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Shelburne Tollemache

Shelburn Tollemache is a 54 year old curator of Indian artefacts at the Pitt Rivers Museum, supplementing his income with some lecturing and supervising of doctorate students at the Faculty of Oriental Studies (Brasenose College).

Shelburn was born in Darjeeling. His father worked for the Indian Army in an administrative capacity, spending most of his time in Calcutta. Shelburn spend his childhood in Darjeeling with his mother. When his parents had arrived in India they had bought a bungalow from a nawab, which had been filled with countless opulent pieces of objet d'art. In these monstrously baroque surroundings Shelburn's mother went slowly mad from boredom and lonliness.

When he was fifteen, Shelburn moved to Calcutta to work in the Asiatic Society, becoming increasingly distant from his parents. Several years later he was called to Darjeeling with the tragic news that his parents had both died in a murder suicide sparked off by jealousy over one or the other having an affair.

Inheriting the bungalow and its contents, Shelburn donated everything to the Pitt Rivers Museum and took up position as curator, where he has been ever since.