The Right Honourable The Lord Chalmers GCB PC (Ire) |
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21st Governor of Ceylon | |
In office 18 October 1913 – 4 December 1915 |
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Monarch | George V |
Preceded by |
Reginald Edward Stubbs acting governor |
Succeeded by |
Reginald Edward Stubbs acting governor |
Permanent Secretary to the Treasury | |
In office 1911–1913 |
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Preceded by | T. L. Heath |
Succeeded by | Warren Fisher |
Personal details | |
Spouse(s) | Maud Piggott Iris Florence |
Children | 3 |
Robert Chalmers, 1st Baron Chalmers, GCB, PC (18 August 1858 – 17 November 1938), was a British civil servant, and a Pali and Buddhist scholar.
Chalmers was born in Stoke Newington, Middlesex, the son of John Chalmers and his wife Julia (née Mackay). He was educated at the City of London School and graduated from Oriel College, Oxford, in 1881 with a B.A.
He joined the Treasury in 1882 and served as Assistant Secretary to the Treasury from 1903 to 1907. He was then Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue between 1907 and 1911, and Permanent Secretary to the Treasury from to 1911 to 1913. In June 1913 Chalmers was appointed Governor of Ceylon, a post he held from 18 October 1913 to 4 December 1915. He was then briefly Under-Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Wimborne in 1916. He was admitted to the Irish Privy Council the same year. He then returned to the Treasury and served as Joint Permanent Secretary to the Treasury from 1916 to 1919. In 1919 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Chalmers, of Northiam in the County of Sussex. He served as Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, 1924-31. He spent much of his adult life editing or translating Pali texts. His translations included the Jataka Tales and the Majjhima Nikaya.