Jervoise Athelstane Baines was born on October 17th 1847 at Bluntisham in Huntingdonshire. He went to Rugby school and to Trinity College Cambridge. However, he did not complete his degree and instead left for India where he entered the Indian Civil Service in 1870.

While he worked in India he was mainly engaged in administration and statistical work and he served in the Educational, Political and Revenue Departents of the Bombay Government.

In 1881 he directed the census of the Bombay Presidency and in 1891 was the director of the Census of India.

Other official roles he played included Secretary of the Opium Commission in 1894 and serving under the Secretary of State in 1885 and 1893.

He was President of the The Royal Statistical Society in 1909-10.

He retired from the civil service in 1895 and he died in 1925.

See also two obituary notices.