Ancient Treasures

Born on February 1, 1800, Brian Hutton Hodgson was a pioneering naturalist and ethnologist working in India and Nepal where he was a British resident. He described many species of birds and mammals from the Himalayas, and many birds were named after him by others such as Edward Blythe. He was a scholar of Newar Buddhism and wrote extensively on a range of topics related to linguistics and religion. He was opposed to the British proposal to introduce English as an official medium of instruction in Indian schools. Hodgson was the second of seven children of Brian Hodgson (1766-1858) and his wife Catherine (1776-1851), and was born in Lower Beach, Priestbury, Cheshire. His father lost money in a bad bank investment and had to sell their house in Lower Beach. They were helped by a great aunt married to Bilby Porteus, Bishop of London, but the financial difficulties were great. Hodgson's father worked as a custodian of Martello Towers and in 1820 was a barracks captain at Canterbury. Brian (son) studied at Macclesfield Grammar School until 1814 and the next two years in Richmond, Surrey under the tutelage of Daniel Dellavos. He was nominated for civil service in Bengal by East India Company director James Pattison. He went to study at the College of the East India Company and showed an aptitude for languages. An early influence was Thomas Malthus who was a family friend and college employee. At the end of his first term in May 1816, he was awarded the Bengali Award. He graduated in December 1817 as a gold medalist.