Transcript 

of

Colonel William Francis Prideaux [Obituary]

Trans. Devon Assoc., vol.  47, (1915), pp. 54-55.

by

Maxwell Adams (Ed.)

Prepared by Michael Steer

The obituary was read at the Association’s July 1915 Exeter meeting. Colonel Prideaux served as assistant political resident in Aden from 1864 to 1875, and during this period developed a keen interest in ancient South Arabian inscriptions. He corresponded with several of the leading individuals and institutions concerned with the topic. Unlike most of his British contemporaries, however, Prideaux was not simply a collector but strove to decipher the inscriptions and study their historical context and content. His efforts resulted in several published articles about South Arabia, including the first Sabaean grammar published in English. He is regarded as Britain's first “Sabaeologist”., i.e. i.e., scholar of the culture of the inhabitants of Sheba. An excellent biographical monograph on the Colonel and the topic is available.  The obituary, from a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.

Colonel William Francis Prideaux, who died on 5 December, 1914, at his residence, Hopeville, St. Peter's, Kent, aged 74, joined the Association in 1911. He was the eldest son of the late Mr. F. W. Prideaux, Revenue Secretary, India Office, served in the India Office in 1859 and joined the Bombay Army as an ensign in the following year, entering the Indian Staff Corps in 1865. He was attached to the mission to King Theodore of Abyssinia in 1864, and was confined as a prisoner at Magdala from 1866 to 1868. He subsequently served in various capacities under the Foreign Department of the Government of India, receiving the C.S.I, in 1895. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.