Frederick James Halliday
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Sir Frederick James Halliday (25 December 1806 – 22 October 1901) was a British civil servant and the first Lieutenant-Governor of
Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...
.


Early life and career

Frederick James Halliday was born on 25 December 1806 at
Ewell Ewell ( , ) is a town in Surrey, England, south of Centre of London, central London and northeast of Epsom. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, it had a population of 34,872. The majority (73%) was in the NRS social grade, ABC1 ...
, Surrey. According to the ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...
'', he was educated at
Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...
. However, a 1901 publication says that, although he went to Rugby in 1814, he entered
St Paul's School, London St Paul's School is a Selective school, selective Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent day school (with limited boarding school, boarding) for boys aged 13–18, founded in 1509 by John Colet and located on a 43-acre site by Rive ...
in 1815, spent seven years there and thus "he may fairly be claimed as a Scholar of St. Paul's." This is also the opinion of a historian of St. Paul's, Michael McDonnell, who notes that Halliday was sent to Rugby to be under the influence of its head master, John Sleath, and moved to St. Paul's as a consequence of Sleath being appointed as High Master there. Subsequently, he attended the
East India College The East India Company College, or East India College, was an educational establishment situated at Hailey, Hertfordshire, nineteen miles north of London, founded in 1806 to train "writers" (administrators) for the East India Company. It provid ...
in Haileybury, before joining the Bengal civil service in 1824. He attended
Fort William College Fort William College (also known as the College of Fort William) was an academy of Orientalism, oriental studies and a centre of learning, founded on 18 August 1800 by Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, Lord Wellesley, then Governor-Gener ...
in
Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
, where he was taught by I. C. Vidyasagar. His first office in the civil service was as an assistant working for the supreme court in 1825. Halliday had become secretary to the Board of Revenue by 1836 and was appointed Home Secretary for the Government of India in 1849. He took a period of leave in England between July 1852 and November 1853, although he was frequently called upon to provide information to
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
during that time.


Lieutenant-governor

Around May 1854, Halliday was appointed as the first Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal. He took up residence at Belvedere House, the former home of
Warren Hastings Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first governor-gener ...
in Calcutta. Prior to that time the region had been overseen by the
governor-general Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...
, and by a deputy-governor when the former was away. The deputies were appointed more on the basis of seniority than of merit. It had been recognised for some time that continued territorial acquisitions, which involved disparate populations and regions, both necessitated different administrative approaches and were causing the governor-general to be more frequently away from the area. The Marquess of Dalhousie, who was governor-general between 1847 and 1856, took the opportunity presented by the renewal of the
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
's
charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...
to reorganise affairs. It was anticipated that the appointment of Halliday would result in significant improvements to the administration of Bengal, and this proved to be the case because he had gained considerable administrative experience by this time. Among his achievements was the building of numerous roads that linked various towns. He also enabled much progress in the construction of the
East Indian Railway The East Indian Railway Company, operating as the East Indian Railway (reporting mark EIR), introduced railways to East India and North India, while the Companies such as the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, South Indian Railway, Bombay, Baroda ...
. Both of these were seen by Halliday as necessities, for he recognised that speedy and accurate communication was a prerequisite for efficient administration. He introduced the Calcutta Municipal Act, enacted reforms of the police service (including better pay), tightened supervision of the inefficient justice system and increased the number of its officials. Arrangements were also introduced to limit civil disturbances and disruption by, for example, creating a force of military police. Although Bengal was on the periphery of events relating to the
Indian rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...
, and Halliday was commended for his successes in dealing with civil unrest, he provided advice to
Lord Canning Charles John Canning, 1st Earl Canning (14 December 1812 – 17 June 1862), also known as the Viscount Canning and Clemency Canning, was a British politician and Governor-General of India during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the first ...
, the governor-general, regarding how to deal with the rebellion elsewhere. He had past experience of uprisings, including one that had occurred at
Santal The Santal (or Santhal) are an Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic-speaking Munda peoples, Munda ethnic group of the Indian subcontinent. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal in terms of population and are also found ...
in 1855, soon after his appointment to office. Aside from his administrative reforms, Halliday was also active in pursuit of social change. While serving as a magistrate in
Hooghly district Hooghly district () is one of the districts of the Indian state of West Bengal. It can alternatively be spelt ''Hoogli'' or ''Hugli''. The district is named after the Hooghly River. The headquarters of the district are at Hooghly-Chinsurah (' ...
in 1829, he had witnessed the last legal ''
sati Sati or SATI may refer to: Entertainment * ''Sati'' (film), a 1989 Bengali film by Aparna Sen and starring Shabana Azmi * ''Sati'' (novel), a 1990 novel by Christopher Pike *Sati (singer) (born 1976), Lithuanian singer *Sati, a character in ''Th ...
'' (ritual burning of a widow) in Bengal, and as lieutenant-governor he sought to enforce the anti-sati legislation that had been enacted soon after. He was also involved in enabling the
Widow Remarriage Act The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act 1856, also Act XV, 1856, passed on 16 July 1856, legalised the remarriage of widows in all jurisdictions of India under East India Company rule.The act was enacted on 26 July 1856. It was drafted by Lord Dalhou ...
to facilitate the remarriage of Hindu widows, that piece of legislation being a consequence of agitation by, among others, his former mentor, Vidyasagar. Indeed, Vidyasagar enjoyed a close relationship to Halliday during the 1850s, and this helped achieve changes in other social policy spheres, such as education. Halliday was an enthusiastic supporter of the despatch on education formulated by Charles Wood in 1854, and as a consequence various measures were implemented. These included the establishment of director of public instruction for the region and the incorporation of the
University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...
. Halliday left the office of lieutenant-governor in May 1859. He had generally enjoyed the support of the governor-general during his tenure but he did antagonise some people within the official circles of the Indian government. Most notably, he had a long-running dispute with William Tayler, whom he considered to be incompetent. Halliday eventually removed Tayler from his position as
Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...
of
Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...
, following what Halliday considered to be a poor decision made by Tayler. This ultimately caused Tayler to resign and to bear a resentment that persisted until he died in 1892 and caused him publicly to seek redress for Halliday's actions.


