Education: Temple Grove School, Surrey,
and Marlborough College. In 1865 he entered the Thomson Engineering College
for Officers at Roorkee, India, and passed with honours, gaining two gold
medals and a thousand rupees. Marlborough College Register (1905) p127 Entrances in
August, 1859 Bigg-Wither, Archibald Cuthbert,
s. of the Rev. L. Bigg-Wither, Tangier Park, Basingstoke, b. Sept. 25,
1844; l. Mids. 1861. B 2 Lieut.-Col. A.C.
Bigg-Wither, Tiltham's, near Godalming
Bengal Inf. 1862; Lieut-Col 1888; Ret. 1896; Superintending
Engineer, Quetta, Beloochistan, 1890-6
Married:Caroline
Maria Rolston on 7 November 1871, in Lezayre, Isle of Man. Archibald
is listed as aged 27, and Caroline as aged 21.
Occupation: Officer in the Indian Army and
Royal Engineers
At the age of seventeen Archibald went to India, and was attached to the
52nd Light Infantry as an Ensign for regimental duty. He was promoted to
Lieutenant on 25 January 1863 (London Gazette 28 March 1865 p1736) and
joined the 3rd Punjab Infantry. He was appointed in 1866 to the Public Works
Department as Assistant Engineer in the Central Provinces. In 1868 he was
placed in charge of roads, bridges, and railways in the Central Provinces,
the most important being the Grand Trunk Road from Nagpore to Jubbulpore. In
1872 he was appointed Personal Assistant to the Chief Engineer of the Indus
Valley Railway, with headquarters at Mooltan, where he remained for seven
years. After two years' leave Archibald was sent to Julpaiguri as Executive
Engineer, and on 2 January 1882 he was promoted to major (London Gazette 14 April 1882 p1697) and was
transferred to Calcutta as Superintendent of Works. Three years later, Major
Bigg-Wither was promoted to the rank of Superintending Engineer, and
transferred to the Frontier Province of Baluchistan, with headquarters at
Quetta, where he was stationed for seven years, under the late Sir Robert
Sandeman. He brought water into Quetta, and accompanied his chief into the
newly acquired country of Zhob, where he built forts and bridges, and the
Civil and Military buildings. He also reopened the old and important
trade-route through the Gornal Pass. For these services he received the
thanks of the Government of India. Archibald was promoted to
Lieutenant-Colonel on 2 January 1888 (London Gazette 20 March 1888 p1710).
In 1894, after two years' leave, Colonel Bigg-Wither was sent to
Assam as Superintending Engineer and Secretary to the Chief Commissioner,
but he returned to Bengal in 1895. He retired in 1896.
The India Office and Burma Office List p203 BIGG-WITHER, ARCHIBALD CUTHBERT,
Lieut.-Colonel, Public Works Department, Government of India. -
Appointed assistant engineer from Thomason College, Oct., 1866; after
serving in the Bengal Infantry from Jan., 1862; executive engineer, Sept.,
1871; served chiefly on the Indus Valley State Railway, and in Baluchistan
from 1885, where he was employed on the frontier road circle in 1888;
secretary to agent to governor-general, Baluchistan, and 3rd
superintending engineer, May, 1890; 2nd, July, 1891.
Notes: In The
Baluch and Afghan Frontiers of India reproduced in The Living Age 1889 p290, Sir Charles Dilke
recalls meeting Archibald in the Zhob. On this day we parted with Colonel Archibald
Bigg-Wither, the officer who made the road; a simple and charming
frontier-man for whom a villa at Wimbledon would have more delight than an
Indian palace, but who sticks to the frontier and his duty in spite of the
sharp contrast between his own civilization and the roughness of the life.
Death: 23 September 1913, on the Isle
of Man.
Buried: 25 September 1913, in Lezayre,
Isle of Man.
