Bertram Beresford Osmaston
Encyclopedia
Bertram Beresford Osmaston CIE
Order of the Indian Empire
The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:#Knight Grand Commander #Knight Commander #Companion...

 (1867–1961) was an officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...

 in the Imperial Forestry Service in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. Known to many as "BB" he was born at Yeldersley Hall, Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

. Born ninth into a family of fifteen, he was educated at Cheltenham and Royal Indian Engineering College
Royal Indian Engineering College
The Royal Indian Engineering College was a British college of Civil Engineering founded by Sir George Tomkyns Chesney in 1870. It was intended to train engineers for the Indian Public Works department. The work of the college was transferred to India in 1906....

 at Cooper's Hill. He joined the Forest Service in India in 1888 and served in the United Provinces
United Province
The United Provinces, was a province of British India and later of Independent India, which came into existence on 1 April 1937 in result of the shortening of United Provinces of British India...

, Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...

, Andamans, Burma and retired as a Chief Conservator of the Central Provinces. He was a keen naturalist
Naturalist
Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...

 and made notes of his observations during postings in various parts of India, eventually publishing over 50 books. On 15 Sep 1892 he was married to Catherine Mary Hutchinson at Port Blair
Port Blair
Port Blair is the largest town and a municipal council in Andaman district in the Andaman Islands and the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India...

 in the Andamans.

A species of grass (Cymbopogon osmastonii)) and several subspecies of birds (Pelargopsis capensis osmastoni, Pericrocotus cinnamomeus osmastoni) are named after him.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK