George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland

George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland

Statue in his honor in Auckland , New Zealand

George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland , GCB ( August 25, 1784 - January 1, 1849 ), was a British politician and Governor General of India .

origin

Eden was the son of diplomat William Eden , who was raised to Baron Auckland in 1789 . Since his older brother drowned in the Thames in 1810 , he inherited his father's title when his father died in 1814. Travel writer Emily Eden was his sister.

Diplomat Morton Eden, 1st Baron Henley and Sir Robert Eden, 1st Baronet , the last British governor of Maryland , were his uncles.

Life

After visiting the Christ Church College at Oxford University Eden was in 1809 as a barrister admitted. The following year he was elected to the House of Commons for Woodstock . When he inherited the barony , he moved to the House of Lords .

In 1830, Eden became chairman of the Board of Trade and head of the Royal Mint . In 1834 and 1835 he was First Lord of the Admiralty for a few months .

Last year he was appointed Governor General of India. His work initially focused on improving the Indian school system and broadening the subcontinent's industrial base.

Since 1838, however, the unrest in Afghanistan and the conflict with Russia in the Great Game intensified . In this situation, Auckland wrote a sharp letter to Dost Mohammed , the ruler of Afghanistan, in which he asked him to give up his claims on Peshawar as well as his rapprochement with Russia. This made the situation even worse. British troops landed in the Persian Gulf . The following year, the First Anglo-Afghan War broke out after Eden declared the Afghan ruler Dost Mohammed deposed. After the initial successes, Eden was elevated to the Earl of Auckland . However, the campaign ended in disaster. In 1842, Eden passed the post of Governor General to Edward Law, 2nd Baron Ellenborough , and returned to Great Britain a year later.

There he was again First Lord of the Admiralty from 1846 until his death.

family

Eden wasn't married and had no children. The title of Earl of Auckland therefore expired on his death, while the dignity of Baron Auckland passed to his younger brother.

The cities of Auckland in New Zealand and Eden in New South Wales , Australia , as well as the volcano Mount Eden on the North Island of New Zealand were named after him.

literature

• Auckland, George Eden . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 2 : Andros - Austria . London 1910, p. 893 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).

predecessor	Office	successor
New title created	Earl of Auckland 1839-1849	Title expired
William Eden	Baron Auckland 1814-1849	Robert John Eden
James Graham	First Lord of the Admiralty 1834	Thomas de Gray
Thomas de Gray	First Lord of the Admiralty 1835	Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound
Edward Law	First Lord of the Admiralty 1846–1849	Francis Baring