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David Erskine was educated at Harrow, and joined the army (51st King's Own Light Infantry) as an ensign in 1835 seeing service in India, Malta and Australia. He was appointed Visiting Magistrate in Cleveland, Tasmania in June 1839, at Green Ponds from November 1840 to March 1843, and then moved to Hobart.

He was promoted to Captain in 1845 and left Tasmania in 1846 for India. He was promoted to Major in 1855 and in 1858 he left the army by selling his commission. He next became Colonial Secretary of Natal colony until 1875. He was Resident Magistrate in Walvis Bay, Damaraland (Namibia), from 1878-1880. After retirement he returned to England with his family and was employed ordering the Natal archives. He died in 1903.

The Friends of the Palestine Museums (also called the Palestine Arts-Collection Society) was established to further the understanding of art and antiquities in Palestine. It intended to find exhibition space within Palestine as well as make use of space made available at the Wellcome research institution.

Michael Cavanagh Gillett was born on 12 July 1907. He joined the Consular Service serving in China from 1929-1953 being stationed at Peking, Canton, Hankow, Nanking, Kashgar, Tengyueh, Chungking and Shanghai. He also served in Los Angeles 1954-1957, and Afghanistan 1957-1963. He was awarded a CMG in 1951 and KBE in 1962. He contributed articles to the Journal of Royal Asiatic Society (North China Branch). He retired in 1963 and died on 20 January 1971.

Frederic John Goldsmid was born in Milan on the 19th May 1818; during his early years living in France he was already considered a good linguist as he was proficient in Italian, French and English. He received his education from King's College School, Paris and partly at King's College School, London. In 1839 he entered the Madras Army, joining his regiment, the 37th Madras N.I. Preceding the treaty of Nankin, China, Goldsmid's regiment was ordered to proceed to China and take part in the actions at Canton after which Goldsmid was awarded the Chinese war medal. During his time in Canton, Goldsmid was also appointed as the Adjutant of his regiment which lead him to turn his attention to the study of Eastern languages, such as Persian, Arabic and Turkish in addition to Urdu, Sindhi and other Indian vernaculars. In 1845 he qualified as an interpreter in Hindustani.

Due to ill health Goldsmid returned to England. However in 1848 he travelled back to India and continued his studies in languages, passing the qualifying exams in 1849. He was appointed Interpreter for Persian and in 1851 for Arabic. It was during this year he took on the role of Assistant-Adjutant-General of the Nagpur Subsidiary. Through the influence of General John Jacob, Goldsmid entered civil employment and later went on to work as the Assistant Commissioner for Special Enquiry into 'the Settlement of Alienated Lands' in Sindh, India.

In 1855, after taking ill again, Goldsmid volunteered for active service in Crimea becoming the Assistant-Adjutant-General for the Turkish Contingent under General Vivian. During this time Goldsmid learnt Turkish, after which he was elected as the President for the Local Examining Committee at Kerch, Crimea. For his war efforts in Crimea he was honoured with the Turkish war medal, the order of the fourth class Medjidieh and the brevet rank of the Major in the Army.

In 1862 returning to India as Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel. Golsmid accompanied Colonel Patrick Stewart, as they were commissioned to establish overland telegraphic communication from Europe through Persia and Baluchistan to India. Following the death of Colonel Stewart, Goldsmid was appointed as the Director-General of the Indo-European Telegraph. After this post, Goldsmid was commissioned with the most difficult task of his career, in 1871, defining the boundary between Persia and Afghanistan for which he was honoured by Her Majesty's Government for his 'tact and good judgment under circumstances of no ordinary difficulty'.

After 35 years in service, Goldsmid retired from Government service but he was still considered indispensable and in 1880 he accepted the office of British Controller of the 'Daira Sanieh' (Crown lands) in Egypt. During his time in Egypt he was dispatched by Lord Granville on a mission to Constantinople. On his return to Alexandria, Goldsmid organised an Intelligence Department which resulted in the victory of Tel-el-Kebir. Leaving Egypt and travelling through the Congo, Goldsmid became severely ill and returned to London on the 31st December 1883.

However during the remaining years of his life he devoted his attention partly to literary work, newspapers reviews and works of reference like the 'Encyclopaedia Britannica'. His other literary achievements includes works such as, 'Telegraph and Travel' , 'Eastern Persia' , a paper on 'Preservation of National literature in the East' and the biography, 'Life of Outram' . He was an active member of the Royal Asiatic Society, serving on its Council, including acting as Vice-President from 1890-1905. On 12th January 1908, Goldsmid died and was buried at Hollingburne, Kent, where he once lived for many years.