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British politician and naturalist

Colonel William Henry Sykes, FRS (25 January 1790 – 16 June 1872) was an English naturalist who served with the British military in India and was specifically known for his work with the Indian Army as a politician, Indologist and ornithologist. One of the pioneers of the Victorian statistical movement, a founder of the Royal Statistical Society, he conducted surveys and examined the efficiency of army operation. Returning from service in India, he became a director of the East India Company and a member of parliament representing Aberdeen. In 1847 he tried to contest for the Member of Parliament seat for Aberdeen but failed. In 1857 he contested again, representing the liberal interest against John Farley Leith, and was elected. He continued to hold the seat for several terms. He was elected president of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1858. He was also a member of the Society of Arts and the Royal British Association. He took a special interest in libraries and information accessibility, seeking university libraries to remain open for longer and supporting the role of public libraries. He noted that England was lagging behind Europe in the size of public libraries noting that the per capita availability of books in London was 22 books for 100 persons while Paris had 160 for 100, Florence 317 per 100; Dresden 490 per 100; Munich 780; and Copenhagen 467 per 100. He also noted that Munich had 17 public libraries. In his installation talk as Lord Rector, he also claimed that he could help establish a commission in the Indian Army for the best students of mathematics, natural philosophy, natural history, Biblical criticism and classics if they had expertise in military drawing, and geology apart from good conduct. He was a founder member, in 1835, and president of the Royal Statistical Society, 1863–1965; he was the eleventh holder of that post but the first not to be a peer or baronet. He also became an Honorary Metropolitan Commissioner in September 1835. Despite suffering from bronchitis he attended all parliament sessions and died in Kensington, London, aged 82.

As a "Statistical Reporter" he travelled across the Deccan region, collecting data on populations apart from collecting natural history specimens. Some of statistical research contributions included the computations of the cost of maintenance per soldier. He calculated for instance that the French army had a much lower cost than that of the British army, which according to him allowed the French to maintain two soldiers for the cost of one "English" soldier. He also worked out that native Indian soldiers were healthier than their European counterparts and that it was possible to provide pension and insurance to Indian soldiers with a very low premium although this was never implemented. Sykes was a pioneer meteorologist in India, taking regular temperature and atmospheric pressure readings; he noticed regular patterns in diurnal pressure variations and noted that the range was greatest in winter, while the least difference occurred during the monsoons. Sykes' collections of animals resulted in the publications of catalogues of birds and mammals from the Deccan region, many of which were published in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society. His discoveries included fifty six birds new to science, including the Indian pond heron. Sykes also studied the fish of the area, and wrote papers on the quails and hemipodes of India. His list of birds of the Deccan contained almost 236 species. He was an authority on the natural history of the Deccan region and he corresponded with many other naturalists. He used his influence during his position at the East India Company and Charles Darwin wrote to him to influence decisions in favour of including Edward Blyth on an expedition to China. Sykes's lark (Galerida deva) of peninsular India is named after him. In addition, a race of blue headed wagtail (Motacilla flava beema) was given the common name Sykes's wagtail in British Birds (1907). Sykes wrote extensively on Buddhism and its antiquity. In an 1842 paper published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society, he contended that the Brahmins were likely not native to India and that Pali was older than Sanskrit. He believed that, rather than Brahmanism, it was Buddhism that had reigned supreme in India's ancient past. Referring to the recently translated travelogue of Faxian, Sykes paid tribute to "the literature of that remarkable people—the Chinese" that thankfully existed to illuminate India's past. He hoped that, "by proper means, applied in a cautious, kindly and forbearing spirit, such farther changes may be effected as will raise the intellectual standard of the Hindus, improve their moral and social condition, and assist to promote their eternal welfare." In 1856, the citizens of Bombay presented Sykes with a medal for his advocacy in favour of a native system of education. He also held the British responsible for precipitating the 1857 rebellion by being insensitive to local customs, citing the earlier case of the Vellore mutiny. In a commentary to the British media which had suggested that the mutineers were using greased cartridges, one of the immediate causes of the uprising, against the British he pointed out that they were all using 'Brown Bess' and conventional musket ammunition. He was one of the founding members of the Asiatic Society of Bombay.

The Sykes' monkey Cercopithecus albogularis was named after him. The bird Sykes's nightjar or the Sindh nightjar Caprimulgus mahrattensis was named after him. The bird Sykes's warbler Iduna rama was named after him.