Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning
Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning, KG, GCB, KCSI, PC (14 December 1812 – 17 June 1862), also known as the Viscount Canning and Clemency Canning, was a British statesman and Governor-General of India during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the first Viceroy of India after the transfer of power from the East India Company to the Crown of Queen Victoria in 1858 after the rebellion was crushed.
The Right Honourable The Earl Canning KG GCB KCSI PC | |
|---|---|
Portrait by John Jabez Edwin Mayall, c. 1855 | |
| Governor-General of India | |
| In office 28 February 1856 – 31 October 1858 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Preceded by | The Marquess of Dalhousie |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Elgin |
| Viceroy of India | |
| In office 1 November 1858 – 21 March 1862 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Viscount Palmerston The Earl of Derby |
| Preceded by | position established |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Elgin |
| First Commissioner of Woods and Forests | |
| In office 2 March 1846 – 30 June 1846 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | Sir Robert Peel, Bt |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Lincoln |
| Succeeded by | Viscount Morpeth |
| Postmaster General | |
| In office 5 January 1853 – 30 January 1855 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Earl of Aberdeen |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Hardwicke |
| Succeeded by | The Duke of Argyll |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 December 1812 Brompton, London |
| Died | 17 June 1862 (aged 49) Grosvenor Square, London |
| Political party | Conservative Peelite |
| Spouse | |
| Parent(s) | George Canning Joan Canning, 1st Viscountess Canning |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
Canning is credited for ensuring that the administration and most departments of the government functioned normally during the rebellion and took major administrative decisions even during the peak of the Rebellion in 1857, including establishing the first three modern Universities in India, the University of Calcutta, University of Madras and University of Bombay based on Wood's despatch. Canning passed the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856 which was drafted by his predecessor Lord Dalhousie before the rebellion. He also passed the General Service Enlistment Act of 1856.
After the rebellion he presided over a smooth transfer and reorganisation of government from the East India company to the crown, the Indian Penal Code was drafted in 1860 based on the code drafted by Macaulay and came into force in 1862. Canning met the rebellion '"with firmness, confidence, magnanimity and calm" as per his biographer, Sir George Dunbar. Canning was very firm during the rebellion but after that he focused on reconciliation and reconstruction rather than retribution and issued a clemency proclamation.