Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 1.djvu/522

 famine. Largely owing to his representations a relief fund was opened at the Mansion House in London, and 820,000l. was subscribed. He was active as honorary secretary in India of the executive committee, which distributed relief through 120 local committees. He was made C.I.E. on 1 Jan. 1878, and in his 'Famine Campaign in Southern India' (1878, 2 vols.) faithfully described the visitation.

Returning to England in 1879 for domestic reasons, Digby edited the 'Liverpool and Southport Daily News' for a few months in 1880, and from that year to 1882 was editor of the 'Western Daily Mercury' at Plymouth. From Nov. 1882 till 1887 he was the energetic secretary of the newly founded National Liberal Club in London, and eagerly flung himself into political work. He contested unsuccessfully in the liberal interest North Paddington in 1885 and South Islington in 1892. In 1887 he established, and became senior partner of, the firm of William Hutchinson & Co., East India agents and merchants. Meanwhile he pursued in the press and on the platform with almost fanatical warmth the agitation for extending self-government among the natives of India. In 1885 he published 'India for the Indians and for England,' a book praised by John Bright in a speech at St. James's Hall on 25 Feb. 1885. In 1887 he founded, and until 1892 he directed, the Indian political agency, which distributed information about India to the English public. In 1889 he became secretary to the newly constituted British committee of the Indian national congress, and he edited the committee's organ, 'India' (1890-2). In 'Prosperous British India' (1901) he claimed to prove a steady growth of poverty among the Indian masses under British rule.

Digby died from nervous exhaustion at his home, Dorset Square, London, N.W., on 24 Sept. 1904, and was buried by the side of his second wife at Bromley cemetery. An oil-painting of him by John Colin Forbes, R.C.A., was presented to the National Liberal Club by friends and admirers on 19 Dec. 1905. He married (1) in 1874, Ellen Amelia, only daughter of Captain Little of Wisbech; she died in June 1878, leaving one son, William Pollard Digby, electrical engineer; and (2) in December 1879, Sarah Maria, eldest daughter of William Hutchinson, some time mayor of Wisbech; she died in January 1899, leaving a daughter and three sons, the eldest of whom, Everard, has been editor of the 'Indian Daily News,' Calcutta.

Besides many pamphlets and the works cited, Digby published 'Forty Years of Official and Unofficial Life in a Crown Colony' (Madras, 1879, 2 vols.), being a biography of Sir Richard F. Morgan, acting chief justice in Ceylon.



DILKE, CHARLES WENTWORTH, second baronet (1843–1911), politician and author, born on 4 Sept. 1843 in the house in Sloane Street, London (No. 76), which his father had occupied and in which he himself lived and died, was elder son of Sir, first baronet [q. v.]. [q. v.], the antiquary and critic, was his grandfather. His mother, Mary, daughter of William Chatfield, captain in the Madras cavalry, died on 16 Sept. 1853. His younger brother was [q. v.], M.P. for Newcastle-on-Tyne from 1880 until his death in 1883.

Dilke, after being educated privately, became in 1862 a scholar of Trinity Hall, Cambridge his father's college. There (Sir) Leslie Stephen was his tutor. He graduated LL.B. as senior legalist, i.e. head of the law tripos, in 1866, and proceeded LL.M. in 1869. He was an active member of the Cambridge Union, serving twice as vice-president and twice as president. He was an enthusiastic oarsman and rowed in his college boat when it was head of the river. That recreation he pursued all his life. In later years he built himself a bungalow at Dockett Eddy near Shepperton and spent much of his time on the water. He was also a keen and capable fencer and frequently invited his friends to a bout with he foils at his house in Sloane Street. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple on 30 April 1866, but never practised. In 1866 Dilke left England for a tour round the world, beginning with a visit to the United States. Here he travelled alone for some months, but was subsequently joined by [q. v.] editor of the 'Athenæum,' the paper of which his father was proprietor. The two travelled together for some time, visiting the Mormon cities of Utah, but they parted at Salt Lake City, Dixon returning to England and Dilke continuing his journey westward, 