Gifford Palgrave

William Gifford Palgrave (* 1826 in Westminster, London, England; † 1888) was an East traveler. He was the son of Sir Francis Palgrave (KH ) and Elizabeth Turner.

He went to the Charterhouse School in Godalming, where, among other honors, he won the gold medal for school classic verses. He then attended Trinity College, Oxford, for which he received a scholarship. He made there in 1846 his degree.

After college located Palgrave went directly to India and served for a time in the British Army. Shortly thereafter, he converted to Catholicism, was ordained a priest and joined the Order of the Jesuits. As a member of the Order, he served in India, Rome and in Syria, where he acquired knowledge of the Arabic language.

Palgrave convinced his superiors to support a mission in inner Arabia, which was still an unknown country in the epoch for the rest of the world. He also gained the support of the French Emperor Napoleon III. and explained to him that a better knowledge of Arabia French imperialism in Africa and the Middle East would be useful.

He then returned to Syria, where he assumed the identity of a traveling doctor. Accompanied by a servant, Palgrave packed his bags with medical and travel goods and traveled to Najd in the northern center of Arabia. He traveled disguised as a Muslim, otherwise it could mean death at the hands of tribesmen. Each service he -actuated henceforth for the Society of Jesus and the French Empire was, as a spy, not as a missionary. After the year-long journey of Syria by the Najd continued to Bahrain and Oman, he returned to Europe and wrote a narrative of his travels. His story became a bestseller and was reprinted several times. He made no mention of the hidden motives for the trip.

After Palgrave had written this book, he took a new page break, saying in 1865 by the Catholic Church going. He entered the service of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and was appointed consul in Sukhumi in 1866, changed in 1867, however, to Trabzon. In 1868 he married Katherine, the daughter of the Norwegian George Edward Simpson, with whom he had three sons. He was in 1873 appointed consul at Saint Thomas and Saint Croix, 1876 Consul in Manila and 1878 Consul General in Bulgaria. In 1879 he was transferred to Bangkok. In 1884 he was Minister Resident and Consul General in Uruguay, where he served until his death in 1888.

In addition to his work on Central Arabia Gifford Palgrave published the band Essays on Eastern Questions, called a narrative Hermann Agha, a sketch of Dutch Guiana, and another volume of essays entitled Ulysses.

Works

• Personal Narrative of a Year 's Journey through Central and Eastern Arabia (1862-1863), vol. I. Macmillan & Co., London, 1865. (Online)
• Personal Narrative of a Year 's Journey through Central and Eastern Arabia (1862-1863), vol. II Macmillan & Co., London, 1866. (Online)
• Essays on Eastern Questions. London 1872. (Online)
• Hermann Agha: An Eastern Narrative. London 1872. ( Vol. I online vol. II online)
• Dutch Guiana. London 1876. (Online)
• Ulysses or Scenes and Studies in Many Lands. London 1887. (Online)