Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst
Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst , KG , GCB , GCSI , GCMG , GCIE , GCVO , ISO , PC (born June 20, 1858 in London , † August 2, 1944 in Penshurst , Kent ) was a British diplomat and politician . Among other things, he held the post of Viceroy of India from 1910 to 1916 .
Hardinge was the grandson of Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge , who in turn had been Viceroy of India from 1844 to 1848. He entered the diplomatic service in 1880 and became ambassador to Russia in 1904. From 1906 he was State Secretary in the Foreign Office and worked a. a. in the conclusion of the Cartagena Agreement (1907) . Although he was close to the Conservatives himself , he worked closely with the Liberal Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Gray . Because of this, he was promoted to peer Baron Hardinge of Penshurst in 1910 and appointed Viceroy of India.
During his tenure, King George V and Queen Mary ( Delhi Durbar from 1911) visited and the capital was relocated from Calcutta to Delhi . Although Hardinge was repeatedly the target of assassinations by militant Indian nationalists, relations between the British administration and the nationalists improved during his tenure. Hardinge held Mahatma Gandhi in high esteem and criticized South Africa's anti-Indian immigration policy. He succeeded in implementing the administrative reforms in the interests of greater Indian participation. This made it possible for the British to withdraw all British troops from India during the First World War and also to deploy Indian troops outside the subcontinent.
The 1.6 km long Hardinge Bridge , a railway bridge over the Padma , an arm of the Ganges in what is now Bangladesh, is named after him. It was built during his tenure from 1910 to 1915.
After his recall from India based on the results of a commission of inquiry into the leadership of the British campaign in Mesopotamia in 1916, Hardinge resumed his previous office as State Secretary in the Foreign Office, now under Arthur Balfour . From 1920 to 1922 he was the British ambassador to France.
Since April 17, 1890, he was married to Winifred Selina Sturt. He had three children with her:
- Edward Charles Hardinge (1892-1914)
- Alexander Henry Louis Hardinge, 2nd Baron Hardinge of Penhurst (1894–1960)
- Diamond Evelyn Violet Hardinge (1900-1927)
Web links
- Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penhurst on thepeerage.com , accessed September 18, 2016.
- Charles Hardinge at Hansard (English)
- Newspaper article about Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
predecessor | Office | successor |
---|---|---|
Sir Charles Scott |
British ambassador to Saint Petersburg 1904–1906 |
Sir Arthur Nicolson |
Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound |
Viceroy of India 1910–1916 |
Frederic John Napier Thesiger |
Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby |
British ambassador to Paris 1920–1922 |
Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe |
New title created |
Baron Hardinge of Penshurst 1910-1944 |
Alexander Hardinge |
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Hardinge, Charles, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hardinge, Charles |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Viceroy of India (1910-1916) |
DATE OF BIRTH | June 20, 1858 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
DATE OF DEATH | August 2, 1944 |
Place of death | Penshurst (Kent) |