John Keith Stanford
OBE
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 ...
MC (29 April 1892 – 24 September 1971) was a British civil servant who worked in Burma and wrote many books on sport, humour, and natural history.
Stanford was born in Aldringham, Suffolk and educated at
Rugby School
Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England.
Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...
and
St. John's College, Oxford. He was commissioned into the
Suffolk Regiment
The Suffolk Regiment was an infantry regiment Line infantry, of the line in the British Army with a history dating back to 1685. It saw service for three centuries, participating in many wars and conflicts, including the World War I, First and ...
in 1915 and was attached to the
Tank Corps
An armoured corps (also mechanized corps or tank corps) is a specialized military organization whose role is to conduct armoured warfare. The units belonging to an armoured corps include military staff, and are equipped with tanks and other armou ...
from 1917. At the end of the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
he held the rank of
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
. Appointed to the
Indian Civil Service
The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947.
Its members ruled over more than 3 ...
(Burma services) on 24 October 1919, he arrived in India on 24 December 1919. He married Evelyn Lushington née Hirst just before his move to India but the marriage failed and they had a child in 1922. After a divorce he married his Eleanor, née Davies, in 1927.
He held the following positions:
* Deputy director of Commercial Intelligence, Calcutta, January 1922.
* Services placed at the government of Burma's disposal, June 1923.
* Under Secretary Home and Police Department, December 1923.
* Officiating Deputy Commissioner, June 1924
*
Registrar, High Court, Rangoon, June 1925
* Officiating deputy commissioner, June 1927
* District commissioner of Prome District 1929
* District commissioner of Insein District 1930
* Secretary Revenue Department, Burma, June 1932.
* Deputy commissioner for Myitkyina from 1932 to 1936.
Following his time in Prome & Insein District, he played a part in the suppression of the
Burma Rebellion 1930–31. He was awarded an O.B.E., 1932. He retired in 1938 and then took part in
Vernay-
Cutting
Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force.
Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the sca ...
expedition to the North-East Burma Hills. Between 1927 and 1939 he did much ornithological work in Burma. Amongst his other publications was ''The Birds of Northern Burma'' 1938.
In 1939, he was commissioned
lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
in the
National Defence Companies
The National Defence Companies of the Territorial Army were a voluntary military reserve force of the British Army, for the purpose of home defence in the event of war. Enlistment was limited to former members of the British Armed Forces between ...
. In 1940, Stanford transferred to the
Royal Army Ordnance Corps
The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equi ...
. He retired in 1945 with the rank of
lieutenant colonel.
His granddaughter Melissa Stanford is the wife of William Pleydell-Bouverie, 9th Earl of Radnor.
List of works
Stanford wrote 27 books, and was a regular contributor to ''
The Field'', ''
Shooting Times
''Shooting Times & Country Magazine'', more commonly known as the ''Shooting Times'', is a Great Britain, British shooting, fieldsports, and conservation magazine, published by Fieldsports Press Ltd. The magazine also features articles on fishing ...
'', ''
Ibis
The ibis () (collective plural ibises; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...
'', the journal of the
Bombay Natural History Society
The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), founded on 15 September 1883, is one of the largest non-governmental organisations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research. It supports many research efforts through grants and publ ...
, and other magazines. He served as a secretary for the Kipling Society and was, for a period, Vice-President of the
British Ornithologists' Union
The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds (ornithology) around the world in order to understand their biology and aid their conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, Henry Baker ...
(BOU).
Many of his books are about
hunting and shooting,
ornithology
Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...
, and British colonial life between the world wars. He also enjoyed poetry and his witty ''Rarissima avis'' ("By far the rarest bird of all is the bird on the lawn of my aunt") which he recited often was included in his ''Bewilderment of Birds'' (1954).
(dates from Bodleian Library catalogue)
*''The Twelfth'' (1944, rev. 1964 as ''The Twelfth and After: being the life and death of
George Hysteron-Proteron
Colonel the Hon. George Hysteron-Proteron CB (c. 1874–1942) is a fictional character created by the author J. K. Stanford. A British soldier, sporting gun, and lord of the manor of Five Mile Wallop, Cambridgeshire, in his St James's home, the ...
'')
*''Far Ridges: a record of travel in north-eastern Burma 1938–9'' (1946)
*''The Awl-Birds'' (1949)
*''Guns Wanted'' (1949)
*''Bledgrave Hall'' (1950)
*''Reverie of a Qu'Hai, & other Stories'' (1951)
*''Last Chukker'' (1951)
*''No Sportsman at All'' (1952)
*''House of Edward Stanford Ltd. 1852–1952'', by Lt Col J. K. Stanford and E. G. Godfrey (1952)
*''Full Moon at Sweatenham: a nightmare'' (1953)
*''A Bewilderment of Birds'' (1954)
*''British Friesians: A History of the Breed'' (1956)
*''Fox Me: the story of a cub'' (1958)
*''Jimmy Bundobust'' (1958)
*''The Wandering Gun'' (1960)
*''Death of a