Papers of Brian Houghton Hodgson - Royal Asiatic Society

Identity area

Reference code

GB 891 BHH

Title

Papers of Brian Houghton Hodgson

Date(s)

1817 - 1897 (Creation)

Level of description

Fonds

Extent and medium

10 Archival boxes

Context area

Name of creator

Brian Houghton Hodgson

(1801-1894)

Biographical history

Brian Houghton Hodgson was born in 1801 (possibly 1800, there is some uncertainty to the date), the second of seven children. He entered Haileybury in February 1816, finishing top in his year in Bengali, Persian, Hindi, Political Economy, and Classics.… read more

Brian Houghton Hodgson was born in 1801 (possibly 1800, there is some uncertainty to the date), the second of seven children. He entered Haileybury in February 1816, finishing top in his year in Bengali, Persian, Hindi, Political Economy, and Classics. As head of his year at Haileybury, Hodgson was entitled to choose the Presidency to which he would be sent. Hodgson chose Bengal and arrived in Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1818 to continue his studies at Fort William. However Hodgson became ill with a 'liver condition' and he was advised to seek an appointment at a hill station. He was posted as Assistant Commissioner to Kumaon.
He was in Kumaon for only a year before being appointed as Assistant Resident in Nepal, working under Edward Gardner. It was during this residency that Hodgson began his research into Buddhism and collected Sanskrit manuscripts.
Hodgson was recalled to Calcutta in 1822 as acting Deputy Secretary in the Persian Department of the Foreign Office – a key role but one that he could not maintain due to further illness. He returned to Kathmandu, in 1824, as the Postmaster and became Resident in 1829 until 1843. Hodgson developed interests, not only in Buddhism, but in the languages of the people, in zoology, and in ethnography. He continued to collect manuscripts which he deposited with institutions in Europe and India.
Hodgson's interest in zoology meant that he employed local trappers and hunters, alongside draughtsmen and painters, to collect and record indigenous species. He published 97 papers on the birds and mammals of Nepal and his interest was keenest during the 1930s when Dr Archibald Campbell was his Assistant Resident. He also introduced tea cultivation into the Himalayas.
As Resident, Hodgson would be expected to report on the political situation of the area. He wrote papers on the possibility of trade with China along a trans-Himalayan route, on the legal system, the police and the army of Nepal. He was also interested in the neighbouring countries.
Whilst in Nepal Hodgson was in a relationship with Meharrunisha Begum. His son, Henry, was born in 1835, and his daughter, Sarah, in 1836. He left Nepal in 1844 having resigned due to disagreement with the political policy of Lord Ellenborough. He did not settle in England – he left his children with his sister, Fanny, in Arnhem and sailed for Calcutta in July 1845. He decided to go to Darjeeling with the Campbells, where he bought a bungalow and named it Brianstone, and continued his zoological and ethnographical studies.
Hodgson's daughter died from TB in 1851, and his son returned to India in 1853 to become a Zamindar, but he died in 1856 in Darjeeling. Hodgson returned to Europe in 1853 for a brief period, during which time he married Anne Scott, who returned to Darjeeling with Hodgson later that year. After 1853 Hodgson concentrated more on ethnology and linguistics, than zoology. Anne returned to England in 1857 and Hodgson followed her in 1858.
Hodgson lived in England for a further 36 years before his death in 1894. He remained active in his interest of India and Nepal. Anne died in 1868 but Hodgson remarried the following year to Susan Townshend. She was only 26 years old at the time of their marriage but they seemed happy. Hodgson was awarded an honorary doctorate at Oxford in 1889. He died in London on 23 May 1894 and was buried in the church yard at Alderley.

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Repository

Royal Asiatic Society Archives

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

An entry in a guard book dating to the 1970s states that the material was presented to the Society by Hodgson's wife, Susan. This has not yet been verified but seems that it may be likely. His wife commissioned William Wilson Hunter to write a biography… read more

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Hodgson used much of his time in both Nepal and Darjeeling in research, wanting to discover and understand about the architecture, languages, ethnography, religion, zoology and botany. He collected specimens and manuscripts, and had many drawings made,… read more

System of arrangement

The material had been partly sorted and listed in a previous project. In preparing for cataloguing, this order was approximately adhered to, creating the series:

BHH/1 - Autograph Book
BHH/2 - Correspondence with Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker
BHH/3 -

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Open. Please contact the archivist using the details on the RAS website. The archive is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays 10-5. Access is to any researcher without appointment but it will help if an appointment is made via phone or email. Please bring photo ID.

Conditions governing reproduction

Digital photography (without flash) for research purposes may be permitted upon completion of a copyright declaration form, and with respect to current UK copyright law.

Language of material

English
French
German
Hindi
Italian
Khasi
Latin
Miscellaneous Language
Nepali
Sanskrit
Tamil
Telugu
Tibetan

Allied materials area

Related units of description

The Royal Asiatic Society has within its Collections: A set of architectural drawings of Nepal commissioned by Hodgson; many of which were undertaken by Raj Man Singh A set of Chinese prints acquired by Hodgson in Nepal Plaster bust of Brian Houghton… read more

Publication note

The Royal Asiatic Society Book, "The Origins of Himalayan Studies: Brian Houghton Hodgson in Nepal and Darjeeling 1820-1858" edited by David M. Waterhouse, published RoutledgeCurzon, 2004, uses material within this and other collections to build a… read more

Access points

Description control area

Description identifier

gb891-bhh

Archivist's note

The material had already been partly listed in a previous project, and some of the material bears numbers from this project. However it was necessary to rearrange some of the material when a full appraisal was made. It was therefore relisted and… read more