Sir Roper Lethbridge (23 December 1840 – 15 February 1919) was a British academic and civil servant in India and a Conservative Party politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1885 to 1892.

Early life and education

Lethbridge was the son of E. Lethbridge of Ste. Addresse, France. He was educated at

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

and entered

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1864.

Career

He was appointed a professor in the Bengal Educational Department in 1868, and became a Fellow of

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

and Secretary of

Simla Shimla, also known as Simla (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summe ...

Educational Commission. He was Editor of the ''Calcutta Quarterly Review'' from 1871 to 1878. In 1877, he moved to the Indian Political Department as Political Agent, 1st class, and was appointed Press Commissioner in 1878 when he was awarded Companion of the Indian Empire. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 1885. Lethbridge was Hon. Member of the Anjuman-i-Punjab, a Member 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 ...

and the

Asiatic Society of Bengal 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 ...

and a Member of Council of East Indian Association and of the National Indian Association. At the 1885 general election Lethbridge was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Kensington North Kensington North was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Kensington district of west London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Ki ...

. He was re-elected in

1886 Events January * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British rule in Burma, British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5–January 9, 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson ...

held the seat until he stood down at the 1892 election. He was awarded a KCIE in the 1890 Birthday Honours.Great Britain. India Office Lethbridge wrote several works about India. He died at the age of 78.

Personal life

Lethbridge married Eliza Finlay in 1865. Their daughter Caroline married Frederick Gorell Barnes. He married his second wife Emma Neave in 1897. They lived at Cornwall Terrace,

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, Borough of Camden (and historical ...

, London.

Publications

''A Short Manual of the History of India''
(1881) * * * *''Swadeshi and British Fiscal Policy'' *''Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries'' 1919

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lethbridge, Roper 1840 births 1919 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 English Indologists Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Members of the Inner Temple Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Roper