Sir William Jones | |
---|---|
![]() A steel engraving of Sir William Jones, after a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds | |
Puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal | |
In office 22 October 1783[1] – 27 April 1794[2] | |
Personal details | |
Born | [3] Westminster, London | 9 October 1746
Died | 27 April 1794 Calcutta, Bengal Presidency | (aged 47)
Resting place | South Park Street Cemetery |
Spouse |
Anna Maria Shipley (m. 1783) |
Parent |
|
Sir William Jones FRS FRAS FRSE (28 September 1746 – 27 April 1794) was a British philologist, orientalist, indologist and judge. Born in Westminster, London to Welsh mathematician William Jones, he moved to the Bengal Presidency where Jones served as a puisne judge on the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William and also became a scholar of ancient Indian history. As part of his research, he was the first to assert the kinship of the Indo-European languages. Jones also founded the Asiatic Society in Calcutta in 1784.