Sir William Robert Burkitt (1838 – 16 June 1908) was an Irish judge in British India in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Education

From the Irish branch of a prominent family of judges, theologians, and doctors, Burkitt was born in Dublin. He was educated at Trinity College Dublin and called to the bar at Middle Temple.

He took the Indian Civil Service exams in 1860 and graduated to the Bengal Civil Service in 1869.

Career

William Burkitt arrived in India 11 October 1861. From October 1862, he served in the North Western Provinces as Assistant Magistrate and Collector, Joint Magistrate and Deputy Collector, District and Sessions Judge (from 1862–1891) in Gorakhpur, Basti, Banda, Cawnpore (or Kanpur), Bareilly, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Etawah, Azamgarh, and Mathura,[1] and, later, as a Judicial Commissioner in locations such as Oudh, Allahabad,[2] Delhi and Calcutta.

He served as a High Court Judge in Allahabad (1895-1908)[3][4] and was appointed Chief Justice of the United Provinces and as Puisne Judge (1895), the most senior category of judges in British India.[5][6]

He was made a Knight Bachelor on 19 July 1904,[7][8][9] the year of his retirement.

Freemasonry

Burkitt was District Grand Mark Master[10] of District Grand Mark Lodge, Bengal and then District Grandmaster of Bengal,[11][12] presiding over Freemasonry for over half of India's population in the Bengal Presidency.

Emir of Afghanistan

His most well-known achievement was, together with Lord Kitchener (then District Grandmaster of Punjab), to induct the Emir of Afghanistan Habibullah Khan at Freemasons Hall at Lodge Concordia in Park Street, Kolkata in 1907.[11] This lodge is the home of the United Grand Lodge of Bengal of which Burkitt was District Grandmaster.

Induction of Emir Habibullah Khan IV of Afghanistan into Masonry on 1 Feb 1907, by William Robert Burkitt and others.

An account of this highly unusual event was written at the time by Sir Henry McMahon.[13][14][15][16][17] It was performed in an unusual style, the Emir taking all three ordinary degrees of masonry at once - a rare event rumoured to signify membership of the Roshaniya.[18]

Personal life

Burkitt was married twice. He married first to Kathleen Dwyer (who was lost at sea) and then to Frances Gill. He had children with both wives. His son, William, also a judge, was tipped to follow in his father's footsteps but died young from pneumonia on 19 May 1918 in Nainital. There were several daughters, including Ethel Lilian Burkitt, who married in December 1902 Captain Charles Hampden Turner, Suffolk Regiment.[19]

Later life

He died in at Norris's Hotel, 48-53 Russell Road, Kensington, London[20] on 16 June 1908.

References

  1. ↑ "Notes on Careers" (PDF).
  2. ↑ "Former Judges of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad and its Bench at Lucknow (1866-1899)". allahabadhighcourt.in. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  3. ↑ "High Court of Judicature at Allahabad".
  4. ↑ "List of Retired/Resigned/Expired Hon'ble Judge Arranged According to Date of Appointment (1866-1899)".
  5. ↑ India Office, Great Britain (1819). "The India List and India Office List".
  6. ↑ "National Archives of India: Appointment of Mr. Burkitt to be a Judge of the High Court, North-Western Provinces. Continuance of the appointment of the Fifth Puisne Judge of the Court for another year". March 1895.
  7. ↑ "No. 27698". The London Gazette. 22 July 1904. p. 4755.
  8. ↑ Shaw, William Arthur (1970). The Knights of England: A Complete Record from the Earliest Time ..., Volume 1. ISBN 9780806304434.
  9. ↑ "National Archives of India - Confermrnt of the honour of Knighthood upon (1) Dr. Gorroo Dass Bannerjee, lately a Puisne Judge of the High Court of Judicature at Fort William, Bengal. (2) Edward Townshend Candy, Esq., C.S.I., retired, lately a Puisne Judge of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay. (3) The Honble Mr. W.R. Burkitt, M.A., Barrister-at-Law, Puisne Judge of the High Court of Judicature for the North-Western Provinces. (4) The Honble Mr. D.P. Masson, C.I.E., V.D., Lieutenant-Colonel and Commandent of the 1st Punjab Volunteer Rifle Corps, Honorary A.D.C. to His Excellency the Viceroy, and Member of the Council of the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab".
  10. ↑ "The Freemason - Vol XXXVII No. 1538 p.399" (PDF). 1898-08-27.
  11. 1 2 "The Emir of Afghanistan - A Mason" (PDF).
  12. ↑ "A VETERAN PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER" (PDF).
  13. ↑ "The Newsletter of the Committee on Masonic Education Vol. 16 No. 1 - "THE AMIR 'TAKES THREE"" (PDF).
  14. ↑ "The Emir of Afghanistan (1872-1919) Freemason A Royal Occasion A Royal Masonic Occasion (An Account of the entry of H M Habibullah Khan Amir of Afghanistan into Freemasonry) By Sir Henry McMahon" (PDF).
  15. ↑ "Horatio Herbert Kitchener".
  16. ↑ "Horatio Herbert Kitchener".
  17. ↑ "Amir Habibullah Khan: Afghan Reformer and Freemason".
  18. ↑ Daraul, Arkon (1999). Secret Societies: A History. MJF Books. ISBN 978-1-56731-291-1.
  19. ↑ "Marriages". The Times. No. 36969. London. 5 January 1903. p. 1.
  20. ↑ "London and its environs, including excursions to Brighton, the Isle of Wight, etc. Handbook for travellers".
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