Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst
The Right Honourable The Lord Hardinge of Penshurst KG GCB GCSI GCMG GCIE GCVO ISO PC |
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Viceroy of India | |
In office 23 November 1910 – 4 April 1916 |
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Monarch | George V |
Preceded by | The Earl of Minto |
Succeeded by | The Lord Chelmsford |
Personal details | |
Born | 20 June 1858 |
Died | 2 August 1944 (aged 86) Penshurst, Kent |
Nationality | British |
Spouse(s) | Winifred Selena Sturt |
Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst, KG GCB GCSI GCMG GCIE GCVO ISO PC (20 June 1858 – 2 August 1944) was a British diplomat and statesman who served as Viceroy of India from 1910–16.
Contents
Background and education
Hardinge was the second son of Charles Hardinge, 2nd Viscount Hardinge, and the grandson of Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge, a former Governor-General of India. He was educated at Harrow School[1] and Trinity College, Cambridge.[2]
Career
Hardinge entered the diplomatic services in 1880, was appointed first secretary at Tehran in 1896 and first secretary at Saint Petersburg in 1898 when he was promoted over the heads of seventeen of his seniors. After a brief stint as Assistant Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs he became Ambassador to Russia in 1904. In 1906 he was promoted to the position of Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, and despite his own conservatism, worked closely with Liberal Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey. In 1907 he declined the post of Ambassador to the United States. In 1910 Hardinge was raised to the peerage as Baron Hardinge of Penshurst, in the County of Kent,[3] and appointed by the Asquith government as Viceroy of India.[citation needed]
His tenure was a memorable one, seeing the visit of King George V and the Delhi Durbar of 1911, as well as the move of the capital from Calcutta to New Delhi in 1912. Although Hardinge was the target of assassination attempts by Indian nationalists, his tenure generally saw better relations between the British administration and the nationalists, thanks to the implementation of the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909, Hardinge's own admiration for Mohandas Gandhi, and criticism of the South African government's anti-Indian immigration policies.[citation needed]
Hardinge's efforts paid off in 1914 during the First World War. Due to improved colonial relationships, Britain was able to deploy nearly all of the British troops in India as well as many native Indian troops to areas outside of India. In particular the British Indian Army was able to play a significant role in the Mesopotamian campaign[4] In 1916, Hardinge returned to his former post in England as Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, serving with Arthur Balfour. In 1920 he became ambassador to France before his retirement in 1922.
Personal life
He married his first cousin Winifred Selina Sturt on 17 April 1890, over the objections of her family, due to the couple's first cousinship and Hardinge's financial status.[5] She was the 2nd daughter of Henry Gerard Sturt, 1st Baron Alington, by his first wife Lady Augusta Bingham, 1st daughter of George Charles Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan. The couple had a daughter, Diamond Hardinge, and two sons, Alexander (1894–1960), who succeeded him as Baron Hardinge of Penshurst.
The 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst is commemorated at St John the Baptist, Penshurst. His eldest son, The Hon Edward Hardinge, (1882–1914) died in December 1914, from wounds received in battle in France. Diamond Hardinge was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Prince Albert, Duke of York, and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon on 3 May 1923.[6]
Styles and honours
Hardinge had the unusual distinction of being a non-royal recipient of six British knighthoods.
