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{{Short description|British colonial administrator (1734–1785)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Harry Verelst
| birth_name = 
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1734|2|11|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Hanbury, Worcestershire]], England
| baptised = 
| death_date = {{nowrap|{{Death date and age|1785|10|24|1734|2|11|df=y}}}}
| death_place = [[Boulogne-sur-Mer]], France
| resting_place = [[Minster-in-Thanet]], Kent, England
| education =
| occupation = colonial administrator
| notable_works =
| spouse = Ann Wordsworth
| parents = 
| mother = Elizabeth Verelst (née Bach) 
| father = Robert Verelst

| relatives = {{plainlist|
* [[Pieter Hermansz Verelst|Pieter Verelst]] (great great grandfather)
* [[Herman Verelst]] (great grandfather)
* [[Simon Pietersz Verelst|Simon Verelst]] (great great uncle)
* [[John Verelst (1648-1679)]] (great great uncle)
* [[William Verelst (1651–1702)]] (great great uncle)
* [[Lodvick Verelst]] (great uncle)
* [[John Verelst|John Verelst (c. 1670-1734)]] (grandfather)
* [[Michael Verelst]] (great uncle)
* [[Adriana Verelst]] (great aunt)
* [[William Verelst|William Verelst (1704-1752)]] (uncle)
}} 

| module =
{{Infobox officeholder | embed = yes
| office = [[List of Governors of Bengal|Governor of the Presidency of Bengal]]
| term_start = January 1767
| term_end = December 1769
| predecessor = [[Robert Clive]]
| successor = [[John Cartier]]
}} 

}} 

'''Harry Verelst''' (11 February 1734 – 24 October 1785) was a colonial administrator with the [[British East India Company]] who served as the governor of [[Bengal]] from 1767 to 1769.

Verelst travelled to India as a Company employee at a young age and rose through the ranks after many years of service, becoming a close supporter of Governor [[Robert Clive]] and eventually succeeding him as governor. Like his predecessor, Verelst attempted to reform the Company's administration in Bengal, but he lacked Clive's authority. He took steps to curb corruption and abuses within the Company and to gather information on local laws and customs. He faced opposition from the Company's servants and resigned after nearly three years in office.

After returning to Britain in 1770, he engaged in public polemics about his tenure and British rule in Bengal with [[William Bolts]], a disgruntled former Company employee, and faced lawsuits incited by the latter. The exchanges between Bolts and Verelst stimulated the public discussion about the Company's governance in India. Failing to transport much of his wealth from India, Verelst fell into dire financial straits and fled to the continent to evade his creditors. He died in France in 1785.

==Life and career==
[[File:Memorial to Harry Verelst in St Mary's Church, Minster-in-Thanet, Kent.jpg|thumb|Memorial to Harry Verelst in St Mary's Church, [[Minster-in-Thanet]], Kent.]]
Verelst was born on 11 February 1734 in [[Fladbury]], Worcestershire, the fourth child to Robert Verelst and Elizabeth Verelst (née Bach).<ref name="ODNB">{{cite ODNB |id=28221 |first=Willem G. J. |last=Kuiters |title=Verelst, Harry |date=23 September 2004}}</ref>{{efn|Robert Verelst (21 November 1702 - 27 July 1745) was the fifth child of [[John Verelst]] ({{circa|1670}} – 7 March 1734), a fairly successful portrait painter.<ref name="HANCOX"/><ref name="BIRTH_ROBERT">{{cite book |title=Baptism of Robert Verelst |date=2 December 1702 |publisher=London, City of Westminster Archives Centre, St Martin in the Fields, baptism register, ref. STM/PR/8/9}}</ref> Elizabeth Bach (6 February 1700 – {{circa|1761|lk=no}}) was from [[Chaddesley Corbett]], Worcestershire. They were married on 11 May 1722.<ref name="MARRIAGE_ROBERT">{{cite book |title=Marriage of Robert Verelst |date=11 May 1722 |publisher=London, The National Archives, General Register Office, Registers of Clandestine Marriages and of Baptisms in the Fleet Prison, King's Bench Prison, the Mint and the May Fair Chapel; Class: RG 7; Piece: 56}}</ref> Robert was buried on 27 July 1745 at Fladbury.<ref name="BURIAL_ROBERT">{{cite book |title=Burial of Robert Verelst |date=27 July 1745 |publisher=Worcestershire Archive & Archaeology Service; Worcester, The Diocese of Worcester Parish Registers, Fladbury (Fladbury and Throckmorton with Wyre Piddle and Moor)}}</ref> Elizabeth's place and exact date of death is not known.}} The Verelsts were a long established family of painters, [[Pieter Hermansz Verelst|Pieter Verelst]] (his great-great-grandfather) having brought the family to England from the Low Countries in 1668.<ref name="HANCOX">{{cite journal |last1=Hancox |first1=Peter |title=The multigenerational and cross-national artist family Verelst (c. 1618–1752): The myth of Cornelius and Maria |journal=Oud Holland |year=2024 |volume=137 |issue=4 |pages=174–200 |doi=10.1163/18750176-13704003 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="ODNB2">{{cite ODNB |id=28222 |first=Paul |last=Taylor |title=Verelst, Simon Pieterszoon |origyear=2004 |date=3 January 2008}}</ref> Robert had been brought up in London and was unusual amongst his siblings in moving to a rural location. Two of Robert's brothers (and hence Harry's uncles) worked in India, as did two of his sons and two sons-in-law.{{efn|Two of Harry Verelst's paternal uncles worked for the East India Company.

