https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Horace_AlexanderHorace Alexander - Revision history2026-07-31T04:40:13ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Horace_Alexander&diff=503085&oldid=prevJoydeb Sarkar2003 at 19:13, 26 December 20252025-12-26T19:13:45Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|English author and ornithologist (1889–1989)}}<br />
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}<br />
{{Infobox writer<br />
|name = Horace Alexander<br />
|image = Horace Alexander.jpg<br />
|imagesize =<br />
|caption = Alexander (left), {{circa|1970}}<br />
|pseudonym =<br />
|birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1889|04|18}}<br />
|birth_place = [[Croydon]], England<br />
|death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1989|09|30|1889|07|30}}<br />
|death_place = [[Pennsylvania]], United States<br />
|occupation = {{Flatlist|<br />
*Pacifist<br />
*ornithologist<br />
}}<br />
|nationality = [[British people|British]]<br />
|period =<br />
|genre = Non-fiction<br />
|subject = {{Flatlist|<br />
*[[Ornithology]]<br />
*[[Quakerism]]<br />
*[[Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi|Gandhi]]<br />
*India<br />
}}<br />
|movement =<br />
|influences =<br />
|influenced =<br />
|signature =<br />
}}<br />
'''Horace Gundry Alexander''' (18 April 1889 – 30 September 1989) was an English [[Quaker]] teacher, [[writer]], [[pacifist]] and [[ornithology|ornithologist]]. He was the youngest of four sons of Joseph Gundry Alexander (1848–1918),{{sfn |Chmielewski}} two other sons being the ornithologists [[Wilfred Backhouse Alexander]] and [[Christopher James Alexander]] (1887–1917).{{sfn |Carnall |Wood |2004}} He was a friend of [[Mahatma Gandhi]].<br />
<br />
==Life and work==<br />
Horace Gundry Alexander was born on 18 April 1889 in [[Croydon]], [[Surrey]]. His father, Joseph Gundry Alexander (1848–1918), was an eminent lawyer, who had worked to suppress the [[opium]] trade between India and China. His mother was Josephine Crosfield Alexander (1847-1917). His early schooling was at [[Bootham School]]<ref>{{Cite book |title=Bootham School Register |place=York, England<!-- |publisher=Bootham Old Scholars Association --> |publisher=BOSA |first=Jenny |last=Woodland |year=2011}}</ref> in [[York]], after which he studied history at [[King's College, Cambridge]] and graduated in 1912. When the [[World War I|First World War]] broke out in 1914, he served as secretary on various anti-war committees. In 1916, as a [[conscientious objector]], he was initially exempted only from combatant [[military service]], but after two levels of appeal he was exempted on condition of teaching, which he took up via General Service with the [[Friends' Ambulance Unit]], holding posts at [[Sibford School]], [[Warwick School]] and [[Cranbrook School, Kent]].<br />
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Alexander married Olive Graham (1892–1942) on 20 July 1918 and joined the staff of [[Woodbrooke College|Woodbrooke]], a Quaker college in [[Birmingham]], teaching international relations, especially in relation to the [[League of Nations]], from 1919 to 1944. His wife died in 1942, having used a wheelchair for several years. That year Alexander joined a section of the [[World War II]] [[Friends Ambulance Unit]] and went to parts of India that were threatened by Japan. In 1958, he married Rebecca Bradbeer (née Biddle, 1901–1991), an American Quaker. After ten years they moved to [[Pennsylvania]], United States, where he spent the remaining twenty years of his life.{{sfn |Carnall |Wood |2004}} He was also, for its first ten years, a governor of [[Leighton Park School]], a leading Quaker school in England. He died of a [[Stomach|gastrointestinal]] illness at Crosslands, a Quaker retirement community in [[Kennett Square, Pennsylvania|Kennett Square]], Pennsylvania.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE0DC1E31F936A35753C1A96F948260 Obituary. New York Times 5 October 1989]</ref><br />
<br />
==Ornithology==<br />