Obituary:Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
February 1914 pp269-271 ARCHIBALD CUTHBERT
BIGG-WITHER was born on 1844 September 25 at
Tangier Park, near Basingstoke. He was the ninth son of Lovelace
Bigg-Wither of Manydown and Tangier Parks, Hampshire, where the family had
resided since the fifteenth century. On his mother's side he was the
great-grandson of Guy Carleton, first Baron Dorchester, one of the makers
of Canada. He was educated at Temple Grove School, Surrey, and at
Marlborough College.
At the age of seventeen he went to India, and was attached to the
52nd Light Infantry as an Ensign for regimental duty. In the following
year he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and joined the 3rd Punjab
Infantry.
In 1865 he entered the Thomson Engineering College for Officers at
Roorkee, and passed with honours, gaining two gold medals and a thousand
rupees. He was appointed in 1866 to the Public Works Department as
Assistant Engineer in the Central Provinces. On his return to India in
1868, after a short absence on leave, he was placed in charge of roads,
bridges, and railways in the Central Provinces, the most important being
the Grand Trunk Road from Nagpore to Jubbulpore.
While on sick leave in England in 1871 he married the younger
daughter of Capt. Rolston, of the Madras Army. On his return to India in
1872 he was appointed Personal Assistant to the Chief Engineer of the
Indus Valley Railway, with headquarters at Mooltan, where he remained for
seven years. After two years' leave he was sent to Julpaiguri as Executive
Engineer, and in 1882 was transferred to Calcutta as Superintendent of
Works. Three years later, Major Bigg-Wither was promoted to the rank of
Superintending Engineer, and transferred to the Frontier Province of
Baluchistan, with headquarters at Quetta, where he was stationed for seven
years, under the late Sir Robert Sandeman. He brought water into Quetta,
and accompanied his chief into the newly acquired country of Zhob, where
he built forts and bridges, and the Civil and Military buildings. He also
reopened the old and important trade-route through the Gornal Pass. For
these services he received the thanks of the Government of India.
In 1894, after two years' leave, Colonel Bigg-Wither was sent to
Assam as Superintending Engineer and Secretary to the Chief Commissioner,
but he returned to Bengal in 1895. He retired in 1896, and settled near
Godalming, in Surrey, where he was much devoted to cycling.
Colonel Bigg-Wither was from early youth an enthusiastic
astronomer. He had an observatory of his own for nearly 45 years,
containing a 5-inch telescope and a transit circle, which was in constant
use for observations of all kinds. At Quetta and Mooltan his observatory
was the scientific centre of the Civil and Military stations. After a long
day in the Public Works Department he would be invariably found in the
midst of calculations or working with his instruments till the night was
far advanced. In 1874 he observed the transit of Venus in perfect weather,
and scores of persons flocked to his observatory to watch the passage of
the tiny black disc across the sun. His observations were published in Mem. R.A.S., vol. xlvii. p. 97. As
the sun rose with Venus already on the disc, there was no observation of
ingress, but remarkable phenomena were recorded at internal contact at
egress.
After his retirement, Colonel Bigg-Wither resumed his astronomical
work, and frequently attended the meetings of the Society. He also
attended many of the meetings of the British Association, including those
held in South Africa and Canada.
He died in the Isle of Man on 1913 September 23, leaving a widow,
two sons, and a daughter.
He was elected a Fellow of the Society 1869 January 8.
Education: Clifton College, Clifton,
England; Royal Military College Clifton College Annals and Register 1860 - 1897
p326 (E.M. Oakeley, 1897) Bigg-Wither, F. Son of Col. A. C.
BIGG-WITHER, Public Works Department, India.
Grenfell-Tait. 3a-5y;
left April, 1890. Lieut. London Regiment.
Married: Muriel Macleod on 22 June 1907, in
Moulmein, Burma, India. Ferdinand is listed as aged 34, single, the son of
Archibald Cuthbert Bigg-Wither, and Muriel as aged 20, single, the daughter
of Donald Grant Macleod.
Muriel was born in 1886/7, the daughter of Donald Grant Macleod and Alice May Limouzin.
Occupation: Army Officer in the Royal
Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) and Indian Staff Corps.
