 His parents were Thakamani and Isam Chunder Dutt, a Deputy Collector in Bengal, whom Romesh often accompanied on official duties.He was educated in various Bengali District schools, then at Hare School, Calcutta.After his father's untimely death in a boat accident in eastern Bengal, his uncle, Shoshee Chunder Dutt, an accomplished writer, became his guardian in 1861.