Alexander was a lifelong, dedicated and gifted [[birdwatching|birdwatcher]], keenly involved in the 20th-century movements for the protection and observation of birds. He and two of his older brothers, Wilfred and Christopher, he took a keen interest in nature. Growing up in a Quaker home devoid of any other forms of entertainment, his interest in birds began at the age of eight, when his older brother Gilbert gave him a book on natural history.{{sfn |Moss |2004 |p=87}} In his autobiography he traced the beginnings of this interest in birds to 8.45 am on 25 March 1897, when an uncle pointed out a singing [[Common chiffchaff|chiffchaff]] in their garden.{{sfn|Fitter|1990}} It was not until he was 20 that he obtained his first pair of binoculars.{{sfn |Moss |2004 |p=88}} He was one of a small group of amateur birdwatchers who developed skills and set new standards for combining the pleasures of birdwatching with the satisfaction of contributing to ornithological science. He made many significant observations, mainly in Britain, but also in India and the United States.<br />
<br />
Alexander spent most of his time in India and became interested in its birds in 1927. Ornithology at that time was not popular among Indians in India, and when Horace informed Gandhi of an expedition, Gandhi commented, "That is a good hobby, provided you don't shoot them." Horace demonstrated the use of binoculars as an acceptable alternative to the gun and carried them at most times. Horace Alexander joined [[Sidney Dillon Ripley]] on an expedition to the [[Naga Hills]] in 1950. Ripley named a subspecies of the [[aberrant bush warbler]] after Alexander, although this is no longer recognised.<ref>{{Cite journal |journal=Postilla |volume=6 |year=1951 |title=Notes on Indian Birds. IV. Some recently collected birds from Assam |author=Ripley, S. Dillon |pages=1–7 |url=https://archive.org/stream/postilla150peab#page/n61/mode/2up/}}</ref> In the same year he founded the [[Delhi]] Birdwatching Society, along with Lt. Gen. Harold Williams. One early member of the organisation was the young [[Indira Gandhi]], and the group encouraged Indian ornithologists such as Usha Ganguli.{{sfn |Wood |2003}} Many of his notes were mislaid when one of his suitcases was lost in India in 1946.{{sfn |Moss |2004 |p=102}}{{sfn |Bhutani |1984}} Through his influence on [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], he was instrumental in the designation of the [[Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary]] near Delhi.{{sfn |Fitter |1990}}<br />
<br />
Alexander was also a founder member, in 1929, of the [[West Midland Bird Club]] (then the Birmingham Bird Club),<ref name="WMBC-chrono">{{Cite web |url=http://www.westmidlandbirdclub.com/club/chrono|title=Chronology |publisher=West Midland Bird Club |access-date=7 September 2011 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921053229/http://www.westmidlandbirdclub.com/club/chrono |archive-date=21 September 2011}}</ref> and its president,<ref name="WMBC-chrono"/> during his long residence in Birmingham, England.<br />
<br />
==Mohandas Gandhi==<br />
Alexander's father-in-law, John William Graham, believed that Gandhi was a subversive and that the Indians were unprepared for self-government. At the Quaker yearly meeting in 1930 the [[Nobel Prize]]-winning poet [[Rabindranath Tagore]] attacked colonial rule in India. The Quakers were disturbed by the address and John Graham was particularly outraged. Afterwards it was agreed that a representative would be sent to India to attempt a reconciliation between the [[Viceroy of India|Viceroy]], [[Lord Irwin]], and Gandhi. This task was assigned to Horace Alexander, who first met Gandhi in March 1928. He made it possible for Gandhi to attend the 1931 round-table conference in London. After the conference he founded the India Conciliation Group along with [[Agatha Harrison]] and [[Carl Heath]].{{sfn |Carnall |Wood |2004}} Becoming a close friend of Gandhi (who, in 1942, described Alexander as "one of the best English friends India has"), he wrote extensively about Gandhi's philosophy.{{sfn|Carnall|2010}} In 1947 he attempted to intervene to control the violence between Muslims and Hindus and was beside Gandhi in Calcutta on 15 August 1947.{{sfn |Carnall |Wood |2004}}<br />
<br />
