Sir George Frederick Edmonstone,
KCB (11 April 1813 – 24 September 1864) was an administrator in India.
Life
Edmonstone was born 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 ...
, the fourth son of
Neil Benjamin Edmonstone (1765–1841), a member of the supreme council in India and a director 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 ...
.
In 1829 Edmonstone went to the
East India College at Haileybury, the precursor of Haileybury and Imperial Service College, before proceeding to
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 ...
in 1831.
He held various positions in the Indian civil service before being appointed as
Lieutenant-Governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a " second-in-com ...
of the
North-Western Provinces
The North-Western Provinces was an Presidencies and provinces of British India, administrative region in British Raj, British India. The North-Western Provinces were established in 1836, through merging the administrative divisions of the Cede ...
from 19 January 1859 to 27 February 1863.
Retiring in 1863, Edmonstone was made 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 ...
(civil division) in December 1863. He died in
Effingham, Surrey on 24 September 1924. There is a plaque dedicated to him in St Lawrence's Church, Effingham.
[Plaque remains in church, Effingham. See: Photo - Plaque to Edmonstone in St Lawrence's Church, Effingham, Surrey]
One of the houses at
Haileybury and Imperial Service College
Haileybury is a co-educational public school (fee-charging boarding and day school for 11- to 18-year-olds) located in Hertford Heath, Hertfordshire. It is a member of the Rugby Group and enrols pupils at the 11+, 13+ and 16+ stages of edu ...
was named after Edmonstone, along with other distinguished Indian civil servants.
Time line
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edmonstone, George Frederick
1813 births
1864 deaths
Indian Civil Service (British India) officers
People from Kolkata
British East India Company civil servants
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath