Herbert William Emerson

2021-05-06T05:06:29Z

2401:4900:51DA:17D6:3958:9530:C4CA:6C0F: /* Later life */It is necessary to include this section to expand and improve the Wikipedia page's representation of particular topic.

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'''Sir Herbert William Emerson''', {{post-nominal|sep=,|GCIE|KCSI|CBE}} (1 June 1881 — 13 April 1962), commonly known as '''HW Emerson''', was a civil servant in [[British India]] and served as [[Governor of the Punjab]] in the 1930s.

==Early life==
He was born on 1 June 1881 in [[West Kirby]], [[England]] to Stephen S. Emerson and Emelia Susan Emerson. He was educated at [[Calday Grange Grammar School|Calday Grange School]] and [[Magdalene College, Cambridge]].<ref name="auto1">Journal Officiel: Supplément special / Société des nations. Switzerland, Harrison & Sons, 1939.</ref>

==Career==
===Early career===
He was appointed to the [[Imperial Civil Service|Indian Civil Service]] in 1904 and served as an Assistant Commissioner in the [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]]. Between 1911 and 1914 he served as Manager of the [[princely state]] of [[Bushahr]].<ref name="auto1"/> In 1916 he became Superintendent and Settlement Officer of [[Mandi State]]. The following year he was made an Assistant Commissioner and Settlement Officer in the Punjab, and in 1922 became Deputy Commissioner.<ref name="auto1"/>

===Home Secretary===
From 1930 to 11 April 1933, he served as the Home Secretary of The Government of [[British India]] succeeding [[Harry Graham Haig]]. In the role, Emerson had talks with [[Mahatma Gandhi]] over release of political prisoners after [[Civil Disobedience Movement]]. He and the [[Lord Irwin|Viceroy Lord Irwin]] agreed to for negotiation and resulted in [[Gandhi-Irwin Pact]] which conditioned the release but only of those who have not been accused of violent oppression. Due to this, three revolutionaries [[Bhagat Singh]], [[Sukhdev]] & [[Shivaram Rajguru|Rajguru]], who had been accused for brutally murdering ASP John Saunders in late 1928, were hanged in the Central Jail of Lahore in the evening of 23 March 1931.

There was great public furore after their hanging. In many places protests and strikes took place against the British Government's unjust decision to hang them after an illegitimate trial where they were not even chanced to be defended. People even protested against Emerson to be just working on the order of Viceroy and not bearing any decisive powers.

===Governor of Punjab===
In 1933 he was appointed [[Governor of the Punjab]] and [[Maurice Garnier Hallett|Sir Maurice Hallett]] took over as Home Secretary. The following year he took leave from the role and was deputised for four months by [[Sikandar Hayat Khan|Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan]].<ref>Punjab Administration Report. India, Government Printing, Punjab, 1934.</ref> Emerson served as Governor until his retirement in April 1938.<ref name="auto1"/>

==Other Home Secretaries before Emerson==

Here is a probable list of Home Secretaries of British Government who had served before Emerson —

1. Sir [[Herbert Hope Risley]] — 1904-1913 
2. Sir [[William Sinclair Marris]] — 1913-1916 
3. Sir [[James Houssemayne Du Boulay]] — 1916-1919 
4. Sir SR Hignell — 1919-1921 
5. Sir [[Henry Duffield Craik|HD Craik]] — 1921-1926 
6. Sir [[Harry Graham Haig]] — 1926-1930

==Later life==
On 23 September 1938, he became League of Nations' High Commissioner for Refugees, and later Director of the Inter-Governmental Committee on Refugees, dealing primarily with Russian and European Jewish refugees.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jta.org/1938/09/23/archive/sir-herbert-emerson-former-punuab-governor-named-to-head-leagues-new-refugee-body | title=Sir Herbert Emerson, Former Punuab Governor, Named to Head League’s New Refugee Body | date=23 September 1938 | publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency | accessdate=27 April 2019 }}</ref> He was an active writer, recording local customs and publicizing his opinions.

He died at the age of 80 on 13 April 1962 in [[London]].<ref>Obituaries on File: A-R. United States, Facts on File, 1979.</ref>

==Indian legacy==
He was portrayed by a [[British actor]] Ryan Jonathan in the 2002 [[Bollywood]] film [[The Legend of Bhagat Singh]]. In the film he had been wrongly potrayed as a Home Member of [[Viceroy's Executive Council]] while he had been a Home Secretary of [[Government of India|GOI]] (Government of India). In the film his appearance also differs from his real one as in it he is show having a moustache while he actually did not have any.

== Literature ==
* Oxford Biography Index Number 101067177

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Emerson, Herbert William}}
[[Category:Administrators in British India]]
[[Category:Governors of Punjab (British India)]]
[[Category:1881 births]]
[[Category:1962 deaths]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Government Emerson College]]
[[Category:People educated at Calday Grange Grammar School]]

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Herbert William Emerson