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 Dictionary of Indian Biography (Buckland) |
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 Dictionary of Indian Biography J to L
| Date transcribed | 2011-05-01 | | Transcribed by | Peter Bailey | | Comment | Note that notables of Indian, Afghan, etc. origin do not always follow the alphabetical name pattern established by Buckland in his original work. |
| | Surname | Lytton | | | First Name(s) | Edward Robert Bulwer | | | Titles | First Earl of | | | Year of Birth | 1831 | | | Year of Death | 1891 | | | Entry | Viceroy and Governor-General : son of the first Baron Lytton : born Nov. 8, 1831 : educated at Harrow and Bonn : was Private Secretary to his uncle, Lord Dalling, at Washington and Florence paid Attache at the Hague, St. Petersburg, Constantinople and Vienna : wrote under the name of Owen Meredith, Clytemnestra, the Earl's Return, and other Poems The Wanderer, Lucile, Tannhauser, The Ring of Amasis : held diplomatic appoint ments at Belgrade, Vienna, Copenhagen Athens, Lisbon, Madrid, again at Vienna Paris, and was Minister at Lisbon, 1872-6 when he was, after declining the Governor ship of Madras, chosen by Lord Beaconsfield to be Viceroy and Governor-General of India : wrote Chronicles and Characters, Orval, or the Fool of Time, Fables in Song, etc. He succeeded his father in the Peerage, 1873, and held the Viceroyalty from April 12, 1876, to June 8, 1880 : it was an eventful and important time. Negotiations with the Amir of Afghanistan were resumed, but fruitless : the reception of a Russian envoy at Kabul, and the rejection of a British mission, led to the Afghan war, 1879-80, which is a matter of history : Lytton's policy, denounced at the time, can appeal to its results. He conducted the Imperial Assemblage at Delhi on Jan. 1, 1877, for the proclamation of H.M. Queen Victoria's assumption of the title of Empress of India : he had to deal with the famines in Bombay, Madras, Mysore, and visited these Provinces in Aug- Sept. 1877 : the Famine Commission sat, and the system of famine insurance was established : the finances were further decentralized : internal customs were abolished : the cotton duties repealed : the Vernacular Press Act was passed : provision was made for the admission of more natives of India to civilians' appointments : his speeches, minutes, and despatches have never been surpassed : his disregard of convention gave opportunity to hostile critics, who gave little credit to his genius and great qualities. He was made an Earl in 1880 on his resignation with Lord Beaconsfield's Ministry. After leaving India, he was Ambassador to France, 1887-91: and wrote his father's Life, Glenaveril, After Paradise, King Poppy : died at Paris, Nov. 24, 1891. |
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A List of eminent persons who served in British India, together with short biographical notes of each
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