Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough

Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough

Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough GCB PC (born September 8, 1790 in London - † December 22, 1871 ) in Southam Delabere , Gloucestershire was a British politician .

Life

He was born the eldest son of Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough and his wife Anne, daughter of George Towry. He attended Eton College and then studied at St. John's College of the University of Cambridge .

He represented the Rotten borough of St. Michael’s , located in Cornwall , in the House of Commons until his father's death in 1818, when he inherited his title and the associated seat in the House of Lords . In the Tory government of Wellington he became Lord Keeper of the Seal . He was President of the Board of Control several times , i.e. chairman of the body that controlled the British East India Company .

From 1842 to 1844 he was Governor General of India . His mission was to restore peace in Asia, but his entire term of office was marked by war. His arrival came at the end of the First Anglo-Afghan War . A campaign against the ruler of Sindh , who was subjugated, followed immediately. Afterwards, on the orders of Law, British troops intervened in Gwalior , where an uprising against British rule threatened.

His style of government in India led to such massive criticism that Law was dismissed halfway through his usual term in office. He was considered stubborn and impulsive, prone to unrest. On his return to Great Britain, however, as was customary at the time, he was elevated to Earl of Ellenborough , in the County of Cumberland .

In 1846 he became First Lord of the Admiralty . In 1858 he became President of the Board of Control for the fourth time under Lord Derby .

family

Lord Ellenborough was married twice. He married his first wife, Lady Octavia Catherine, daughter of Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry , in 1813. After her death in 1819, he married his second wife, Jane Digby , daughter of Admiral Henry Digby, on October 15, 1824 . They had a son together who died early. They divorced in 1830 by parliamentary resolution. He died at the age of 81 in December 1871 on his estate at Southam House near Cheltenham . The earliest dignity expired on his death, while the title of Baron Ellenborough passed to his nephew Charles .

literature

• John Andrew Hamilton: Law, Edward (1790-1871) . In: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900. Volume 32, Elder Smith & Co., London 1892.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough in the Encyclopædia Britannica
2. ↑ Entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Edward Law, 1st and last Earl of Ellenborough on thepeerage.com , accessed September 18, 2016.
4. ^ Charles Edmund Towry-Law, 3rd Baron Ellenborough on thepeerage.com , accessed September 18, 2016.

predecessor	Office	successor
New title created	Earl of Ellenborough 1844-1871	Title expired
Edward Law	Baron Ellenborough 1818–1871	Charles Towry-Law
George Howard	Lord seal keeper 1828–1829	James St Clair-Erskine
Thomas Hamilton	First Lord of the Admiralty 1846	George Eden