Arthur Berriedale Keith was born in Edinburgh, the fourth child and third son of Davidson Keith (1842-1921), an advertising agent, and Margaret Stobie Keith, née Drysdale (1851-1911). All five of his siblings were associated with the British Empire in Burma and India: Sir William John Keith KCSI, ICS, was acting governor of Burma in 1925; Steuart Keith (died 1925) was a sessions judge in Burma; Alan Davidson Keith (died 1928) was a barrister in Burma. Both of his sisters married British expatri
Arthur Anthony Macdonell (Arthur Anthony Macdonell)
Macdonell was born in Muzaffarpur, in the Tirhut region of the state of Bihar, British India, the son of Charles Alexander Macdonell, of the Indian Army. He was educated at Göttingen University, and matriculated in 1876 at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, gaining a classical exhibition and three scholarships (for German, Chinese, and the Boden Scholarship for Sanskrit). He graduated with classical honours in 1880 and was appointed Taylorian Teacher of German at Oxford. In 1883, he obtained his P