- June 1858 – July 1895: The Honourable Charles Hardinge
- July 1895 – April 1903: The Honourable Charles Hardinge, CB[7]
- April 1903 – 7 March 1904: The Honourable Charles Hardinge, CB, CVO[8]
- 7–26 March 1904: The Right Honourable Charles Hardinge, CB, CVO, PC[9]
- 26 March – 28 April 1904: The Right Honourable Sir Charles Hardinge, KCMG, CB, CVO, PC[10]
- 28 April – 10 May 1904: His Excellency The Right Honourable Sir Charles Hardinge, KCMG, CB, CVO, PC[11]
- 10 May 1904 – 2 January 1905: His Excellency The Right Honourable Sir Charles Hardinge, KCMG, KCVO, CB, PC[12]
- 2 January – 9 November 1905: His Excellency The Right Honourable Sir Charles Hardinge, GCMG, KCVO, CB, PC[13]
- 9 November 1905 – June 1906: The Right Honourable Sir Charles Hardinge, GCMG, GCVO, CB, PC
- June 1906 – 23 June 1910: The Right Honourable Sir Charles Hardinge, GCMG, GCVO, CB, PC, ISO[14]
- 23 June – 2 August 1910: The Right Honourable Sir Charles Hardinge, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, PC, ISO[15]
- 2 August – 23 November 1910: The Right Honourable The Lord Hardinge of Penshurst, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, PC, ISO[3]
- 23 November 1910 – 24 March 1916: His Excellency The Right Honourable The Lord Hardinge of Penshurst, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, GCVO, PC, ISO, Viceroy & Governor-General of India
- 24 March – 4 April 1916: His Excellency The Right Honourable The Lord Hardinge of Penshurst, KG, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, GCVO, PC, ISO, Viceroy & Governor-General of India[16]
- 4 April 1916 – 27 November 1920: The Right Honourable The Lord Hardinge of Penshurst, KG, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, GCVO, PC, ISO
- 27 November 1920 – 1 February 1923: His Excellency The Right Honourable the Lord Hardinge of Penshurst, KG, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, GCVO, PC, ISO, HM Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary to the French Republic[17]
- 1 February 1923 – 2 August 1944: The Right Honourable The Lord Hardinge of Penshurst, KG, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, GCVO, PC, ISO
Further reading
- Lady Hardinge of Penshurst, C.I., vice-reine of India; A tribute to her memory, by Manhar Kuvarbā, Maharani of Panna. Printed by R.W. Simpson & co., ltd., 1916.[18]
References
- ↑ photo at Harrow Photos and cf List of Old Harrovians
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The London Gazette: no. 28403. p. 5581. 2 August 1910.
- ↑ Lord Hardinge and the Mesopotamia Expedition and Inquiry, 1914–1917; Douglas Goold; The Historical Journal, Vol. 19, No. 4 (Dec., 1976), pp. 919–945
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ↑ Daily Telegraph: royal wedding photograph; accessed 28 March 2014.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 26639. p. 3740. 2 July 1895.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27560. p. 3524. 2 June 1903.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27655. p. 1521. 8 March 1904.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27662. p. 2025. 29 March 1904.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27674. p. 2923. 6 May 1904.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27675. p. 3000. 10 May 1904.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27750. p. 22. 3 January 1905.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 27926. p. 4462. 29 June 1906.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 28388. p. 4476. 24 June 1910.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 29519. p. 3175. 24 March 1916.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 32145. p. 11794. 30 November 1920.
- ↑ Lady Hardinge of Penshurst Open Library.
Sources
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- Briton C. Busch, Hardinge of Penshurst: a study of the old diplomacy, Hamden, Conn.: Published for the Conference on British Studies and Indiana University at South Bend by Archon Books, 1980.
- Lord Hardinge of Penshurst, The Reminiscences of Lord Hardinge of Penshurst (London, 1947)
- Zara S. Steiner, The Foreign Office and Foreign Policy 1898–1914 )Cambridge, 1969)
- Winifred Selina Sturt Hardinge and Charles
External links
- Hardinge of Penshurst, Baron (UK, 1910), genealogy
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Lord Hardinge of Penshurst
Government offices | ||
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Preceded by | Viceroy of India 1910–1916 |
Succeeded by The Lord Chelmsford |
Diplomatic posts | ||
Preceded by | British Ambassador to Russia 1904–1906 |
Succeeded by Sir Arthur Nicolson |
Preceded by | Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs 1906–1910 |
Succeeded by Sir Arthur Nicolson |
Preceded by | Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs 1916–1920 |
Succeeded by Eyre Crowe |
Preceded by | British Ambassador to France 1920–1922 |
Succeeded by The Marquess of Crewe |
Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
New creation | Baron Hardinge of Penshurst 1910–1944 |
Succeeded by Alexander Hardinge |
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