*George (born 20 March 1708 and baptised on 5 April 1708) travelled to India as a soldier on the Monmouth.<ref name="BAPTISM_GEORGE">{{cite book |title=Baptism of George Varelst |date=5 April 1708 |publisher= London, City of Westminster Archives Centre, St Martin in the Fields, baptism register, ref. STM/PR/1/10}}</ref> In 1724 he wanted a discharge from service and had left the Company before July 1726 to work in China and an application to rejoin the East India Company was refused, apparently for lack of a good record of service.<ref name="GEORGE_DISCHARGE">{{cite book |title= Diary and Consultation Book of 1724 |location=Madras|publisher= Printed by the Superintendent, Government Press |date=1930 |volume=54 |series= Records of Fort St. George |URL= https://hdl.handle.net/2027/dul1.ark:/13960/t8ff4x659 }}</ref>{{rp |p. 115}}<ref name="GEORGE_REEMPLOY">{{cite book |title= Diary and Consultation Book of 1726 |location=Madras|publisher= Printed by the Superintendent, Government Press |date=1930 |volume=56 |series= Records of Fort St. George |URL= https://hdl.handle.net/2027/dul1.ark:/13960/t5fb66m7v }}</ref>{{rp |p. 89}} There is no record of his death or burial.

*James was born on 5 March 1709 and baptised on 15 March 1709.<ref name="BAPTISM_JAMES_V">{{cite book |title=Baptism of James Verelst |date=15 March 1709 |publisher= London, City of Westminster Archives Centre, St Martin in the Fields, baptism register; ref. STM/PR/1/10}}</ref> He arrived in India on 7 January 1726 where he worked as a Writer (clerk) for the East India Company and in September 1738 he was listed as a Senior Merchant at [[Thalassery|Tellicherry]].<ref name="JAMES_WRITER">{{cite book |editor-last=Forrest |editor-first=George W. |title=Selections from the letters, despatches, and other state papers preserved in the Bombay Secretariat: home series |location= Bombay |publisher=Government Central Press |date=1885 |volume=2 |URL=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/chi.15512151 }}</ref>{{rp |p. 47}}<ref name="JAMES_SNR_MERCHANT">{{cite journal |title=The internal economy of Bombay a century ago, 1726-1740 |journal=The Bombay Quarterly Review |date= 1856 |volume=3 |pages=324-252 |URL=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b3042601}}</ref>{{rp |p. 339}} He was buried at [[Mumbai|Bombay]] on 26 November 1741.

Harry Verelst's two brothers (both younger) also joined the East India Company.<ref name="RV_OBIT">{{cite journal |title=Obituary of considerable persons; with biographical anecdotes[: Harry Verelst] |journal=The Gentleman's Magazine |date=1785 |volume=55 |issue=part II, no. 11 |page=920}}</ref>
*John (baptised 11 July 1736) was buried on 27 August 1760 at [[Kolkata|Calcutta]].<ref name="BAPTISM_JOHN">{{cite book |title= Baptism of John Son of Robert & Elizabeth Verelst of Fladbury |date=11 July 1736 |publisher= Worcestershire Archive & Archaeology Service; Worcester, The Diocese of Worcester Parish Registers, Fladbury (Fladbury and Throckmorton with Wyre Piddle and Moor)}}</ref><ref name="BURIAL_John">{{cite book |title= Burial of John Verelst |date=27 August 1760 |publisher= London, The British Library, India Office Records, 27 August 1760, inv: N/1/2 f.30 |url=http://indiafamily.bl.uk/ui/FullDisplay.aspx?RecordId=014-000283242}}</ref>
*William Fraser was baptised on 9 February 1738.<ref name="BAPTISM_WILLIAMF">{{cite book |title= Baptism of William Fraser Son of Robert & Elizabeth Verelst of Fladbury |date=9 February 1738 |publisher= Worcestershire Archive & Archaeology Service; Worcester, The Diocese of Worcester Parish Registers, Fladbury (Fladbury and Throckmorton with Wyre Piddle and Moor)}}</ref> There is no record of his death.
Two of his sisters married husbands who worked for the East India Company.<ref name="RV_OBIT" />

*Ann (baptised 2 March 1723) married (23 February 1744) Samuel Court, a supercargo for the Company.<ref name="BAPTISM_ANN">{{cite book |title= Baptism of Ann the Dat<sup>r</sup> of Robert Verelst Grays Inn Lane |date=2 March 1723 |publisher= London, London Metropolitan Archives, St Andrew, Holborn, baptism register, ref. P82/AND/A/001/MS06667/008}}</ref><ref name="ST_JAMES_PLACE_MARRIAGE">{{cite book |editor1-last= Phillimore |editor1-first= W.P.W. |editor2-last=Cokayne |editor2-first=G. E. |title=London parish registers: vol 4, Marriages at St. James's, Duke's Place, from 1668 to 1837 |location= London |publisher= Issued to the subscribers by Phillimore & Co. |date=1902 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/osu.32435028702918 }}</ref>{{rp |p. 217}} She died in India on 16 November 1754 and was buried at the [[British Cemetery of Surat|British Cemetery]] in [[Surat]].<ref name="SURAT_CEMETERY">{{cite journal |author-last=Buist |author-first=George |title=Notes on a journey through part of Kattiawar and Goozerat in Jan. 1855 |journal= Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society |date= 1857 |volume=13 |issue= |pages=11-107 |url= https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.$b233990 }}</ref>{{rp |p. 92}}
*Adriana Caecilia (baptised 11 November 1731) married Paul Richard Pearkes in Calcutta.<ref name="BAPTISM_ADRIANAC">{{cite book |title= Baptism of Adriana Cecilia Daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Verelst of Fladbury |date=11 November 1731 |publisher= Worcestershire Archive & Archaeology Service; Worcester, The Diocese of Worcester Bishop's Transcripts, ref. B736/Ba2015/325}}</ref><ref name="MARRIAGE_ADRIANAC">{{cite book |title= Marriage of Paul Richard Pearks, Esq and Miss Adriana Cecilia Verelst |date=14 December 1751 |publisher= London, The British Library, India Office Records, 27 August 1760, inv: N/1/1 f.372 |url= http://indiafamily.bl.uk/ui/FullDisplay.aspx?RecordId=014-000283237}}</ref> She returned to London, being buried at St Christopher Le Stock in March 1758.<ref name=" BURIAL_ADRIANAC">{{cite book |title= The register book of the parish of St. Christopher le Stocks, in the city of London |editor-last= Freshfield |editor-first= Edwin |location=London |publisher= Rixon and Arnold |date=1882 |volume=2 |url= https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nnc1.0036698547 }}</ref>{{rp |p. 70}}
Their uncle, [[William Verelst]], had taken responsibility for the education of Harry, John and William Fraser Verelst. Harry noted that his uncle did not direct his choice of future career.<ref name="KUITERS_BRITISH_BENGAL"/>{{rp |p. 95}}

}} It was not surprising that Harry Verelst also joined the [[East India Company]].

