Cecil Earle Tyndale-Biscoe (9 February 1863 – 1 August 1949) was a British

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

and

educationist Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education also fol ...

, who worked in

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

where he established the famous

Tyndale Biscoe School Tyndale Biscoe School is a school in the Sheikh Bagh neighbourhood, in the Lal Chowk area of Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. The school was founded in 1880 CE and is one of the oldest schools in Jammu and Kash ...

Life

Biscoe was born at Holton near

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, England, into a land-owning family, the son of William Earle Biscoe and his wife Elizabeth Carey Sandeman.the Peerage.com
/ref> He was educated at

Bradfield College Bradfield College is a coeducational public school (independent boarding and day school) for pupils aged 13–18, in the village of Bradfield, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It is noted for its open-air Greek theatre and its trien ...

, and then

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

. At university he coxed the winning

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

crew in the 1884

Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. It is also known as the Uni ...

. In 1885 he coxed the winning Jesus College crew in the

Grand Challenge Cup The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing (sport), rowing competition for men's eight (rowing), eights. It is the oldest and best-known event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male cr ...

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

. After being awarded a BA, he was ordained as a priest of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. After a short time working in London's East End, in 1890 Tyndale-Biscoe was appointed to a missionary school in Kashmir by the

Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British Anglican mission society working with Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as ...

. left, Holton Cottage in Kashmir Tyndale-Biscoe married Blanche Violet Burges, daughter of Reverend Richard B. Burges, on 2 November 1891 and had four children. When Irene Petrie joined the mission she stayed with them at Holton Cottage.Jeffrey Cox, 'Petrie, Irene Eleanora Verita (1864–1897)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 18 June 2017
/ref> In the late 19th century, Kashmir was a princely state made up of a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

majority ruled by a

Maharaja Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...

and his

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

minority. The Maharaja often utilized the services of British and European experts, though Kashmir was an independent kingdom. Seeing the squalid conditions and

caste system A caste is a fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (endogamy), foll ...

as a serious problem, Tyndale-Biscoe aimed to use his own

Christian values Christian values historically refers to values derived from the teachings of Jesus Christ. The term has various applications and meanings, and specific definitions can vary widely between denominations, geographical locations, historical context ...

and

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

civic ideals to improve Kashmiri society. Although he did not actively pursue conversions as much as his missionary backers would have liked, Tyndale-Biscoe was a convinced

imperialist Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power ( diplomatic power and cultural imperialism). Imperialism fo ...

and supporter of the India Defence League. Tyndale-Biscoe's educational philosophy was one in which conspicuous intellect, or "cleverness", was valued less than the acquisition of more profound attributes and abilities. His schooling placed emphasis on physical activities –

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

boating Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, suc ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

– which would stimulate senses of

courage Courage (also called bravery, valour ( British and Commonwealth English), or valor (American English)) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in ...

masculinity Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there i ...

and

physical fitness Physical fitness is a state of health and well-being and, more specifically, the ability to perform aspects of Outline of sports, sports, occupations, and daily activities. Physical fitness is generally achieved through proper nutrition, modera ...

. The pupils were also engaged in civic duties, such as street-cleaning, and in helping deal with

flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant concern in agriculture, civi ...

and

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

. Enforcing participation in team sports and activities in a highly socially stratified culture had significance beyond the replication of Tyndale-Biscoe's English public school educational experience. By his later years, Tyndale-Biscoe had founded six schools with 1,800 students. In 1912 he received the

Kaisar-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 ...

, and an additional bar in 1929. After Indian independence, he left for what was then known as

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

, where he died in 1949.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyndale-Biscoe, Cecil Earle 1863 births 1949 deaths People educated at Bradfield College Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Cambridge University Boat Club rowers British male rowers British coxswains (rowing) British educational theorists British Anglican missionaries Anglican missionaries in India British missionary educators

Life

See also

Notes