The Earl of Auckland | |
|---|---|
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| Governor-General of India | |
| In office 4 March 1836 – 28 February 1842 | |
| Monarchs | William IV Victoria |
| Preceded by | Sir Charles Metcalfe (acting) |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Ellenborough |
| President of the Board of Trade | |
| In office 22 November 1830 – 5 June 1834 | |
| Prime Minister | The Earl Grey |
| Preceded by | John Charles Herries |
| Succeeded by | Charles Poulett Thomson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 August 1784 (1784-08-25) |
| Died | 1 January 1849 (1849-02) (aged 64) |
| Political party | Whig |
| Parent(s) | William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland, Eleanor Elliot |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
| Profession | Lawyer,politician |
George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland,GCB, PC (25 August 1784 – 1 January 1849) was anEnglishWhig politician and colonial administrator. He was thriceFirst Lord of the Admiralty and also served asGovernor-General of India between 1836 and 1842. The province of Auckland, which includes the present regions of Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne along with the city ofAuckland, in New Zealand, was named after him.
Born inBeckenham,Kent, Auckland was the second son ofWilliam Eden, 1st Baron Auckland, and Eleanor, daughter ofSir Gilbert Elliot, 3rd Baronet. His sister was the traveller and authorEmily Eden, who accompanied her brother to India and wrote about her experiences there. He was educated atEton, andChrist Church, Oxford, and wascalled to the Bar,Lincoln's Inn, in 1809. He became heir apparent to the barony after his elder brotherWilliam Eden drowned in theThames in 1810.[citation needed]
Auckland was returned to Parliament forWoodstock in 1810 (succeeding his elder brother, William), a seat he held until 1812, and again between 1813 and 1814. The latter year he succeeded his father in the barony and took his seat in theHouse of Lords, supporting the reform party. In 1830 he becamePresident of the Board of Trade andMaster of the Mint underLord Grey, and serving as one of the deputy Speakers of the House of Lords.
He wasFirst Lord of the Admiralty under Grey and thenLord Melbourne in 1834 and again under Melbourne in 1835. He gave a commission toWilliam Hobson to sail for theEast Indies, which Hobson ultimately rewarded in the naming of his newly created city ofAuckland, New Zealand, in 1840.[1]Mount Eden in Auckland, the town ofEden, New South Wales andAuckland County, New South Wales were also named after him.
In 1836 Lord Auckland was appointed ofGovernor-General of India. His private secretary wasJohn Russell Colvin, who rose to be lieutenant-governor of the North-West Provinces and named his sonAuckland Colvin after him. As a legislator, he dedicated himself especially to the improvement of native schools and the expansion of the commercial industry of India.
But complications inAfghanistan interrupted this work in 1838. Lord Auckland decided on war, and on 1 October 1838 inSimla published theSimla Manifesto, dethroningDost Mahommed Khan. After successful early operations he was createdBaron Eden, of Norwood in the County of Surrey, andEarl of Auckland. However theAfghan campaign ultimately ended in disaster. He handed over the governor-generalship toLord Ellenborough and returned to England the following year.
In 1846 he again became First Lord of the Admiralty, this time underLord John Russell. In the words of a modern historian: "[M]inisterial talent in the House of Lords was not so plentiful as to disqualify the author of one of the worst disasters in British military history".[2] He held this office until his death three years later.
Lord Auckland died onNew Year's Day 1849, following what was described as a fit.[3] He was aged 64. Lord Auckland was unmarried and on his death the earldom became extinct, while he was succeeded in the barony by his younger brother,Robert.[citation needed]
In a recently published (2013) history Lord Auckland is described as "a clever and capable but somewhat complacent and detached Whig nobleman". In appearance he was slim and younger looking than his years. As a respected First Lord of the Admiralty Lord Auckland depended heavily on competent staff but his indecisive personality and indifference to Indian history and culture led to disastrous decisions being made during his term as Governor-General there.[4]
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| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forWoodstock 1810–1812 With:Sir Henry Dashwood, Bt | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forWoodstock 1813–1814 With:Sir Henry Dashwood, Bt | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | President of the Board of Trade 1830–1834 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Master of the Mint 1830–1834 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Auditor of the Exchequer 1834 | Office abolished |
| Preceded by | First Lord of the Admiralty 1834 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | First Lord of the Admiralty 1835 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | First Lord of the Admiralty 1846–1849 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by Sir Charles Metcalfe, Bt (acting) | Governor-General of India 1836–1842 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Earl of Auckland 1839–1849 | Extinct |
| Peerage of Ireland | ||
| Preceded by | Baron Auckland 1814–1849 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of Great Britain | ||
| Preceded by | Baron Auckland 1814–1849 | Succeeded by |
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