Albion Rajkumar Banerji

Other names: 

Sir Albion Rajkumar Banerji

Locations

Balliol College
Broad Street
Oxford, OX1 3BJ
United Kingdom
51° 45' 16.1172" N, 1° 15' 24.2496" W
See map: Google Maps
Red Lodge
Park Row
Bristol, BS1 5LJ
United Kingdom
51° 27' 19.2744" N, 2° 36' 7.6104" W
See map: Google Maps
1
Date of birth: 
10 Sep 1871
City of birth: 
Bristol
Country of birth: 
England
Date of death: 
01 Jan 1950
Precise date of death unknown: 
Y
Dates of time spent in Britain: 

1871-2, 1894, 1895, 1929, 1936 (many other times as well)

2
About: 

Born in Bristol in 1871, Albion was the son of Sasipada Banerji, the Brahmo Samaj reformer and friend of Mary Carpenter. Upon his birth, he was hailed as the first Brahmin baby born in Britain and a letter was sent to the Queen by Mary Carpenter informing her of his birth. The family returned to India in 1872 but Albion was later to return to the UK for studies and to compete for the ICS. He had been educated at Calcutta University and then joined Balliol College, Oxford. He passed the ICS exams in 1894 and his first posting in 1895 was as Assistant Collector and Magistrate in Madras.

Subsequent posts that Banerji took up included the Diwan of Cochin (1907-14), the Diwan of Mysore (1922-7), and Foreign and Political Minister in Kashmir. At the Delhi Durbar of 1911, Albion was awarded the Companion of the Indian Empire (CIE).

Banerji was Honorary Treasurer for the World Congress of Faiths, 2nd International Congress of the World Fellowship of Faiths, London, 3-18 July 1936.

Connections: 

Sasipada Banerji (his father), Mary Carpenter (friend of his father), Earl Winterton (wrote forward for Indian Tangle), Sir Francis Younghusband (World Congress of Faiths), Marquess of Zetland (wrote introduction to An Indian Pathfinder).

Organizations: 
National Indian Association
Involved in events: 

2nd International Congress of the World Fellowship of Faiths, July 1936

3
Published works: 

The Indian Tangle (London: Hutchinson, 1933)

An Indian Pathfinder: Being the Memoirs of Sevabrata Sasipada Banerji, 1840-1924 (Oxford: Kemp Hall Press, 1934)

The Rhythm of Living: A Layman's Guide to Threefold Happiness in Body, Mind and Spirit, to Suit Modern Conditions, with Special Reference to Hindu Thought (London: Rider, 1940)

What is Wrong with India (Allahabad: Kitabistan, 1942)

Through an Indian Camera (Bangalore: Bangalore Printing & Publishing Co., 1946)

Looking Ahead in War Time (London: Harmony Press, n.d.)

Contributions to periodicals: 

Editor of Indian Affairs (1930-2)

4
Archive source: 

Two Portraits taken 4 September 1929, National Portrait Gallery, London