Edward John Bolus (born 5 May 1879) was a poet and writer, civil servant, and clergyman. He spent his civil service career in India, which appears prominently in his writing.
Life
Early years
Born 5 May 1879 to Harriet S. Bolus and her husband Edward, a schoolmaster in
Stoke Newington in London,[1] John studied at the
Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood,[2] and was in 1891 and 1892 elected to a
Drapers' Company scholarship by the
London School Board.[3][4] He attended university “extension lectures" at Hugh Myddelton School in 1894 on "The Government of Great Britain and the Rights and Duties of English Citizens".[5] In June 1898 Bolus gave the Greek oration at the Marchant Taylors' speech day, as well as acting as
Cleon in an original-language performance of a scene from The Knights by
Aristophanes.[6]
He was then elected to a Jodrell Scholarship at
The Queen's College, Oxford in November 1897[7] (and perhaps again in June 1898),[8] matriculating for a BA in Classics in 1898.[9] In 1900 he took a first class in the Classics
Honour Moderations,[10] and in 1902 a second class in the final honour school.[11] In 1901–2, he was also secretary and then president of the Queens College Eglesfield Debating Society.[12][13]
Civil servant
In 1902–3 Bolus took the
civil service examination,[14] and on 14 November 1903 arrived in India, where he served in
Bombay and in due course
Pune as assistant collector and magistrate.[2] By 1905 he was a second assistant in Land Revenue and General Administration,[15] and by 1 October 1915 an assistant collector, based in Pune.[16] He was mobilised in 1914, and his highest acting rank was Capt. 26th (Sind) Bn. of the
Indian Defence Force.[9]
While in India, Bolus sustained his Classical interests and was an active member of the (apparently short-lived) Bombay Branch of the
Classical Association, "which owed its existence mainly to the enthusiasm of a learned Jesuit, Father Ailinger".[17] On 6 April 1911 he gave a lecture to the Branch on "Plato as a Literary Artist".[18] It was no doubt his activities here that gave rise to his 1920 publication Bombaia, a long description of Bombay in Latin verse.[17] He also appears to have been active in the
Royal Asiatic Society: he appears in 1908 proposing one of several motions on the Bombay branch of the Society's journal subscriptions, arguing that "the Daily News be discontinued" and "that if it is necessary to include a Liberal Paper, the Chronicle be taken".[19]
He remained the resident curate at
Pamber Heath into the 1940s.[38] In 1943, he was posted from being rector of
Monk Sherborne to being rector of
Weyhill.[39] In 1947, he became vicar of
Horton-cum-Studley, in Oxfordshire, returning him to near his old college,[40] and promptly formed a village cricket club, becoming its chairman.[41] He held the post until his retirement in 1952, also chairing the Parish Council from 1950 to 1952.[42]
On 2 May 1949, he married Vivien Helen MacDiarmid, widow of Hugh MacDiarmid.[43]
Retirement
In 1952, Bolus retired to
Umtali,
Rhodesia,[41] appearing in the Royal Asiatic Society's 1959 list of members as resident at 9 Stevens Avenue, Morningside, Umtali, S. Rhodesia.[44]
Publications
Edward John Bolus, Poems (Bombay: [n. pub.], 1913)[45]
E. J. Bolus, A Sehwan Reverie (Sehwan: Civil and Military Gazette Press, 1918)
Eduardus Ioannes Bolus, Bombaia (Bombay: Pearson, 1920)
John Bolus, Shires and Spires (London: Richards, 1921)[46][47]
E. J. Bolus, The Influence of Islam (London: Williams, Temple Bar Pub. Co. Ltd, 1932) [characterised by
Arthur Stanley Tritton with the comment "this book will only annoy a Muslim and is not accurate enough for a Christian"].[48]
^The India List and Office List (London: India Office, 1905), p. 95.
^Oral Evidence of Witnesses Examined by the Committee Appointed by the Government of Bombay to Consider and Report on the Question of the Extension of the Principles of Local Self-Government in Regard to Local Boards: Volume II. Bombay Presidency (Bombay: British India Press, 1916), p. 95. dspace.gipe.ac.in/jspui/bitstream/10973/3700/3/GIPE-059446.pdf.
^
abSamuel Townsend Sheppard, Bombay (Bombay: Times of India Press, 1932), p. 158.
^Classical Association Proceedings, 9 (January 1912), pp. 134, 200.