He was consulted by [[Richard Attenborough]] in the making of the 1982 film ''[[Gandhi (film)|Gandhi]]''. However, he felt that the scripts did not do justice to the people around Gandhi.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://textualities.net/geoffrey-carnall/gandhis-interpreter-a-life-of-horace-alexander |author=Carnall, Geoffrey |title=Gandhi's Interpreter: a life of Horace Alexander |year=2006}}</ref><br />
<br />
In 1984 he was awarded the [[Padma Bhushan]] medal, the highest honour given to a non-Indian civilian.{{sfn|Carnall|Wood|2004}}<br />
<br />
==Radio appearances==<br />
Alexander made several appearances as a presenter on [[BBC Radio]]:<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1933|04|27|df=y}} |event=Adventures in Bird Watching |location= BBC Regional Programme Midland}}<ref name="RT-499">{{Cite journal |date=21 April 1933 |title=Regional Programme Midland, 27 April 1933 22.00 |journal=[[Radio Times]] |publisher=[[BBC]] |volume=39 |issue=499 |url=http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/857ea361970f4ef68c1169713f853a7a|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141018212452/http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/857ea361970f4ef68c1169713f853a7a|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 October 2014}}</ref><br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1948|06|14|df=y}} |event=Personalities and Possibilities in Kashmir |location=[[Third Programme]]}}<ref name="RT-1287">{{Cite journal |url=http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/f737d6013a2d482c83df0b8b1ab4d175 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024124528/http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/f737d6013a2d482c83df0b8b1ab4d175 |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 October 2014 |date=11 June 1948 |title=Third Programme, 14 June 1948 18.00 |journal=[[Radio Times]] |publisher=[[BBC]] |volume=98 |issue=1287 |page=11}}</ref><br />
*He also appeared as a guest in the 1950s and 1960s on several programmes about Gandhi.<ref name="Genome">{{Cite web |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?adv=0&q=%22horace+alexander%22&media=all&yf=1923&yt=2009&mf=1&mt=12&tf=00%3A00&tt=00%3A00 |title=Search Results&nbsp;— BBC Genome |work=[[BBC Online]] |access-date=18 October 2014}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Publications==<br />
The books and articles written by Horace Alexander include:<br />
*{{Cite book |last=Alexander |first=Horace |author-mask=0 |title=Joseph Gundry Alexander |date=2 December 2023 |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924007754298}}<br />
*{{Cite book |last=Alexander |first=Horace |author-mask=0 |url=https://archive.org/details/justiceamongnati014924mbp |title=Justice Among Nations |date=1927 |publisher=Leonard & Virginia Woolf At The Hogarth Press}}<br />
*{{Cite book |last=Alexander |first=Horace |author-mask=0 |title=The Indian Ferment |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.43700 |date=1929}}<br />
*{{Cite book |last=Alexander |first=Horace |author-mask=0 |title=India Since Cripps |date=1944 |publisher=[[Penguin Books|Penguin]]}}<ref>[https://archive.org/details/india-since-cripps/mode/2up ''India since Cripps''].</ref><br />
*{{Cite book |last=Alexander |first=Horace |author-mask=0 |title=New Citizens of India |date=1951}}<br />
*{{Cite book |last=Alexander |first=Horace |author-mask=0 |title=Consider India: An Essay in Values |url=https://archive.org/details/considerindia00hora |date=1961}}<br />
*{{Cite book |last=Alexander |first=Horace |author-mask=0 |title=Gandhi Through Western Eyes |date=1969}}<br />
**reissued {{Cite book |last=Alexander |first=Horace |author-mask=0 |title=Gandhi Through Western Eyes |date=1984 |publisher=New Society Publishers |isbn=978-0-86571-044-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/gandhithroughwes00alex}}<br />
*{{Cite book |last=Alexander |first=Horace |author-mask=0 |title=70 Years of Birdwatching |date=1974 |publisher=[[T & A D Poyser]] |isbn=0-85661-004-6}}<br />
<br />
