Richmond Ritchie
Encyclopedia
Sir Richmond Thackeray Willougby Ritchie (1854 - 12 October 1912) was an India
n-born British
civil servant who spent most of his working life at the India Office
, reaching the post of Permanent Under-Secretary of State for India
.
Richmond Ritchie was born in Calcutta, son of the jurist William Ritchie
(1817-1862), who was practicing law in Calcutta at the time. He was educated at Eton
and Trinity College, Cambridge
, and in 1877, probably due to family connections or pressures (his grandmother was a Thackeray and both the Ritchies and the Thackerays were old Anglo-Indian
families), entered the India Office as a junior clerk. In the same year he married his cousin, Anne Isabella Thackeray
, the eldest daughter of the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray
, and an author in her own right.
During his early years at the India Office he worked as Private Secretary to various Under-Secretaries of State, both Parliamentary and Permanent, the high point being when he was private secretary to the Secretary of State Lord George Hamilton
from 1895 to 1902. From here he shifted to the post of Secretary in the Political and Secret Department. Knighted in 1907, on the retirement of Sir Arthur Godley in 1910 Ritchie became the Permanent Under-Secretary of State, a position he continued to hold until his death.
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...
n-born British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
civil servant who spent most of his working life at the India Office
India Office
The India Office was a British government department created in 1858 to oversee the colonial administration of India, i.e. the modern-day nations of Bangladesh, Burma, India, and Pakistan, as well as territories in South-east and Central Asia, the Middle East, and parts of the east coast of Africa...
, reaching the post of Permanent Under-Secretary of State for India
Under-Secretary of State for India
This is a list of Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State and Permanent Under-Secretaries of State at the India Office during the period of British rule between 1866 and 1948, and for Burma from 1858-1948....
.
Richmond Ritchie was born in Calcutta, son of the jurist William Ritchie
William Ritchie (barrister)
William Ritchie was Advocate-General of Bengal from 1855 to 1862.William Ritchie was born at Southampton Row, London in 1817. His father John Ritchie was a Scottish-born merchant of Baltimore....
(1817-1862), who was practicing law in Calcutta at the time. He was educated at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, and in 1877, probably due to family connections or pressures (his grandmother was a Thackeray and both the Ritchies and the Thackerays were old Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indians are people who have mixed Indian and British ancestry, or people of British descent born or living in India, now mainly historical in the latter sense. British residents in India used the term "Eurasians" for people of mixed European and Indian descent...
families), entered the India Office as a junior clerk. In the same year he married his cousin, Anne Isabella Thackeray
Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie
Anne Isabella, Lady Ritchie, née Thackeray was an English writer. She was the eldest daughter of William Makepeace Thackeray.- Life :...
, the eldest daughter of the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society.-Biography:...
, and an author in her own right.
During his early years at the India Office he worked as Private Secretary to various Under-Secretaries of State, both Parliamentary and Permanent, the high point being when he was private secretary to the Secretary of State Lord George Hamilton
Lord George Hamilton
Lord George Francis Hamilton GCSI, PC, JP was a British Conservative Party politician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-Background:...
from 1895 to 1902. From here he shifted to the post of Secretary in the Political and Secret Department. Knighted in 1907, on the retirement of Sir Arthur Godley in 1910 Ritchie became the Permanent Under-Secretary of State, a position he continued to hold until his death.