Ferdinand is listed as an army stdent in the 1891 census and he was
commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers (City of London
Regiment) on 21 January 1893 (London Gazette 20 January 1893 p331). In
1896, he was with the 1st Battalion based in Kurrachee, Bombay province (Army List 1896). Ferdinand was promoted to
Lieutenant on 27 November 1896 (London Gazette 2 March 1897 p1256), then
transferred to the Indian Staff Corps on 20 February 1897 (London Gazette 16 July 1897 p3976). Captain
Ferdinand Bigg-Wither was promoted to Major on 21 January 1911, noted at the
time to be in civil employ (London Gazette 7 March 1911 p1963). On 22
September 1914, Ferdinand was transferred to the supernumerary list after
completing ten years in civil employ (London Gazette 13 November 1914 p9284).
Ferdinand retired with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel on 29 August 1927 (London
Gazette 2 December 1927 p7746).
Notes:
Ferdinand wrote A Guide to the Study of Shan, published by
the American Baptist mission press in Rangoon, in 1911. The Shan
language is spoken by the Shan
people, mostly in what is now Myanmar.
Henry was born in 1848, in Stockton-on-Tees, county Durham, the son of J.
Hind. He was a surgeon and Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. Henry
was married firstly, in 1880, to Emily Denton, by whom he had a son, Henry
Denton Hind. Emily died in 1891. Henry died in 1925, in Knaresborough
district, West Riding of Yorkshire, aged 77. Medical
Bibliography for 1877 Register p497
HIND, HENRY, Bridge-rd, Stockton-on-Tees (Trotter and
Hind)—M.R.C.S. Eng. and L.S.A. 1870; (St.
Barthol.); Mem. Northld. and Durh. Med. Soc. and Abeneth. Soc.;
Hon. Surg. Stockton Surgical Hosp.; Med. Ref. several Assur. Cos.; late
Res. Surg. Nottingh. Disp.; House Phys. St. Barthol. Hosp., and Res. Clin.
Asst. Consump. Hosp. Brompton. The
West Riding of Yorkshire at the opening of the twentieth century
p185 W. Herbert Scott (1902) Hind.—HENRY
HIND, Blytheholme, Victoria Avenue, Harrogate; third son of
the late J. Hind of Stockton-on-Tees; born 1848; educated at Stockton
Grammar School, and the High School, Glasgow, and St Bartholomew's
Hospital, London; F.R.C.S. Formerly House Physician, St. Bartholomew's
Hospital, afterwards Clinical Assistant to the Hospital for Consumption,
Brompton, and the Children's Hospital, Great Ormond Street; in 1872
settled in practice in Stockton-on-Tees, and was made Honorary Surgeon to
the Stockton-on-Tees and Thornaby Hospital, which appointment he held for
twenty five years; now Consulting Surgeon to that institution; in 1898 was
appointed Government Assessor under the Workman's Compensation Act and is
now practising as a Consultant in Harrogate. Recreation: fishing. Annals of a Teeside Practice, 1793-1969 p394
John Rowlands (1902) Henry Hind is the first member of the practice
who is still remembered today. He was the son of a master plumber and was
born at 109 High Street, Stockton, in 1848. When he was aged fifteen
years, he was apprenticed to two local surgeons, one of whom was the Dr.
Richardson who had been Trotter's locum. After four years he began his
studies at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. He qualified M.R.C.S. and L.S.A. in
1870 and worked as House Physician at St. Bartholomew's Hospital before
becoming a Clinical Assistant at the Brompton Consumption Hospital. The
following year he became the resident surgeon at the Nottingham Dispensary
before returning to his home town as Medical Officer to the Stockton
Surgical Hospital and the Dispensary. It is difficult to determine if he
ever worked in general practice with Charles Trotter but a partnership of
Trotter and Hind was in existence in 1874. Although it would seem most
likely that this refers to Arthur Trotter it is hard to believe that
Charles did not take some part in the affairs of the practice.
