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{{Short description|British politician and civil servant}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| name = John Wyllie
| honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CSI|MP}}
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| office = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] <br /> for [[Hereford (UK Parliament constituency)|Hereford]]
| parliament =
| majority =
| term_start = 17 November 1868
| term_end = 15 March 1869
| alongside = [[George Clive (Liberal politician)|George Clive]]
| predecessor = [[George Clive (Liberal politician)|George Clive]]<br />[[Richard Baggallay]]
| successor = [[Edward Clive (British Army general)|Edward Clive]]<br />[[Chandos Wren-Hoskyns]]
| birth_date = 6 October 1835
| birth_place = [[Pune|Poona]], [[Bombay Presidency]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1870|03|15|1835|10|06}}
| death_place = [[Paris]], [[France]]
| resting_place = [[Kensal Green Cemetery]], [[London]]
| alma_mater = [[Trinity College, Oxford]]
| birth_name =
| party = [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]]
| parents = [[William Wyllie (British Army officer)|William Wyllie]]<br />Amelia Hutt
| spouse =
| children =
}}

'''John William Shaw Wyllie''', {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|CSI|MP}}, (6 October 1835 – 15 March 1870)<ref>{{Rayment-hc|h|2|date=February 2018}}</ref><ref name="odnb"/><ref name="dib"/> was a [[Great Britain|British]] [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] politician and British Indian civil servant.

==Early life==
Wyllie was the son of British Army officer Sir [[William Wyllie (British Army officer)|William Wyllie]]<ref name="dib"/> and Amelia (née Hutt), and was born while his father was on tour in [[Pune|Poona]], under the [[Bombay presidency]]. He returned to Britain with his mother in 1841, and was then educated by a private tutor at [[Edinburgh Academy]], and then, between 1849 and 1853, at [[Cheltenham College]] with his brother Frank.<ref name="odnb">{{cite ODNB|id=30138|title=Wyllie, Sir William|last=Vetch|first=R. H.}}</ref>

Intended by his father to join the [[Indian Civil Service (British India)|Indian Civil Service]], Wyllie obtained a nomination by his uncle [[William Hutt (politician)|William Hutt]] to attend the [[University of Oxford]], ultimately winning an open scholarship at [[Trinity College, Oxford|Trinity College]] in 1854, and resigning another he had gained at [[Lincoln College, Oxford|Lincoln College]] in 1853. He graduated in 1855 with a first class in moderations, and then passed the examination for the Indian Civil Service.<ref name="odnb"/><ref name="dib"/>

On furlough from 1864 to 1865, he returned to Trinity College to sit his examinations, receiving a [[Bachelor of Arts]] in 1864, and a [[Master of Arts]] in 1868.<ref name="odnb"/>

==Indian civil service==

Wyllie followed in his father's footsteps, joining the [[Bombay Presidency]], and a 'competition-wallah', moving to India in November 1856. He then became, in January 1858, a third assistant political agent in [[Kathiawar]], before in June, nearly dying of Gujarat fever, which permanently impaired his health.<ref name="odnb"/><ref name="dib"/>

During this period, Wyllie translated Colonel Lang's ''Mulk Sherista'' into English and also served as an assistant commissioner in [[Barabanki district]] and [[Lucknow]]. He then became an assistant secretary to Sir [[George Yule (businessman)|George Yule]] in 1862, also acting as chief commissioner of the province, and in May 1862 became [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] Secretariat upon the recommendation of Sir [[Henry Marion Durand]].<ref name="odnb"/>

In 1866, he was made an under-secretary to the foreign department, becoming an exponent of foreign policy in an article, ''The foreign policy of Lord Lawrence'', which extolled the [[John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence|governor-general]]'s policy. When published in the ''[[Edinburgh Review]]'' in January 1867, he influenced public opinion, bringing the phrase 'masterly inactivity' into the common lexicon.<ref name="odnb"/><ref name="dib">[[s:Dictionary of Indian Biography/Wyllie, John William Shaw]]</ref>

In his final days in India, Wyllie arranged the grand durbar at Agra in November 1866.<ref name="odnb"/>

==Return to Britain==
A deterioration in health, caused by his earlier Gujarat fever, forced Wyllie to return home in 1867 and, upon persuasion by his uncle, Sir William Hutt, he gave up his Indian career to enter home politics.<ref name="odnb"/>

He was elected MP for [[Hereford (UK Parliament constituency)|Hereford]] in [[1868 United Kingdom general election|1868]], standing on a platform of [[Irish Church Act 1869|Irish disestablishment]] and secular education. During the election, he resigned from the Indian service, worrying he would be disqualified for holding an [[office of profit]] under the crown.<ref name="odnb"/><ref name="dib"/>

However, Wyllie was shortly after unseated in March 1869, after the Conservative rivals had alleged bribery and treating. Indeed, the election was declared void on petition, after the Liberal agent was found to have "given breakfast to Liberal electors", and therefore was guilty of treating.<ref name="odnb"/><ref name="dib"/>

Wyllie did no re-stand in the [[1869 Hereford by-election|resulting by-election]], lamenting that "he had foresaken the Indian service for a career that now sunk under him; he had burned his ships and could not return".<ref name="odnb"/>

==Later life and death==
Wyllie continued to write after his failed election, including ''Masterly inactivity'', published by ''[[The Fortnightly Review]]'' in December 1869, defending Lawrence's non-interventionist policy towards [[Afghanistan]] and opposing occupation of [[Quetta]], [[Pakistan]]; and ''Mischievous activity'', published also ''The Fortnightly Review'' in March 1870, criticising [[Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo|Lord Mayo]]'s more interventionist external policy.<ref name="odnb"/><ref name="dib"/>

Wyllie also contributed to the ''[[Cornhill Magazine]]'', the ''[[Edinburgh Review]]'', and the ''[[Calcutta Review]]'', and wrote letters for ''[[The Times]]'' and publications focused on central Asia.<ref name="odnb"/>

On 2 June 1869, he was made a [[Order of the Star of India|Companion of the Order of the Star of India]] (CSI) for Indian Services<ref name="dib"/> and, in January 1870, he moved to [[Paris]] to improve his French and study French politics. While there, he suffered from a cold, then inflammation of the lungs and recurred malarial fever, before dying aged 34 at the Hôtel Vouillemont on 15 March 1870. He was temporarily interred at [[Montmartre]], before his remains were moved to [[Kensal Green Cemetery]].<ref name="odnb"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-robert-campbell| Mr Robert Campbell }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef| before = [[George Clive (Liberal politician)|George Clive]] |before2= [[Richard Baggallay]] }}
{{s-ttl| title = Member of Parliament for [[Hereford (UK Parliament constituency)|Hereford]]
| years = [[1868 United Kingdom general election|1868]]–1869
|with = [[George Clive (Liberal politician)|George Clive]]
}}
{{s-aft| after= [[Edward Clive (British Army general)|Edward Clive]] |after2= [[Chandos Wren-Hoskyns]]
}}

{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyllie, John William Shaw}}
[[Category:Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:1835 births]]
[[Category:1870 deaths]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1868–1874]]

John Wyllie (politician) - Revision history

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