Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning

2021-07-07T12:13:13Z

2409:4054:9F:364D:EE34:F7AD:A3E6:9E07: Added KCSI in place of Kci

{{short description|English statesman and Governor-General of India}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name = The Earl Canning
| honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KG|GCB|KSI|PC}}
| image = Lord Viscount Canning.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption =
| order1 = [[Governor-General of India]]
| term_start1 = 28 February 1854
| term_end1 = 1 November 1857
| monarch1 = [[Queen Victoria]]
| order2 = [[Viceroy]] of [[India]]
| term_start2 = 1 November 1858
| term_end2 = 21 March 1862
| monarch2 = [[Queen Victoria]]
| primeminister2 = [[Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|The Viscount Palmerston]] [[Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby|The Earl of Derby]]
| predecessor1 = [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie]]
| successor1 = ''position abolished''
| predecessor2 = ''position established''
| successor2 = [[James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin|The Earl of Elgin]]
| order3 = [[Commissioners of Woods and Forests|First Commissioner of Woods and Forests]]
| term_start3 = 2 March 1846
| term_end3 = 30 June 1846
| monarch3 = [[Queen Victoria]]
| primeminister3 = [[Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet|Sir Robert Peel, Bt]]
| predecessor3 = [[Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle|The Earl of Lincoln]]
| successor3 = [[George Howard, 7th Earl of Carlisle|Viscount Morpeth]]
| order4 = [[United Kingdom Postmaster General|Postmaster General]]
| term_start4 = 5 January 1853
| term_end4 = 30 January 1855
| monarch4 = [[Queen Victoria]]
| primeminister4 = [[George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen|The Earl of Aberdeen]]
| predecessor4 = [[Charles Yorke, 4th Earl of Hardwicke|The Earl of Hardwicke]]
| successor4 = [[George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll|The Duke of Argyll]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1812|12|14}}
| birth_place = [[Brompton, London]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1862|06|17|1812|12|24}}
| death_place = [[Grosvenor Square]], London
| nationality = British
| party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Peelite]]
| alma_mater = [[Christ Church, Oxford]]
| spouse = [[Charlotte, Countess Canning|Hon. Charlotte Stuart]] (1817–1861)
| parents = [[George Canning]] [[Joan Canning, 1st Viscountess Canning|Joan, Viscountess Canning]]
}}
'''Charles John Canning, 1st Earl Canning''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KG|GCB|KCSI|PC}} (14 December 1812 – 17 June 1862), also known as '''The Viscount Canning''' and '''Clemency Canning''' was a British statesman and [[Governor-General of India]] during the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]]<ref>{{Cite book|title=Canning|last=Raman|first=Praveen|publisher=Praveenraman|year=2017}}</ref> and the first Viceroy of India after the transfer of power from the [[East India Company]] to the Crown of [[Queen Victoria]] in 1858 after the rebellion was crushed.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/proclamation-by-the-queen-in-council-to-the-princes-chiefs-and-people-of-india | title=Proclamation by the Queen in Council to the Princes, Chiefs and people of India | publisher=British Library | date=1 November 1858 | access-date=9 December 2018}}</ref>

Canning is credited for ensuring that the administration and most departments of the government functioned normally during the rebellion and took major administrative decisions even when peak of the Rebellion in 1857 including establishing of the first three modern Universities in India, the [[University of Calcutta]], [[University of Madras]] and [[University of Bombay]] based on [[Wood's despatch]].<ref name="ThompsonGarratt1999">{{cite book|author1=Edward Thompson|author2=Edward T. & G.T. Garratt|title=History of British Rule in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WQFdw9DcmT4C&pg=PA472|access-date=9 December 2018|year=1999|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist|isbn=978-81-7156-804-8|pages=472–}}</ref><ref name="Reddy2013">{{cite book|author=Sheshalatha Reddy|title=Mapping the Nation: An Anthology of Indian Poetry in English, 18701920|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_rM1DgAAQBAJ&pg=PR28|access-date=9 December 2018|date=15 October 2013|publisher=Anthem Press|isbn=978-1-78308-075-5|pages=28–}}</ref><ref name="Kanjamala2014">{{cite book|author=Augustine Kanjamala|title=The Future of Christian Mission in India: Toward a New Paradigm for the Third Millennium|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NweQBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA76|access-date=9 December 2018|date=21 August 2014|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=978-1-62032-315-1|pages=76–}}</ref> Canning passed the [[Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856]] which was drafted by his predecessor [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie|Lord Dalhousie]] before the rebellion.<ref name="ArshadRahman1966">{{cite book|author1=Mohammad Arshad|author2=Hafiz Habibur Rahman|title=History of Indo-Pakistan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yfTfw4P6UukC|access-date=10 December 2018|year=1966|publisher=Ideal Publications|page=316}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Nusantara|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lw8dAQAAMAAJ|access-date=10 December 2018|year=1972|publisher=Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.|page=233}}</ref> He also passed [[General Service Enlistment Act|The General Service Enlistment Act Of 1856.]]<ref name="LesterBoehme2021">{{cite book|author1=Alan Lester|author2=Kate Boehme|author3=Peter Mitchell|title=Ruling the World: Freedom, Civilisation and Liberalism in the Nineteenth-Century British Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RyoNEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA232|accessdate=5 July 2021|date=7 January 2021|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-42620-6|pages=232–}}</ref>

After the rebellion he presided over a smooth transfer and reorganisation of government from the East India company to the crown,<ref>{{cite book|title=The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Micropaedia (10 v.)|url=https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia09chic_1|url-access=registration|access-date=10 December 2018|year=1983|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica|isbn=978-0-85229-400-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia09chic_1/page/512 512]}}</ref> the [[Indian Penal Code]] was drafted in 1860 based on the code drafted by [[Thomas Babington Macaulay|Macaulay]] and came into force in 1862.<ref name="Bhatia1968">{{cite book|author=O. P. Singh Bhatia|title=History of India, 1857 to 1916|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0iCepUjdnL8C|access-date=10 December 2018|year=1968|publisher=S. Amardeep Publishers|pages=27–28}}</ref> Canning met the rebellion '"with firmness, confidence, magnanimity and calm" as per his biographer.<ref name="Dunbar1939">{{cite book|author=Sir George Dunbar|title=A History of India from the Earliest Times to the Present Day|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h4hCAAAAIAAJ|access-date=10 December 2018|year=1939|publisher=Nicholson & Watson, limited|page=528}}</ref> Canning was very firm during the rebellion but after that he focused on reconciliation and reconstruction rather than retribution and issued a clemency proclamation.<ref name="Cherry2015">{{cite book|author=Deborah Cherry|title=The Afterlives of Monuments|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FT-DCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT60|access-date=10 December 2018|date=7 September 2015|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-70450-8|pages=60–}}</ref><ref name="Rappaport2003">{{cite book|author=Helen Rappaport|title=Queen Victoria: A Biographical Companion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NLGhimIiFPoC&pg=PA201|access-date=10 December 2018|year=2003|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-355-7|pages=201–}}</ref><ref name="OlsonShadle1996">{{cite book|author1=James Stuart Olson|author2=Robert Shadle|title=Historical Dictionary of the British Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L-X-XYB_ZkIC&pg=PA245|access-date=10 December 2018|year=1996|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-29366-5|pages=245–}}</ref>

==Background==
[[File:Charles John Canning by Richard Beard, 1840s.jpg|thumb|left|[[Daguerreotype]], c. 1845]]
Born at Gloucester Lodge, [[Brompton, London|Brompton]], near London,<ref>{{cite web|title=Charles John Canning, Earl Canning|url=http://histfam.familysearch.org/getperson.php?personID=I93908&tree=Nixon|work=Community Trees|access-date=9 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715031345/https://histfam.familysearch.org//getperson.php?personID=I93908&tree=Nixon|archive-date=15 July 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> Canning was the youngest child of [[George Canning]] and [[Joan Canning, 1st Viscountess Canning|Joan, Viscountess Canning]], daughter of [[Major-General John Scott]], and known to family and friends as "Carlo". He was educated at [[Christ Church, Oxford]], where he graduated B.A. in 1833, as first class in [[classics]] and second class in mathematics.

==Political career==

In 1836 he entered [[British House of Commons|Parliament]], being returned as member for the town of [[Warwick (UK Parliament constituency)|Warwick]] in the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] interest. He did not, however, sit long in the House of Commons; for, on the death of his mother in 1837, he succeeded to the peerage and entered the [[House of Lords]]. His first official appointment was that of [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs]], in the administration formed by [[Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet|Sir Robert Peel]] in 1841, his chief being the [[George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen|Earl of Aberdeen]]. This post he held till January 1846; and from January to July of that year, when the Peel administration was broken up, Lord Canning filled the post of [[First Commissioner of Woods and Forests]].
[[File:-The Countess Canning, The Earl Canning, G.G. and Lord Clyde C.in C., Simla- MET DP146074.jpg|thumb|left|At [[Simla]] with his wife and [[Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde|Lord Clyde]], Commander-in-Chief, 1860]]

He served on the [[Royal Commission on the British Museum]] (1847–49).<ref>''The Life of Sir Anthony Panizzi'', Volume 1, by Louis Alexander Fagan, p257</ref> He declined to accept office under the [[Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby|Earl of Derby]]; but on the formation of the coalition ministry under the Earl of Aberdeen in January 1853, he received the appointment of [[United Kingdom Postmaster General|Postmaster General]]. In this office, he showed not only a large capacity for hard work but also general administrative ability and much zeal for the improvement of the service. He retained his post under [[Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|Lord Palmerston's]] ministry until July 1855, when, in consequence of the departure of [[James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie|Lord Dalhousie]] and a vacancy in the governor-generalship of India, he was selected by Lord Palmerston to succeed to that great position. This appointment appears to have been made rather on the ground of his father's great services than from any proof as yet given of special personal fitness on the part of Lord Canning. The new governor sailed from England in December 1855 and entered upon the duties of his office in India at the close of February 1856.

In the year following his accession to office, the deep-seated discontent of the people broke out in the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]]. Fears were entertained, and even the friends of the Governor-General to some extent shared them, that he was not equal to the crisis. But the fears proved groundless. He had a clear eye for the gravity of the situation, a calm judgment, and a prompt, swift hand to do what was really necessary. He carried the Indian empire safely through the stress of the storm, and, what was perhaps a harder task still, he dealt wisely with the enormous difficulties arising at the close of such a war. The name of Clemency Canning, which was applied to him during the heated animosities of the moment, has since become a title of honour. He was derisively called "Clemency" on account of a Resolution dated 31 July 1857, which distinguished between sepoys from regiments which had mutinied and killed their officers and European civilians, and those Indian soldiers who had disbanded and dispersed to their villages, without being involved in violence. While subsequently regarded as a humane and sensible measure, the Resolution made Canning unpopular at a time when British popular opinion favoured collective and indiscriminate reprisals.<ref name="Maclagan1962">{{cite book|author=Michael Maclagan|title="Clemency" Canning: Charles John, 1st Earl Canning, Governor-General and Viceroy of India, 1856-1862|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VpEetwEACAAJ|access-date=10 December 2018|year=1962|publisher=Macmillan}}</ref><ref name="Rappaport2003" />
[[File:Lord Canning, Viceroy and Governor General of India, from March 1856 to March 1862.jpg|thumb|India, 1860]]
[[File:The arrival of Lord Canning at Lahore.jpg|thumb|The arrival of Lord Canning at Lahore]]

While rebellion was raging in [[Oudh]] he issued a proclamation declaring the lands of the province forfeited, and this step gave rise to much angry controversy. A secret despatch, couched in arrogant and offensive terms, was addressed to Canning by [[Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough|Lord Ellenborough]], then a member of the Derby administration, which would have justified the Governor-General in immediately resigning. But from a strong sense of duty, he continued at his post, and ere long the general condemnation of the despatch was so strong that the writer felt it necessary to retire from office. Lord Canning replied to the despatch, calmly and in a statesman-like manner explaining and vindicating his censured policy, and in 1858 he was rewarded by being made the first [[Viceroy of India]].