Harry Verelst's education was the responsibility of his uncle, the well-connected portrait painter [[William Verelst]] and he went on to gain employment as a writer (office clerk) in the [[East India Company|East India Company's]] [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal establishment]]. He arrived in Calcutta in 1749. In 1756 he was appointed head of the Company's factory at [[Lakshmipur]]. A few months later, he was forced to take refuge at Falta with the Company's council after Nawab [[Siraj ud-Daulah|Siraj ud-Daulah's]] attack on Calcutta. After Calcutta was retaken, he set out for Lakshmipur once again but was imprisoned by officers of the Nawab in violation of the treaty made by the latter with [[Robert Clive]]. He remained in captivity for two months and was released after the Company victory at the [[Battle of Plassey]]. After his appointment as chief of the Lakshmipur factory was successfully contested by a higher-ranking Company servant, Verelst returned to Calcutta. In 1759 he became overseer of revenue collection in the Nadia district, then took on a similar task in Burdwan. In February 1760 he took up his seat in the Company council in Calcutta. At the end of that year, he was sent to take control of the southern port of [[Chittagong]], which had been ceded by Nawab [[Mir Qasim]].<ref name="ODNB" />

Verelst returned from Chittagong in 1765 to serve on the Select Committee under Clive's second term as governor. In 1765 and 1766 he successfully oversaw and reformed revenue collection at Burdwan and later at Midnapore. He became one of Clive's close supporters and on several occasions acted as governor when Clive was absent or indisposed. He succeeded Clive as [[List of governors of Bengal Presidency|governor of Bengal]] in January 1767. Verelst tried to continue the policies of his predecessor, Robert Clive, whom he greatly admired. Clive sought to suppress corruption and abuses among the Company's servants, which caused discontent within the Company's ranks. However, Verelst did not enjoy the same authority as Clive and had little success continuing his predecessor's policies. He recognised the need for reform in Bengal to strengthen the Company's government there but did not act to replace Clive's dual system,<ref name="ODNB" /> whereby the Company preserved the appearance of the sovereignty of local rulers while effectively ruling over Bengal.<ref name="ODNB4">{{cite ODNB|id=5697|last=Bowen|first=H. V.|title=Clive, Robert, first Baron Clive of Plassey|origyear=2004|date=3 January 2008}}</ref> He believed that Bengal should be governed according to local laws and took measures to acquire information "laws and customs of the country".<ref name="ODNB" /> Verelst also gained a reputation for his uprightness. [[Edmund Burke]], a prominent critic of the Company, later described him "one of the honestest men that ever served the Company". Robert Clive opined that he was a humane and disinterested but "too lenient" administrator.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tuck |first=Patrick |title=Considerations on India Affairs ''and'' A View of the Rise, Progress and Present State of the English Government in Bengal |date=1998 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-15517-5 |edition=Facsim. |series=The East India Company: 1600–1858, Volume III |location=London |chapter=Introduction}}</ref> Aware of his weak position, Verelst was eager to be replaced as governor. He resigned in December 1769.<ref name="ODNB" /> [[John Cartier]] was his successor.

