Sir George Christopher Molesworth Birdwood (8 December 1832 – 28 June 1917) was an Anglo-Indian official, naturalist, and writer. He served as the first Sheriff of Bombay from 1846 to 1858.
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Life
The son of General Christopher Birdwood, he was born at Belgaum, then in the Bombay Presidency, on 8 December 1832. The botanist and judge Herbert Mills Birdwood was his brother. He was educated at Plymouth Grammar School and Edinburgh University, where he took his MD degree presenting the thesis "The origin of ideas". Entering the Bombay Medical Service in 1854, he served in the Persian War of 1856–1857, and subsequently became professor at the Grant Medical College, registrar of the university, curator of the museum, and sheriff at Bombay, besides acting as secretary of the Asiatic and Horticultural societies.
Birdwood interested himself also in the municipal life of Bombay, where he acquired influence and popularity. He was obliged by ill-health in 1868 to return to England, where he entered the revenue and statistics department of the India Office (1871–1902).
In the dedication to his English translation of Garcia de Orta's book, Clements Markham calls Birdwood the "Garcia da Orta of British India". He kept up his connection to India with contributions to the Indian press; and established longterm friendships with Indian princes and educated Indians. In 1846 he was selected Sheriff of Bombay In 1887 he was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire; and, besides being given his Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Cambridge, he was also made an officer of the Légion d'Honneur and a laureate of the French Academy.