[[File:Charles John Canning (H. Hering NPG x25261).jpg|thumb|Charles Canning by H Hering]]
[[File:-The Countess Canning, Calcutta- MET DP146071.jpg|thumb|Charlotte Canning, painting in [[Calcutta]], 1861, by H Hering]]

In April 1859 he received the thanks of both Houses of Parliament for his great services during the rebellion. He was also made an extra civil grand cross of the [[Order of the Bath]], and in May of the same year he was raised to the dignity of an [[Earl]], as '''Earl Canning'''. By the strain of anxiety and hard work his health and strength were seriously impaired, while the death of his wife was also a great shock to him; in the hope that rest in his native land might restore him, he left India, reaching England in April 1862. But it was too late. He died in London on 17 June. About a month before his death he was created a [[Order of the Garter|Knight of the Garter]]. As he died without issue the titles became extinct.

Prior to the rebellion, Canning and his wife, Charlotte, had desired to produce a photographic survey of Indian people, primarily for their own edification. This project was transformed into an official government study as a consequence of the rebellion, after which it was seen as useful documentation in the effort to learn more about native communities and thereby better understand them. It was eventually published as an eight-volume work, ''[[The People of India]]'', between 1868 and 1875.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ideologies of the Raj |first=Thomas R. |last=Metcalf |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1997 |page=117 |isbn=978-0-521-58937-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TRcMoGSkRtIC |access-date=26 November 2011}}</ref>

==Places named after Canning==
* [[Canning Town]] in London
* [[Fort Canning]], a hill in Singapore, is named after Viscount Charles Canning, although many people mistakenly believe that it is named after his father, George Canning.
* Canning Street in [[Kemptown, Brighton|Kemptown]], [[Brighton]] is named after Viscount Canning.
* [[Canning, South 24 Parganas]] in [[West Bengal]], [[India]]

==See also==
* [[Charlotte Canning, Countess Canning]]
* [[Canning, South 24 Parganas|Canning]] in West Bengal.

==References==
{{reflist}}
* {{EB1911 |wstitle=Canning, Charles John}}

==Further reading==
* Hinde, Wendy - George Canning (Collins, 1973)
* {{cite ODNB |id=4554 |first=Thomas R. |last=Metcalf |title=Canning, Charles John (1812–1862) |year=2008 |orig-year=2004 }}
* {{cite book |first=Michael |last=Maclagan |author-link=Michael Maclagan |title="Clemency" Canning: Charles John, 1st Earl Canning, Governor-General and Viceroy of India, 1856–1862 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WUg5AQAAIAAJ |year=1963 |location=London |publisher=Macmillan}}

==External links==
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
* {{Hansard-contribs | hon-charles-canning | Charles Canning }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
| title = Member of Parliament for [[Warwick (UK Parliament constituency)|Warwick]]
| years = 1836–1837
| with = [[Edward Bolton King]]
| before = [[Edward Bolton King]] [[Charles John Greville|Sir Charles Greville]]
| after = [[Edward Bolton King]] [[William Collins (Warwick MP)|William Collins]]
}}
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{{succession box | title=[[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs]] | before=[[Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville|Viscount Leveson]] | after=[[George Smythe, 7th Viscount Strangford|George Smythe]] | years=1841–1846}}
{{succession box | before=[[Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle|Earl of Lincoln]] | title=[[First Commissioner of Woods and Forests]] | years=1846 | after=[[George William Frederick Howard, 7th Earl of Carlisle|Viscount Morpeth]]}}
{{succession box | before=[[Charles Philip Yorke, 4th Earl of Hardwicke|The Earl of Hardwicke]] | title=[[United Kingdom Postmaster General|Postmaster General]] | years=1853–1855 | after=[[George Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll|The Duke of Argyll]]}}
{{s-gov}}
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{{s-aft|rows=2| after=[[James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin|The Earl of Elgin]]}}
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{{s-ttl| title=[[Viceroy of India]] | years=1858–1862}}
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{{s-ttl| title=[[Earl Canning]] | years=1859–1862}}
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{{Authority control}}

{{Indian Independence Movement}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canning, Charles John Canning, 1st Earl}}
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[[Category:Knights Companion of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Viceroys of India]]
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Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning