The Right Honourable The Earl of Ellenborough GCB PC
Portrait byFrederick Richard Say, c. 1845
Governor-General of India
In office 28 February 1842 – June 1844
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	Sir Robert Peel
Preceded by	The Earl of Auckland
Succeeded by	William Wilberforce Bird (acting Governor-General)
Member of theHouse of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office 13 December 1818 – 22 December 1871
Preceded by	The 1st Baron Ellenborough
Succeeded by	The 3rd Baron Ellenborough
Member of Parliament forMitchell
In office 1813–1818
Preceded by	George Hobart
Succeeded by	Sir George Staunton
President of the Board of Control
In office 6 March 1858 – 5 June 1858
Preceded by	The Lord Lyvedon
Succeeded by	Lord Stanley
In office 4 September 1841 – 23 October 1841
Preceded by	Sir John Jobhouse
Succeeded by	The Lord FitzGerald and Vesey
In office 18 September 1834 – 23 April 1835
Preceded by	The Lord Glenelg
Succeeded by	Sir John Jobhouse
In office 17 September 1828 – 1 December 1830
Preceded by	The Viscount Melville
Succeeded by	The Lord Glenelg
First Lord of the Admiralty
In office 1846–1846
Preceded by	The Earl of Haddington
Succeeded by	The Earl of Auckland
Personal details
Born	(1790-09-08)8 September 1790
Died	22 December 1871(1871-12-22) (aged 81) Southam House,Gloucestershire
Nationality	British
Political party	Tory Conservative
Spouses	Lady Octavia Stewart ​ ​ (m. 1813; died 1819)​ Jane Digby ​ ​ (m. 1824; div. 1830)​
Parents	Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough Anne Towry
Alma mater	St John's College, Cambridge

Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough (8 September 1790 – 22 December 1871), was a BritishTory politician. He was four timesPresident of the Board of Control and also served asGovernor-General of India between 1842 and 1844.^[1]

Ellenborough was the eldest son ofEdward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough, and Anne Towry, daughter of George Towry.^{[citation needed]} He was educated atEton College andSt John's College, Cambridge.^[1][2] In 1812, he became Chief Clerk of theCourt of King's Bench (his father's court), a sinecure which was worth nearly £8,000 a year. Owing to the political embarrassment it caused, it was commuted for a life pension in 1838.

Ellenborough represented the subsequently disfranchisedrotten borough ofSt Michael's, Cornwall, in theHouse of Commons, until the death of his father in 1818 gave him a seat in theHouse of Lords. In theDuke of Wellington's government of 1828, Ellenborough was madeLord Privy Seal; he also took part in the business of the foreign office, as an unofficial assistant to Wellington, who recognised his talents. He hoped to be Foreign Secretary, but had to be content with thepresidency of the Board of Control, which he retained until the fall of the ministry in 1830. Ellenborough was an active administrator, and took a lively interest in questions of Indian policy. The revision of theEast India Company's charter was approaching, and he held that the government of India should be transferred directly to the crown. He was impressed with the growing importance of a knowledge of central Asia, in the event of a Russian advance towards the Indian frontier, and despatchedAlexander Burnes to explore the district.^[3]

Ellenborough subsequently returned to the Board of Control inRobert Peel's first and second administrations. He had only held office for a month on the third occasion when he was appointed by the court of directors to succeed Lord Auckland asGovernor-General of India.^[1]

His Indian administration of two and a half years, or half the usual term of service, was from first to last a subject of hostile criticism. His own letters sent monthly to the Queen, and his correspondence with the Duke of Wellington, published in 1874, afford material for an intelligent and impartial judgment of his meteoric career. The events chiefly in dispute are his policy towardsAfghanistan and the army and captives there, his conquest ofSind, and hiscampaign inGwalior.^[1]

Ellenborough went to India to "restore peace to Asia" but the whole term of his office was occupied by war. On his arrival there the news that greeted him was that of themassacre of Kabul, and the sieges ofGhazni andJalalabad, while thesepoys ofMadras were on the verge of open rebellion. In his proclamation of 15 March 1842, as in his memorandum forthe queen, dated the 18th, he stated with characteristic clearness and eloquence the duty of first inflicting some signal and decisive blow on the Afghans, and then leaving them to govern themselves under the sovereign of their own choice. Unhappily, when he left for upper India and learned of the failure ofGeneral England, he instructedGeorge Pollock andWilliam Nott, who were advancing triumphantly with their avenging columns to rescue the British captives, to fall back. The army proved true to the governor-general's earlier proclamation rather than to his later fears; the hostages were rescued and the scene of Sir Alexander Burnes's murder in the heart ofKabul was burned down.^[1]

Dost Mahommed Khan was quietly released from a prison inCalcutta to the throne in theBala Hissar, and Ellenborough presided over the painting of the elephants for an unprecedented military spectacle atFerozepur, on the south bank of theSatluj. WhenMahmud of Ghazni, in 1024, sacked the Hindu temple ofSomnath on the north-west coast of India, he carried off the richly-studded sandalwood gates of the fanes and set them up in his capital of Ghazni. The Muslim puppet of the English,Shah Shuja, had been asked, when ruler of Afghanistan, to restore them to India; and what he had failed to do the Christian ruler of opposingMuslim andHindus resolved to effect in the most solemn and public manner. In vain hadMajor (afterwards Sir Henry) Rawlinson proved that they were only reproductions of the original gates, to which the Ghazni moulvies^{[check spelling]} clung merely as a source of offerings from the faithful who visited the old conqueror's tomb. In vain did the Hindu sepoys show the most chilling indifference to the belauded restoration. Ellenborough could not resist the temptation to copy Napoleon's magniloquent proclamation under the pyramids. The fraudulent folding doors were conveyed on atriumphal car to the fort ofAgra, where they were found to be made not of sandalwood but of deal. That Somnath proclamation (immortalized in a speech byMacaulay) was the first step towards its author's recall.^[3]

Hardly had Ellenborough issued his medal with the legend "Pax Asiae Restituta" when he was at war with the amirs ofSind. The tributary amirs had on the whole been faithful, for MajorJames Outram controlled them. He reported some opposition, and Ellenborough ordered an inquiry, but entrusted the duty to SirCharles Napier, with full political as well as military powers. Mir Au Morad was intrigued with both sides so effectually that he betrayed the amirs on the one hand, while he deluded Napier on the other. Ellenborough was led on till events were beyond his control, and his own instructions were forgotten. Sir Charles Napier made more than one confession like this: "We have no right to seize Sind, yet we shall do so, and a very advantageous, useful and humane piece of rascality it will be." The battles ofMeeanee andHyderabad followed; and theIndus became a British river fromKarachi toMultan.^[4]

Sind had hardly been disposed of when the Britain started eyeing other parts of the Indian subcontinent. On the north, the Sikh confederacy was going through rapid changes and internal power shifts after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh . In Gwalior to the south, the feudatoryMahratta state, there was dissent from the army, and factions in the council of ministers. These conditions brought Gwalior to the verge of civil war. Ellenborough reviewed the danger in the minute of 1 November 1845, and told SirHugh Gough to advance. Further treachery and military licence rendered the battles of Maharajpur and Punniar (fought on the same day), inevitable though they were, a surprise to the combatants. The treaty that followed was as merciful as it was wise. But by this time the patience of the directors was exhausted. They had no control over Ellenborough's policy; his despatches to them were haughty and disrespectful; and in June 1844 they exercised their power of recalling him.^[4]

