Stephen Montagu Burrows

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Sir Stephen Montagu Burrows
Born(1856-12-16)16 December 1856
Headington, Oxfordshire
Died4 March 1935(1935-03-04) (aged 78)
Oxford, Oxfordshire
NationalityBritish
Alma materEton College, Exeter College, Oxford
Occupationpublic servant
OrganizationCeylon Civil Service
Notable work
The Buried Cities of Ceylon : a guide book to Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa
Spouse(s)Isabella Christina Cruickshank (m. 1890)
ChildrenMontagu Brocas, Agnes Mary

Sir Stephen Montagu Burrows CIE (26 December 1856 – 4 March 1935) was a British amateur historian, author and Ceylonese civil servant.

Stephen Montagu Burrows was born in Headington, Oxfordshire, England on 26 December 1856, the second son of Montagu Burrows, a naval historian and professor at Oxford University, and Mary Anna née Whalley-Smythe-Gardiner, daughter of Sir James Whalley Smythe Gardiner, 3rd Baronet. He studied at Eton College and Exeter College, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies in 1879[1] and a Master of Arts in 1884.

He joined the Ceylon Civil Service in 1880 and was attached to the Kandy Kachcheri. In June 1881, he was appointed the private secretary to Lieutenant-Governor John Douglas and in November was made a Justice of the Peace (JP) and Assistant Coroner for Colombo. On 2 June 1882, he was assigned to the Queen's Advocates' Department. He was made an JP and the additional police magistrate for Galle on 25 August the same year.[1] In 1884 he published the Visitor's Guide to Kandy and Nuwara Eliya.

He was appointed as the Assistant Government Agent in the North Central Province, and between 1884 and 1886, he was assigned the responsibility of supervising the archaeological survey of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa.[1][2][3] He published a book, The Buried Cities of Ceylon in 1885.[4] In June 1887, he was appointed as the Assistant Government Agent for Matale.[1]

In 1890, he married Isabella Christina Cruickshank (1859–1940), the youngest daughter of Alexander Cruickshank, from Inverell, New South Wales, Australia at St. Peter's Church, Colombo.[5] They had a son, Montagu Brocas (b. 1894)[6] and a daughter, Agnes Mary Montagu (b. 1897).[7]

In 1892, he was made a District Judge in Kegalle, in 1893 the assistant Government Agent for Trincomalee, and in 1896 the assistant Government Agent for Nuwara Eliya.[1]

In 1899, he was appointed the Director of Public Instruction (Director Education), an office which he held to 1902, following which he was made the Government Agent for the North Western Province.[1][8] He also acted as Chief Editor of a magazine known as "The Ceylon Miscellany" which he had started for the benefit of the members of the Clerical Service during his early days, in the Colombo Kachcheri. After a fine record of twenty-six years' service in Ceylon, during which he gained a high reputation for sympathy and understanding, as well as for culture and refinement, he retired and returned to England, where he continued to take an active interest in the East and all that concerned it.

Another of Sir Montagu's literary activities, though not directly concerned with Ceylon, was the publication of the autobiography of his father, a distinguished Oxford Professor.[9][10]

In 1912, he was appointed local adviser at Oxford to Indian Students, in which capacity he was able to be of great assistance to students from Ceylon. In recognition of these services, he was made a Companion of the Indian Empire in 1917,[11] and received the honour of knighthood in 1923.[12][13]

In 1922, he served as the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire for a year.[14][15]

In 1928, Sir Montagu delivered a lecture before the Royal Society on The Ancient Civilisation of Ceylon, the chair being taken by another old Civil Servant, Mr. E, B. Alexander.

Burrows died on 4 March 1935 at his residence in Oxford, Oxfordshire, at the age of 79.

Bibliography[]

  • Burrows, Stephen Montagu (1884). The Visitor's Guide to Kandy and Nuwara Eliya : Containing a Topographical Description of the Towns and their Neighbourhood, a Short Historical Sketch and Various Useful Information. George J. A. Skeen.
  • Burrows, Stephen Montagu (1885). The Buried Cities of Ceylon : a guide book to Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa : with chapters on Dambulla, Kalawewa, Mihintale, and Sigiri. A. M. & J. Ferguson.
  • Burrows, Stephen Montagu; Archaeological Department of Ceylon (1886). Report on Archaeological work in Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, 1885. Government Press.
  • Burrows, Stephen Montagu (1908). Autobiography of Montagu Burrows. London: Macmillan & Company.
  • Burrows, Stephen Montagu (1928). The Ancient Civilisation of Ceylon.

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Colonial Office (1906). The Colonial Office List. London: Harrison. p. 494.
  2. ^ Wright, Arnold, ed. (1999). Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon: Its History, People, Commerce, Industries, and Resources. Asian Educational Services. p. 142. ISBN 9788120613355.
  3. ^ "Digging up Their Journey". Ceylon Today. 11 July 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Tribune". 19 (1–26). Ceylon News Service. 1974: 7. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ "Family Notices". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 16, 190. New South Wales, Australia. 13 February 1890. p. 1. Retrieved 1 November 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "Births". London Evening Standard. 2 November 1894.
  7. ^ "Births". London Evening Standard. 9 February 1897.
  8. ^ Wright, Arnold, ed. (1999). Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon: Its History, People, Commerce, Industries, and Resources. Asian Educational Services. p. 715. ISBN 9788120613355.
  9. ^ Institute of Historical Research; Royal Historical Society (1968). Writings on British History. University of London. p. 164.
  10. ^ "The Contemporary Review". 93. A. Strahan. 1908: 6. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ^ "No. 29886". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1916. pp. 1–56.
  12. ^ "No. 32782". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1922. pp. 1–16.
  13. ^ J. Whitaker and Sons (1925). Whitaker's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage, for the Year 1925: Containing an Extended List of the Royal Family, the Peerage with Titled Issue, Dowager Ladies, Baronets, Knights and Companions, Privy Councillors and Home and Colonial Bishops. FB&C Limited. p. 180.
  14. ^ "No. 32642". The London Gazette. 17 March 1922. p. 2231.
  15. ^ Peters, Christine (1995). The Lord Lieutenants and High Sheriffs of Oxfordshire. Perpetua Press. p. 196. ISBN 9781870882125.
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