Subsequent life

In 1860 Halliday was appointed a
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...
. He served as a Member of the
Council of India The Council of India (1858 – 1935) was an advisory body to the Secretary of State for India, established in 1858 by the Government of India Act 1858. It was based in London and initially consisted of 15 members. The Council of India was dissolve ...
from 1868 to 1886. Halliday, who had a lifelong interest in music, was a player of the
contrabass Contrabass (from ) refers to several musical instruments of very low pitch—generally one octave below bass register instruments. While the term most commonly refers to the double bass (which is the bass instrument in the orchestral string family ...
and from this acquired the nickname of "Big Fiddle". He married Eliza Barbara Macgregor, the daughter of an officer in the army of the East India Company, on 25 December 1834. She predeceased him, in 1886, having borne several children, one of whom — George Thomas Halliday — was later a Lieutenant-General in the Bengal Cavalry. He died, aged 94, on 22 October 1901 and is buried in
Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...
, London. His younger brother was General John Gustavus Halliday (1822–1917), and his grandson, Hastings Hadley D'Oyly (whom
Clare Anderson Clare Anderson, (born 1969) is a British historian and academic, specialising in colonial history, penal colonies, and forced migration. She has been Professor of History at the University of Leicester since 2011, having joined the university as ...
thinks was probably named after Warren Hastings) was a member of the family of
D'Oyly baronets Three baronetcies were created for persons with the surname D'Oyly (surname), D'Oyly, two in the Baronetage of England and one in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. One creation is extant as of 2008. The D'Oyly Baronetcy, of Shotesham, Shotti ...
.


See also

*
List of governors of Bengal Presidency In 1644, Gabriel Boughton procured privileges for the East India Company which permitted them to build a factory at Hughli, without fortifications. Various chief agents, Governors and presidents were appointed to look after company affairs in ...


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Halliday, Frederick James 1806 births 1901 deaths British East India Company civil servants Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Burials at Brompton Cemetery Members of the Council of India People from Ewell People educated at Rugby School Lieutenant-governors of Bengal People educated at St Paul's School, London