Early Life
Hodgson was the second of seven children born at Lower Beech, Prestbury, Cheshire to Brian Hodgson (1766-1858) and Catherine (1775?-1851). His father lost money in a bad bank investment and had to sell their home at Lower beech. A great-aunt married to Beilby Porteus, the bishop of London, helped them but the financial difficulties were great. Hodgsons father worked as a warden of the Martello towers and in 1820 barrack-master at Canterbury. Brian (the son) studied at Macclesfield grammar school until 1814 and the next two years at Richmond under the tutelage of Daniel Delafosse. He was nominated for the Bengal civil service by an East India Company director, James Pattison. He went to study at Haileybury and showed an aptitude for languages. An early influence was Thomas Malthus who was a family friend and a staff member at Hailebury. At the end of his first term (May 1816) he obtained a prize for Bengali. He graduated from Haileybury with a gold medal.
Read more about this topic: Brian Houghton Hodgson
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