Charles Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe

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Charles Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe

Charles Theophilus Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe GCB PC (born January 30, 1785 in Calcutta , † September 5, 1846 in Malshanger , Hampshire , England ) was a British colonial administrator .

biography

India

In 1803 Metcalfe became Personal Secretary to the Governor General of India, Lord Wellesley , and took part as Political Assistant to General Gerard Lake in the second war against the Marathas in south-west India. In 1808 he was sent as an envoy to the court of the Maharajas Ranjit Singh in Lahore in order to obtain the support of the Sikhs against the danger posed by France in India and the latter's consent to the British protection of the Sikh states east of the Satluj .

He then served as resident in Gwalior in 1811 and then from 1811 to 1819 as resident in Delhi , also responsible for the princely states of Rajputana .

He was then resident in Hyderabad from 1820 to 1822 . At the beginning of this residency, he noted that a loan from the Governor General Lord Hastings through the company Palmer & Co to the Nizam Asaf Jah III. Credit approved in 1816 had reached nearly £ 1 million and up to 24% interest was due. Hastings, who had relied on the resident's advice to approve it in 1816, now condemned the arrangement. However, since one of Palmer & Co.'s partners, William Rumbold, was married to a Hastings foster daughter, responsibility was passed on to him. Although he was supported by the company's directors, he resigned on the matter in 1823.

On the death of his father Sir Theophilus John Metcalfe, 2nd Baronet (1783-1822), he inherited on August 15, 1822 the title of 3rd Baronet , created in 1802 , of Chilton in the County of Berkshire. In 1827 he became a member of the Supreme Council of India and was temporarily its president during the absence of Governor General Lord Bentinck . In 1835 he was accepted as the Knight Grand Cross in the Order of the Bath .

After Lord Bentick was recalled, he was acting Governor General of India from 1835 to 1836. During his short term in office, he continued Bentinck's reforms and introduced partial freedom of the press and English as the official language. He also lifted road tolls. However, the British government under Prime Minister William Lamb rejected a Governor General from the East India Company , so that in 1836 the previous First Lord of the Admiralty , George Eden , was appointed the new Governor General of India.

Metcalfe then became lieutenant governor of the north-west provinces, but resigned from this office in 1838 after he was denied the appointment of governor of Madras .

Jamaica and Canada

In 1839 he was appointed governor of the colony of Jamaica , where he succeeded in calming the situation after the abolition of slavery and the subsequent unrest. In 1842 he resigned as governor.

In 1843 he finally accepted the office of Governor General of Canada . However, he was less successful in this office because he did not understand how to involve the emerging democratic parties and therefore lost his good reputation. In 1845 he finally resigned for health reasons.

On his return he was raised to hereditary peer as Baron Metcalfe , of Fern-hill in the County of Berks ; the title expired on his death for lack of male descendants. The title of baron fell to his relative Thomas Metcalfe as 4th baronet.

Web links

Commons : Charles Theophilus Metcalfe  - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

  • John William Kaye (Ed.): The life and correspondence of Charles, Lord Metcalfe. Smith, Elder & Co., London 1858 ( full text ).
  • Egerton Ryerson: Sir Charles Metcalfe Defended Against the Attacks of His Late Counselors. The British Colonist Office, Toronto 1844 ( full text ).
  • Edward Gibbon Wakefield: A view of Sir Charles Metcalfe's government of Canada. Smith, Elder & Co., London 1844 ( full text ).

Individual evidence

  1. necessary according to: Act 37, Geo., Cap. 142 from 1796
  2. Details in the Hyderabad Papers 1825, pp. 6, 40, 72, 186
  3. ^ The London Gazette : No. 19310, p. 1791, September 25, 1835.
  4. The London Gazette: 20433, 137, January 17, 1845.
predecessor title successor
Theophilus Metcalfe Baronet, of Chilton
1822-1846
Thomas Metcalfe
New title created Baron Metcalfe
1845-1846
Title expired