Maurice Vidal Portman


Maurice Vidal Portman was a British naval officer, who is best known for his documentation and pacification of several Andamanese tribes between 1879 and 1901.

Life and career

M. V. Portman was the third son of The Honourable Maurice Berkeley Portman who was in turn the third son of Edward Portman, 1st Viscount Portman, and Emma Portman, Baroness Portman. He was born in Canada. He joined the Royal Indian Marine at the age of 16 and was some time in charge of the Viceroy's yacht. In July 1879 he was stationed at Port Blair in the Andaman Islands and made Officer in Charge of the Andamanese, a post which he held for more than 20 years with few interruptions. He was able to befriend the natives to pacify some previously hostile tribes, especially the Onge people of Little Andaman Island, but also used force against them on occasion.

Port Blair

During his stay at Port Blair he took a large number of photographs of the Andamanese, including some at the request of British Museum and the British Government of India. These plates are now scattered among several museums and may be partly unpublished. He also wrote two books, Notes of the Languages of the South Andaman Group of Languages and A History of Our Relations with the Andamanese. Portman also composed a significant collection of ethnographic objects during his time on the Andaman Islands that are now in the collections of the British Museum.

Later life

His obituary stated that he had a "frail physique" and suffered from ill health. After retiring as an invalid in 1901, he went back to Britain where he did some journalism and "some valuable Secret Service work" during World War I. He was a member of the Union Club. He never married and left no descendants.