UpdateBot at 14:38, 16 January 2022

2022-01-16T14:38:28Z

New page

{{EngvarB|date=July 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Alfred Woodley Croft
|image = Alfred_W._Croft.jpg
|caption =
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1841|2|7|df=yes}}
|birth_place = [[Plymouth]], [[Devon]], [[England]]
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1925|10|29|1841|2|7|df=yes}}
|death_place = [[Tavistock]], Devon, England
|other_names =
|known_for =
|occupation = Colonial administrator
|nationality = British
}}

'''Sir Alfred Woodley Croft''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCIE}} (7 February 1841 – 29 October 1925)<ref name="Nightingale2005">{{cite book|author=Florence Nightingale|title=Florence Nightingale on Women, Medicine, Midwifery and Prostitution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ofbCmnAZpsYC&pg=PA71|year=2005|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press|isbn=978-0-88920-466-9|page=71}}</ref> was a British educationist and administrator who spent most of his career in [[India]]. From 1877 until his retirement in 1897 he was Director of Public Instruction in [[Bengal]], and was appointed a [[Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire]] (CIE) in November 1884.

Born in [[Compton Gifford]], he was the son of Charles and Charlotte Croft. He was educated at the [[Mannamead School]]. He graduated BA in philosophy from the [[Exeter College, Oxford]] in 1863 and an MA in 1871. He went to [[Calcutta]] to join the [[Bengal Education Service]] in 1866 as a professor of philosophy to [[Presidency University, Kolkata|Presidency College]], then under the [[University of Calcutta]].<ref name="Whitehead2003">{{cite book|author=Clive Whitehead|title=Colonial Educators: The British Indian and Colonial Education Service 1858-1983|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dij297KbFDAC&pg=PA23|year=2003|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-86064-864-9|page=23}}</ref>

Previously Croft was appointed a [[Order of the Indian Empire|Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire]] in 1887 he was raised to a knighthood as a Knight Commander of the order and was described as a Director of Public Instruction for Bengal.<ref>"Jubilee Honours For India." ''The Times'' [London, England] 16 February 1887: 12. ''The Times'' Digital Archive. Web. 18 Sept. 2013.</ref>

He served as the vice chancellor of the [[University of Calcutta]] from 1893 to 1896.<ref name="Whitehead2003" /> In 1897, the University awarded him with an [[List of University of Calcutta honorary degree recipients|honorary doctorate degree]] on the occasion of his retirement.<ref>{{cite web|title=Annual Convocation |url=http://www.caluniv.ac.in/convocation-2012/hony_degrees.htm |publisher=[[University of Calcutta]] |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120528004638/http://caluniv.ac.in/convocation-2012/hony_degrees.htm |archivedate=28 May 2012 }}</ref>

He was also a member of the [[West Bengal Legislative Assembly|Bengal Legislative Council]] from 1887 to 1892.<ref name="Whitehead2003" />

Croft returned to England and never married, he died in [[Tavistock]] on 29 October 1925.<ref name="obit">"Sir A. W. Croft." ''The Times'' [London, England] 31 October 1925: 14. ''The Times'' Digital Archive. Web. 18 Sept. 2013.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links| wikt=no | commons=no | b=no | n=no | q=no | s=Author:Alfred Woodley Croft | v=no | voy=no | species=no | d=no}}

{{University of Calcutta Vice chancellors}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Croft, Alfred Woodley}}
[[Category:1841 births]]
[[Category:1925 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford]]
[[Category:People educated at Plymouth College]]
[[Category:Vice Chancellors of the University of Calcutta]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Presidents of The Asiatic Society]]

Alfred Woodley Croft - Revision history

UpdateBot at 14:38, 16 January 2022