===Ornithological papers===<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1929}}|event= Some birds seen in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean. Ibis, 12 5(1), 41–53.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1931}}|event= Shearwaters in the Arabian Sea. Ibis, 13 1(3), 579–581.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1938}}|event= {{cite web |first1=H. G. |last1=Alexander |author-mask1=0 |url=http://www.westmidlandbirdclub.com/archive/bittell-38 |title=Bittell Reservoirs, 1938 |publisher=West Midland Bird Club |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516195533/http://www.westmidlandbirdclub.com/archive/bittell-38 |archive-date=2008-05-16 }} }}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1948}}|event= {{Cite news |title=Birds in India |work=[[Birmingham Post]] |first1=H. G. |last1=Alexander |author-mask1=0 |date= 3 March 1943}} }}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1948}}|event= The status of the Dusky Willow-Warbler ''Phylloscopus fuscatus'' (Blyth) in India. JBNHS. 47(4), 736–739.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1948}}|event= White-winged Wood-Duck ''Asarcornis scutulatus'' (Mueller) on the Padma River, East Bengal. JBNHS. 47(4), 749.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1949}}|event= The birds of Delhi and District. JBNHS. 48(2), 370–372.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1949}}|event= The Great Crested Grebe ''Podiceps cristatus'' (Linn.) in Orissa. JBNHS. 48(2), 367–368.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1949}}|event= Whitecapped Redstart ''Chaimarrhornis leucocephalus'' (Vigors) feeding on berries. JBNHS. 48(4), 806.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1950}}|event= Field identification of birds. JBNHS. 49(1), 123–124.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1950}}|event= Kentish Plovers ''Leucopolius alexandrinus'' (Linn.) at Bombay. JBNHS. 49(2), 311.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1950}}|event= Large Grey Babbler attacking metal hub-cap of wheel of car. JBNHS. 49(3), 550.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1950}}|event= Possible occurrence of the Black Tern ''Chlidonias niger'' (L.) near Delhi. JBNHS. 49(1), 120–121.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1950}}|event= Some notes on the genus ''Phylloscopus'' in Kashmir. JBNHS. 49(1), 9–13.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1950}}|event= with Sir N. F. Frome&nbsp;— Birds of Delhi and District, The Reference List. JBNHS.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1951}}|event= Some notes on birds in Lahul. JBNHS. 49(4), 608–613.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1952}}|event= Birds attacking their reflections. JBNHS. 50(3), 674–675.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1952}}|event= Identifying birds of prey in the field. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club (BBOC) 72, 55–61.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1952}}|event= Letter to the Editor. Ibis 94(2), 369–370.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1952}}|event= with [[Humayun Abdulali|Abdulali, H]] - Ardeidae with red legs. Ibis 94, 363.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1953}}|event= Rednecked Phalarope near Delhi. JBNHS. 51(2), 507–508.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1955}}|event= Field notes on some Asian leaf warblers. British Birds. 48, [http://www.britishbirds.co.uk/search?id=3033 293–299], [http://www.britishbirds.co.uk/search?id=3045 349–356].}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1957}}|event= Bird life of Madhya Pradesh. JBNHS. 54(3), 768–769.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1964}}|event= [https://archive.org/stream/NLBW4#page/n1/mode/1up/ Return to Delhi]. ''Newsletter for Birdwatchers''. 4(1), 1–3.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1969}}|event= Some Notes on Asian Leaf-Warblers (Genus ''Phylloscopus''). Private/TRUEXpress, Oxford. 31 pages.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1972}}|event= [https://archive.org/stream/NLBW12#page/n109/mode/1up On revisiting Delhi]. ''[[Newsletter for Birdwatchers]]''. 12(9), 1–3.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1972}}|event= [https://archive.org/stream/NLBW12#page/n119/mode/1up Nest building of the Baya Weaver Bird]. ''Newsletter for Birdwatchers''. 12(9):12.}}<br />