Verelst returned to Britain in 1770.<ref name="ODNB" /> In 1772 [[William Bolts]], a former Company employee who had clashed with Verelst and been deported to Britain, published the first volume of his book ''Considerations on India Affairs'', in which he criticised the system of British government in Bengal<ref name="ODNB3">{{cite ODNB|id=2810|first=H. V.|last=Bowen|title=Bolts, William|origyear=2004|date=3 January 2008}}</ref> and condemned what he considered to be the corruption of Clive's and Verelst's administrations.<ref name="ODNB" /> Later that year, Verelst published his response to Bolts accusations, a book titled ''View of the Rise, Progress and Present State of the English Government in Bengal''.<ref name="ODNB" /> The lively polemics between Bolts and Verelst stimulated the great public debate that was occurring at the time about the Company's governance in India.<ref name="ODNB3" /> Verelst also had to contend with lawsuits initiated against him with the help of William Bolts.<ref name="ODNB" /> Four Armenians, three of which had formerly worked as Bolts's agents, accused Verelst of ordering their unlawful imprisonment.<ref name="KUITERS_BRITISH_BENGAL">{{Cite book |last=Kuiters |first=Willem G.J. |title=The British in Bengal, 1756-1773: a society in transition seen through the biography of a rebel: William Bolts (1739-1808) |date=2002 |publisher=Les Indes savantes |isbn=978-2-84654-004-9 |location=Paris |url=https://archive.org/details/britishinbengal10000kuit |pages=239}}</ref> Verelst lost the cases and was ordered to pay a total of £9700 in damages. He was eventually compensated by the East India Company, but by this time his financial situation was already deteriorating. Much of his fortune, which he estimated at £142,711 in 1772, was still in Bengal and was at risk of being lost because of the worsening economic situation there. His purchase of the Aston estate near Sheffield for £49,800 further strained his finances. In 1775 Verelst's secretary, John Knott, travelled to Bengal to collect his own and his employer's belongings.<ref name="ODNB" /> In the meantime, Verelst borrowed money to cover his immediate expenses, expecting Knott to return with more of his wealth.<ref name="KUITERS_BRITISH_BENGAL"/>{{rp |p. 254}} However, Knott died in the desert on the overland route back to Britain, and all of the papers and possessions he was transporting were lost with him. Verelst's finances never recovered from this loss. In 1785 he left for the European continent to evade his creditors. He died on 24 October 1785 at Boulogne and was buried at Minster in the Isle of Thanet.<ref name="ODNB" />

== Family ==
In Bengal Verelst had two daughters and a son out of wedlock with Sophia Yeandle,<ref name="ODNB" /> a mixed-race Catholic woman.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ghosh |first=Durba |date=2005 |title=Who Counts as 'Native?': Gender, Race, and Subjectivity in Colonial India |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/192172 |journal=Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History |volume=6 |issue=3 |doi=10.1353/cch.2006.0007 |issn=1532-5768 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> He married Ann Wordsworth on 20 May 1771, and they had six daughters and four sons.<ref name="ODNB"/> The eldest son, Harry (1773–1837), married Elizabeth, daughter of [[Henry Arthur Herbert (1756–1821)|Henry Arthur Herbert]]. The eldest daughter Anne married the Irish Member of Parliament [[Edward Synge Cooper]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Foster |first1=Joseph |url=https://archive.org/details/pedigreesofcount03fost/page/n215/mode/2up |title=Pedigrees of the County Families of Yorkshire |date=1874 |publisher=W. Wilfred Head |location=London |page=215}}</ref><ref name="histparl-edward-synge-cooper-d1830">{{cite web |last=Aspinall |first=Arthur |year=1986 |editor=R. Thorne |title=Cooper, Edward Synge (1762–1830), of Markree Castle, co. Sligo and Boden Park, co. Westmeath |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/cooper-edward-synge-1762-1830 |accessdate=12 July 2014 |work=The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820 |publisher=Boydell and Brewer |archive-date=4 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404175455/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/cooper-edward-synge-1762-1830 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

;Attribution
{{DNB|wstitle=Verelst, Harry|volume=58}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book |last=Chatterji |first=Nandalal |title=Verelst's Rule in India |publisher=The Indian Press |year=1939 |location=Allahabad |oclc=18230817}}
* {{Cite book |last=Marshall |first=P. J. |url=https://archive.org/details/eastindianfortun0000mars |title=East Indian Fortunes: The British in Bengal in the Eighteenth Century |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1976 |isbn=978-0-19-821566-0 |location=Oxford |ref=none |url-access=registration}}

== External links ==
{{DNB poster|Verelst, Harry}}
* Verelst's ''[[iarchive:viewofriseprogre00vere|A View of the Rise, Progress and Present State of the English Government in Bengal]]'' (London 1772) on [[Internet Archive]]
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verelst, Harry}}
[[Category:1734 births]]
[[Category:1785 deaths]]
[[Category:British governors of Bengal]]
[[Category:People from Worcestershire]]

Harry Verelst (colonial governor) - Revision history

Aidan93118681 at 19:07, 23 February 2026