During the 1860s Bridge Road running from the High Street to the
first crossing of the river was developed as a fashionable residential
area. Henry Hind bought one of these houses in December 1889 from a Mr.
John Fowler, a civil engineer, but the Rate Books indicate that Hind was
renting the house for a surgery years before. At that time the building
overlooked green fields and a church but it is now surrounded by
industrial sites and redevelopment areas. The practice has remained in
this building ever since. It is interesting that the surgery was separate
from the doctors' residence which was not the case in the days of Watson
Alcock and Charles Trotter who had a surgery in part of their houses.
Henry Hind continued to lease the surgery to the practice until it was
purchased by Talbot and Willans in 1921.
...
Henry Hind became F.R.C.S. (Edinburgh) in 1878. He was Consultant
Surgeon to the Stockton Hospital and the Dispensary and was associated
with several insurance companies. The practice continued to prosper and in
the main the patients were members of the wealthier classes. Mr. Hind may
have had several assistants but he did not have another partner until he
was joined by Dr. Edmund Haynes in about 1890. After retiring in 1897 he
moved with his family to Harrogate where he died in 1925. Henry Hind was a
rotund, friendly man with a large walrus moustache. He is not remembered
in the town for any municipal work but the patients speak lovingly of him.
His family name lives on in that the Richard Hind Schools are named after
his eldest brother who became Mayor of Stockton. Census & Addresses: 1871: St Botolph,
London 1881:
6 Bridge Road, Stockton-upon-Tees, county Durham
1891: Stockton-on-Tees, county Durham: Henry Hind, head, is aged 43, born in
Stockton, Durham
1901: Harrogate, West Riding of Yorkshire: Henry Hind, head, is aged 53,
born in Stockton on Tees, Durham. His occupation is listed as surgeon.
1902: Blytheholme, Victoria Avenue, Harrogate, West Riding of
Yorkshire (The West Riding of Yorkshire at the opening of the
twentieth century p185)
1911: Harrogate, West Riding of Yorkshire: Henry Hind is aged 63, born in
Stockton on Tees, Durham
Marriage: England Marriage Index
(4Q1909 Hambledon vol 2a p315); Henry birth from England Birth Index
(1Q1848 Stockton etc vol 24 p238) and 1911 census; Henry occupation from
1901 census; Henry 1st marriage from England Marriage Index (1Q1880
Stockton vol 10a p64); Emily death from England Death Index (3Q1891
Stockton vol 10a p44); Henry death from England Death Index (1Q1925
Knaresbro' vol 9a p158)
Education: Clifton College, Clifton,
England; Royal Military College Clifton College Annals and Register 1860 - 1897
p354 (E.M. Oakeley, 1897) Bigg Wither, L. Son of Col. A. G.
BIGG WITHER, Quetta, Beluchistan. Carter,
Tait. 3a-4b;
left April, 1892.
Married: Annie Evelyn Lush in 1898, in Kingston
district, Surrey, England
Occupation: Mechanical Engineer in the
Indian State Railways
Lionel joined the service on 11 March 1898. He was made assistant locomotive
superintendent of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway in July 1902, and
deputy locomotive superintendent in March 1917. He was employed with the
military from 25 October 1917, and on 13 December 1918 he was granted the
relative rank of Lieutenant-Colonel whilst employed as Assistant Director of
Railways (London Gazette 5 August 1919 p10066). On 31
March 1920, Lionel was granted the temporary rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in
the 2-13th Great Indian Peninsula Railway Battalion, of the Indian Defence
Force (London Gazette 13 July 1920 p7462), which
appointment he relinquished on 30 September 1920 (London Gazette 8 March 1921 p1902).
Death: 27 October 1959, in Malta
Buried: 29 October 1959, in Ta'Braxia
cemetery, Malta
Married: Nora Violet Tobin on 14 January
1942. Nora was born on 14 January 1910, and baptised on 30 January 1910, in
Bhamo, Burma, India, the daughter of Alfred Edward Tobin and Winifred
Charlotte.
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