*{{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|1974}}|event= What leads to increases in the range of certain birds? ''[[Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society]]'' (JBNHS). 71(3), 571–576.}}<br />
<br />
==Notes==<br />
{{Reflist|30em}}<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*{{Cite journal |last=Bhutani |first=RK |year=1984 |title=Re-formation of Delhi Birdwatching Society |journal=Newsletter for Birdwatchers |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=15–16 |url=https://archive.org/stream/NLBW24#page/n15/mode/2up}}<br />
*{{Cite book |first=Geoffrey |last=Carnall |title=Gandhi's Interpreter: A Life of Horace Alexander |place=Edinburgh, Scotland |publisher=Edinburgh Univ. Press |year=2010}}<br />
*{{Cite ODNB |first1=Geoffrey |last1=Carnall |first2=J. Duncan |last2=Wood |chapter=Alexander, Horace Gundry (1889–1989) |title= Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/38403 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/38403}}<br />
*{{Cite web |last=Chmielewski |first=Wendy |title=Horace Gundry Alexander – Papers, 1916–1983 |publisher=Swarthmore College Peace Collection |url=http://www.swarthmore.edu/library/peace/DG100-150/dg140Alexander.htm |access-date=9 May 2008 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924122047/http://www.swarthmore.edu/library/peace/DG100-150/dg140Alexander.htm |url-status=dead }}<br />
*{{Cite journal |last=Fitter |first=Richard |pages=484–486 |year=1990 |volume=132 |issue=3 |journal=Ibis |title=Obituary |doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.1990.tb01068.x |doi-access=free}}<br />
*{{Cite book |last=Wood |first=J. Duncan |title=Horace Alexander: Birds and Binoculars |year=2003 |publisher=Sessions of York |isbn=1-85072-289-7}}<br />
*{{Cite book |last=Moss |first=Stephen |year=2004 |title=A bird in the bush: A social history of birdwatching |publisher=Aurum Press}}<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040705191253/http://www.swarthmore.edu/Library/peace/DG100-150/dg140Alexander.html Papers in the Swarthmore College Peace Collection] (page includes biography)<br />
*{{Cite web |url=http://www.westmidlandbirdclub.com/biblio/70Years/WMRes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927002218/http://www.westmidlandbirdclub.com/biblio/70Years/WMRes.htm |archive-date=27 September 2007 |title=''70 Years of Birdwatching'' (extract) |publisher=West Midland Bird Club }}<br />
*[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE0DC1E31F936A35753C1A96F948260 Obituary in The New York Times 5 October 1989]<br />
*[https://archive.org/details/cu31924007754298 H G Alexander's biography of his father Joseph Gundry Alexander]<br />
*[http://textualities.net/writers/features-a-g/alexanderh01.php Gandhi's interpreter by Geoffrey Carnall]<br />
*[http://www.woodbrooke.org.uk www.woodbrooke.org.uk]<br />
*[http://www.salsa.net/peace/conv/8weekconv2-7.html Report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219141200/http://www.salsa.net/peace/conv/8weekconv2-7.html |date=19 December 2007 }}<br />
*[http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F51991 National Archive]<br />
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{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1980–89}}<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Horace}}<br />
[[Category:1889 births]]<br />
[[Category:1989 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:People from Croydon]]<br />
[[Category:English Quakers]]<br />
[[Category:People educated at Bootham School]]<br />
[[Category:Alumni of King's College, Cambridge]]<br />
[[Category:English Christian pacifists]]<br />
[[Category:English conscientious objectors]]<br />
[[Category:People associated with the Friends' Ambulance Unit]]<br />
[[Category:English nature writers]]<br />
[[Category:English ornithologists]]<br />
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education]]<br />
[[Category:English autobiographers]]<br />
[[Category:English male non-fiction writers]]<br />
[[Category:English men centenarians]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century English zoologists]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century English male writers]]</div>Joydeb Sarkar2003