental research" (in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions). It was founded by the philologist Will ...

on the Council of the National Institute of Sciences of India, and President of the Indian

Lac Lac may refer to: Places Africa * Lac Region, a district in Chad * Lac Prefecture, a district in Chad America * Rivière du Lac, a tributary of the Montmorency River, in Capitale-Nationale, Quebec, Canada Europe * Laç, a city in Albania * Lac ...

Cess Committee. In addition, between 1936 and 1938 he served as the first president of the Indian Central Jute Committee (ICJC) and was the first chairman of the Indian Coffee Cess Committee. CIRCOT as on 2016

Secretary of ICCC

During 1921, McKenna committee (a representative body of the British Cotton Growing Association), recommended the Indian Central Cotton Committee (ICCC) to appoint Sir Chudleigh Burt Bryce, as its first secretary. The government of India set up the Cotton Committee for improving the production and marketing of Indian cotton. Today, ICCC wields a beneficent influence throughout India. Incidentally, he would have been the first to acknowledge the efficiency with which

Arthur James Turner Arthur James Turner, CBE, FTI (1889 – October 1971) was a British scientist who worked in the field of textile technology. He was the first director of the Technological Laboratory created by the Indian Central Cotton Committee (ICCC) in Bom ...

, established the Technological Laboratory, and controlled the technical research laboratories, belonging to the committee. Sir Bryce served 7 years.

Later life

Burt had an

Armstrong Siddeley Armstrong Siddeley was a British engineering group that operated during the first half of the 20th century. It was formed in 1919 and is best known for the production of luxury vehicles and aircraft engines. The company was created following t ...

Saloon De Luxe car (either a 12 Plus or 14 HP model) shipped to India in April 1936 and he left that country in April 1939. He lived at Allison Road,

Rhos-on-Sea Rhos-on-Sea () is a seaside resort and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The population was 7,593 at the 2011 census. It adjoins Colwyn Bay and is named after the Welsh kingdom of Rhos established there in late Roman Britain as a sub- ...

, Wales, in his latter years and died on 1 January 1943 at

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay () is a town, Community (Wales), community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Denbighshire (h ...

. Since leaving India he had been director of animal feeding stuffs for the

Ministry of Food Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

Awards

* Burt was awarded the

Kaiser-i-Hind Medal The Kaisar-i-Hind Medal for Public Service in India was a medal awarded by the Emperor/Empress of India between 1900 and 1947, to "any person without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex ... who shall have distinguished himself (o ...

(1912) * He was elected as a fellow of the

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three b ...

in 1930.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burt, Bryce Chudleigh Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Administrators in British India Members of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy 1881 births 1943 deaths People from Newark-on-Trent People from Kanpur Alumni of University College London Recipients of the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal Alumni of the University of Liverpool Indian Council of Agricultural Research Trinidad and Tobago scientists People from Colwyn Bay 20th-century British civil servants British people in colonial India Indian Civil Service (British India) officers 20th-century British chemists