Created by Woko Sapien
Last edited February 17, 2026


President of the Board of Control
File:Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
Royal Arms as used by His Majesty's Government
India Board
Member of
SeatWestminster, London
AppointerThe British Monarch
(on advice of the Prime Minister)
Term lengthNo fixed term
Constituting instrumentEast India Company Act 1784
Formation4 September 1784
First holderThomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney
Final holderEdward Stanley, Lord Stanley
Abolished2 August 1858

The President of the Board of Control was a British government official in the late 18th and early 19th centuries responsible for overseeing the British East India Company and generally serving as the chief official in London responsible for Indian affairs. The position was frequently a cabinet level one. The position was abolished in 1858 with the abolition of the East India Company. It was succeeded by the new position of Secretary of State for India.

List of presidents of the Board of Control[edit | edit source]

President of the Board of Control[1][2]
  WhigTemplate:Nb5  ToryTemplate:Nb5  Conservative
Portrait Name
Honorifics and constituency
Term of office Party Ministry
Thomas Townshend, 1st Baron Sydney
before 1789
Viscount Sydney after 1789
4 September
1784
6 March
1790
Template:Party shading/Whigs | Whig rowspan=3 Template:Party shading/Tories | Pitt I
William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville 6 March
1790
22 June
1793
Template:Party shading/Tories | Tory
(Pittite)
Henry Dundas
MP for Edinburgh
22 June
1793
25 April
1801
Template:Party shading/Tories | Tory
George Legge, 3rd Earl of Dartmouth 25 April
1801
2 July
1802
Template:Party shading/Tories | Tory rowspan=2 Template:Party shading/Tories | Addington
Template:Zwj Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh
MP for Down before 1805
MP for Boroughbridge after 1806
2 July
1802
11 February
1806
rowspan=2 Template:Party shading/Tories | Tory
Template:Party shading/Tories | Pitt II
Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Baron Minto
11 February
1806
15 July
1806
Template:Party shading/Whigs | Whig rowspan=3 Template:Party shading/Coalition (UK) | All the Talents
(WhigTory)
Thomas Grenville
MP for Buckingham
15 July
1806
30 September
1806
Template:Party shading/Whigs | Whig
File:George Tierney by William Nutter, after Lemuel Francis Abbott.jpg George Tierney
MP for Athlone
30 September
1806
6 April
1807
Template:Party shading/Whigs | Whig
Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville
MP for Midlothian
6 April
1807
11 July
1809
Template:Party shading/Tories | Tory rowspan=2 Template:Party shading/Tories | Portland II
Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby 11 July
1809
November
1809
rowspan=2 Template:Party shading/Tories | Tory
rowspan=3 Template:Party shading/Tories | Perceval
Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville
MP for Midlothian before 1811
Viscount Melville after 1811
November
1809
4 April
1812
Template:Party shading/Tories | Tory
Robert Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire 4 April
1812
4 June
1816
rowspan=2 Template:Party shading/Tories | Tory
rowspan=4 Template:Party shading/Tories | Liverpool
George Canning
MP for Liverpool
4 June
1816
June
1821
Template:Party shading/Tories | Tory
Template:Party shading/Coalition (UK) | Charles Bathurst
MP for Harwich
June
1821
4 February
1822
Charles Williams-Wynn (1775–1850)
MP for Montgomeryshire
4 February
1822
4 February
1828
rowspan=4 Template:Party shading/Tories | Tory
Template:Party shading/Coalition (UK) | Canning
(CanningiteWhig)
Template:Party shading/Coalition (UK) | Goderich
(CanningiteWhig)
rowspan=3 Template:Party shading/Tories | Wellington–Peel
Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville 4 February
1828
17 September
1828
Template:Party shading/Tories | Tory
Edward Law, 2nd Baron Ellenborough 17 September
1828
1 December
1830
Template:Party shading/Tories | Tory
Charles Grant
MP for Inverness-shire
1 December
1830
18 September
1834
rowspan=2 Template:Party shading/Whigs | Whig Template:Party shading/Whigs | Grey
Template:Party shading/Whigs | Melbourne I
Edward Law, 2nd Baron Ellenborough 18 September
1834
23 April
1835
Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Conservative Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Peel I
Sir John Hobhouse, 2nd Baronet
MP for Nottingham
23 April
1835
30 August
1841
Template:Party shading/Whigs | Whig Template:Party shading/Whigs | Melbourne II
Edward Law, 2nd Baron Ellenborough 4 September
1841
23 October
1841
Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Conservative rowspan=3 Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Peel II
William Vesey-FitzGerald, 2nd Baron FitzGerald and Vesey 23 October
1841
17 May
1843
Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Conservative
F. J. Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon 17 May
1843
30 June
1846
Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Conservative
John Hobhouse, 1st Baron Broughton
MP for Nottingham before 1847
MP for Harwich after 1848
8 July
1846
5 February
1852
Template:Party shading/Whigs | Whig rowspan=2 Template:Party shading/Whigs | Russell
Fox Maule
MP for Perth
5 February
1852
21 February
1852
Template:Party shading/Whigs | Whig
John Charles Herries
MP for Stamford
28 February
1852
17 December
1852
Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Conservative Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Who? Who?
Sir Charles Wood, 3rd Baronet
MP for Halifax
30 December
1852
3 March
1855
Template:Party shading/Whigs | Whig Template:Party shading/Coalition (UK) | Aberdeen
(PeeliteWhig)
Robert Vernon Smith
MP for Northampton
3 March
1855
21 February
1858
Template:Party shading/Whigs | Whig Template:Party shading/Whigs | Palmerston I
Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough 6 March
1858
5 June
1858
Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Conservative rowspan=2 Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Derby–Disraeli II
Edward Stanley, Lord Stanley
MP for King's Lynn
5 June
1858
2 August
1858
Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Conservative

Lord Stanley took up the new post of Secretary of State for India on 2 August 1858, upon the establishment of the British Raj.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Venning, Timothy (2005). Compendium of British Office Holders. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan. pp. 316–319. ISBN 1-4039-2045-1.
  2. "President of the Board of Control". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 7 August 2017.