Arthur Purves Phayre

Sir Arthur Purves Phayre (7 May 1812 – 14 December 1885) was a career British Indian Army officer who was the first Commissioner of British Burma, 1862–1867, Governor of Mauritius, 1874–1878, and author.

Early life Phayre was born in Shrewsbury and educated at Shrewsbury School. His father Richard Phayre, Esq. was grandson of Colonel Robert Phayre, of Killoughram Forest. A brother, General Sir Robert Phayre (1820–1897), also served in India and Afghanistan.

He joined the Indian Army in 1828. In 1846 he was appointed assistant to the commissioner of the province of Tenasserim, Burma, and in 1849 he was made commissioner of Arakan. After the Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852), he became commissioner of Pegu. He was made a brevet captain in 1854 and in 1862 he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel.

Work

Government office In 1862, Arthur Phayre was made commissioner for the entire province of British Burma, now Myanmar. He left Burma in 1867. He served as 12th governor of Mauritius from 21 September 1874 to 31 December 1878.

He was appointed a CB in 1864, promoted to colonel in 1866 and was knighted with the KCSI in 1867. In 1871, he was promoted to major-general and was promoted to lieutenant-general in 1873. He retired to Bray in Ireland and was appointed a GCMG in 1878.

Naturalist Phayre wrote the first standard History of Burma (1883). He is commemorated in the names of a number of animals, including: Phayre's leaf monkey, Trachypithecus phayrei Indochinese flying squirrel, Hylopetes phayrei Phayre's squirrel, Callosciurus phayrei Eared pitta, Hydrornis phayrei Brown Asian forest tortoise, Manouria emys phayrei Ashy-headed green pigeon, Treron phayrei

Numismatist Phayre collected coins (some are now in the British Museum collection), and in 1882 wrote Coins of Arakan, of Pegu, and of Burma, International Numismata Orientalia, part 8. The title page notes that he was a corresponding member of the Société Académique Indo-Chinoise. He was also a member of the Royal Asiatic Society.

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