On his return to England, Ellenborough was createdEarl of Ellenborough, in the county of Cumberland,^[5] Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of the Bath^[6] and received the thanks of Parliament; but his administration soon became the theme of hostile debates, though it was successfully vindicated by Peel and Wellington. When Peel's cabinet was reconstituted in 1846 Ellenborough becameFirst Lord of the Admiralty. In 1858 he took office under Lord Derby as president of the board of control, for the fourth time. It was then his congenial task to draft the new scheme for the government of India which theIndian Rebellion of 1857 had rendered necessary. But his old fault of impetuosity again proved his stumbling block. He wrote a caustic despatch censuring Lord Canning for the Oudh proclamation, and allowed it to be published inThe Times without consulting his colleagues, who disavowed his action in this respect. General disapprobation was excited; votes of censure were announced in both Houses; and, to save the cabinet, Ellenborough resigned.^[4]

But for this act of rashness, he might have enjoyed the task of carrying into effect the home constitution for the government of India which he sketched in his evidence before the select committee of the House of Commons on Indian territories on 8 June 1852. Paying off his old score against theEast India Company, he then advocated the abolition of the court of directors as a governing body, the opening of the civil service to the army, the transference of the government to the crown, and the appointment of a council to advise the minister who should take the place of the President of the Board of Control. These suggestions of 1852 were carried out by his successorLord Stanley, in 1858, so closely even in details, that Lord Ellenborough must be pronounced the author, for good or evil, of the system of direct rule of India that was introduced at that time. Though acknowledged to be one of the foremost orators in the House of Lords, and taking a frequent part in debate, Ellenborough never held office again.^[4]

SeeHistory of the Indian Administration (Bentley, 1874), edited by Lord Colchester;Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select Committee on Indian Territories (June 1852); volume i. of theCalcutta Review; theFriend of India, during the years 1842–1845; and John Hope,The House of Scindea: A Sketch (Longmans, 1863). The numerous books by and against Sir Charles Napier, on the conquest of Sind, should be consulted.^[4]

Lord Ellenborough was married twice. He married firstly Lady Octavia Catherine Stewart, daughter ofRobert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry, in 1813. They had no children. She died of tuberculosis in March 1819.

He married secondlyJane Digby, daughter of AdmiralSir Henry Digby. They had one child, the Hon. Arthur Dudley Law (15 February 1828 – 1 February 1830). Arthur's biological father was Jane's cousin; after her cousin ended their affair, she had at least two more affairs.^[7] After the news of her affair withPrince Felix of Schwarzenberg became public, Lord and Lady Ellenborough were divorced byAct of Parliament in 1830.^[1]

He did not remarry, although he had illegitimate children with his mistress.^[7] The stage actorSt. Clair Bayfield (born John St. Clair Roberts) was his grandson through his illegitimate daughter, Ida Roberts.

Ellenborough died at his seat,Southam House, nearCheltenham, in December 1871,^[4] aged 81. On his death, the viscountcy and earldom became extinct while he was succeeded in the barony by his nephew,Charles Towry-Law, 3rd Baron Ellenborough.^{[citation needed]} He was buried in the family mausoleum at Oxenton Church.^[7]

Coat of arms of Edward Law, Earl of Ellenborough^[8]

Crest A cock gules charged on the breast with a mitre pendant from a chain round the neck or. Escutcheon Ermine on a bend engrailed between two cocks gules three mullets pierced or. Supporters Two eagles, wings elevated, sable, each gorged with a chain or, and pendant therefrom on the brest of the dexter supporter a mitre, and on the sinister a covered cup gold. Motto Compositum Jus Fasque Animi (Law and equity combined) Orders Order of the Bath (Knight Grand Cross, civil division - GCB)

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ellenborough, Edward Law, Earl of".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 289–290.

Wikiquote has quotations related toEdward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough.

• Works by Edward Law atProject Gutenberg
• Works by or about Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough at theInternet Archive
• Hamilton, John Andrew (1892)."Law, Edward, Earl of Ellenborough" . InLee, Sidney (ed.).Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 32. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
• Steele, David (October 2008)."Law, Edward, first earl of Ellenborough (1790–1871)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/16143. Retrieved12 March 2010. (Subscription,Wikipedia Library access orUK public library membership required.)
• Hansard 1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by Edward Law

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