John Strachey (civil Servant)
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Sir John Strachey (5 June 1823 – 19 December 1907) was a British civil servant and writer in India who served as Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces from 1874 to 1876. He was briefly acting
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, ...
in February 1872 (following Lord Mayo's assassination), before being replaced by the more appropriate Lord Napier who acted for the remainder of time until Lord Northbrook arrived.


Life

The fifth son of Edward Strachey, second son of
Sir Henry Strachey, 1st Baronet Sir Henry Strachey, 1st Baronet (23 May 1736 – 3 January 1810) was a British civil servant and politician who sat in the House of Commons for 39 years from 1768 to 1807. Life Strachey was the eldest son of Henry Strachey, of Sutton Court, ...
, he was born in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England. After passing through the
East India Company 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 provi ...
, Strachey entered the
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 ...
civil service in 1842, and served in the North-Western Provinces, occupying a number of important positions. His brother was Sir Richard Strachey. In 1861,
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 ...
appointed him president of a commission to investigate the great
cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
epidemic of that year. In 1862 he became judicial commissioner in the Central Provinces. In 1864, after the report of the royal commission on the
sanitary Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...
condition of the army, a permanent sanitary commission was established in India, with Strachey as president. In 1866, he became
Chief Commissioner A chief commissioner is a commissioner of high rank, usually in chief of several commissioners or similarly styled officers. Colonial In British India the gubernatorial style was chief commissioner in various (not all) provinces (often after bein ...
of
Oudh The Kingdom of Awadh (, , also Oudh State, Kingdom of Oudh, Awadh Subah, or Awadh State) was a Mughal subah, then an independent kingdom, and lastly a British protectorate in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the Br ...
, having been chosen by Lord Lawrence to remedy as far as possible the injustice done after 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 ...
by the confiscation of the rights of tenants and small proprietors of land, maintaining at the same time the privileges of the
Talukdar Taluqdars or Talukdar (, Hindustani: /; '' taluq'' "estate" + '' dar '' "owner"), were aristocrats who formed the ruling class during the Delhi Sultanate, Bengal Sultanate, Mughal Empire and British Raj. They were owners of a vast amount of ...
s of great landlords. As member of the legislative council he introduced several bills for that purpose, which, with the full approval of the Talukdars, passed into law. In 1868, Stratchey became a member of the governor-general's council, and on the assassination of
Lord Mayo Richard Southwell Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, (; ; 21 February 1822 – 8 February 1872) styled Lord Naas (; ) from 1842 to 1867 and Lord Mayo in India, was a prominent British statesman and Conservative politician. He served as Chief Secreta ...
in February 1872 he acted temporarily as Viceroy and Governor-General. After only several weeks, he was replaced by, the more apt and competent, Lord Napier, who acted until the officially appointed Lord Northbrook arrived in May. In 1874 he was appointed lieutenant-governor 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 ...
. In 1876, by request of Lord Lytton and the secretary of state, he consented to relinquish that office, and returned to the governor-general's council as financial minister, which post he retained until 1880. During this time, while Lord Lytton was viceroy, important reforms were carried out. The measures for decentralizing financial administration, initiated under Lord Mayo, were practically completed. The
salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...
duties were reduced, and the system under which they were levied was altered, and that opprobrium of the administration, the
inland customs line The Inland Customs Line, incorporating the Great Hedge of India (or Indian Salt Hedge), was a customs barrier built by the British Colonial India, colonial rulers of India to prevent smuggling of salt from coastal regions in order to avoid the s ...
, was abolished. The removal of all import
duties A duty (from "due" meaning "that which is owing"; , past participle of ; , whence "debt") is a commitment or expectation to perform some action in general or if certain circumstances arise. A duty may arise from a system of ethics or morality, e ...
, including those on English
cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
goods, and the establishment of complete
free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...
, was declared to be the fixed policy of the government, and this was in great measure carried into effect before 1880, when Strachey left
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. The system under which military accounts were kept occasioned an erroneous estimate of the cost of the
Second Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai ...
of 1878–80. For this error Strachey was technically responsible; it was made the occasion of a partisan attack, which resulted in his resignation. From 1885 to 1895 Strachey was a member of the council of the Secretary of State for India. He died in 1907.


Works

Strachey was joint author with his brother Lt-Gen Sir Richard Strachey of ''The Finances and Public Works of India'' (1882), besides writing ''India'' (3rd edition, 1903), and ''Hastings and the
Rohilla Rohillas are a community of Pashtuns, Pashtun heritage, historically found in Rohilkhand, a region in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It forms the largest Pashtun diaspora community in India, and has given its name to the Rohilkhand region ...
War'' (1892). He also planned and designed the construction of The Rail-cum-Road Bridge on
River Yamuna The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Lower H ...
in
Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...
. He didn't get to see the completion of the Arch Bridge as he died in 1907. The bridge was completed in 1908, taking 10 years to complete since its construction commenced in 1898. The bridge was named after John Strachey as Strachey Bridge. It is still functional even being 112 years old carrying trains in Agra Cantonment Railway Station on Delhi - Bhopal Main line to Tundla Junction Railway station in Delhi - Howrah Main Line.


Family

Strachey married Katherine Batten, daughter of George Batten, on 9 October 1856, and they had eight children. They included Sir
Arthur Strachey Sir Arthur Strachey (5 December 1858 – 14 May 1901) was a British Indian judge and Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court. Early life Strachey was born in Calcutta, British India to Sir John Strachey and Katherine Jane Batten. He was educated ...
(1858–1901), judge in India. Their daughter Winifred married Hugh Shakespear Barnes.


Legacy

Strachey was a great patron of the
Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College (, lit. "Science School for the Muslims of India") was founded in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, initially as a primary school, with the intention of turning it to a college level institution. It was inspired by t ...
, Aligarh. The Strachey Hall in Aligarh Muslim University is named after him. In the
Agra Fort The Agra Fort (''Qila Agra'') is a historical Mughal fort in the city of Agra, also known as Agra's Red Fort. Mughal emperor Humayun was crowned at this fort in 1530. It was later renovated by the Mughal emperor Akbar from 1565 and the presen ...
there is a tablet commemorating Strachey’s efforts in the conservation of Mughal architecture. The tablet is located in the south-east corner of the Machchi Bhawan ('Fish Quarters'), very close to the Saman Burj (Jasmine Tower), from which Mughal Emperor
Shah Jahan Shah Jahan I, (Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram; 5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), also called Shah Jahan the Magnificent, was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 until his deposition in 1658. As the fifth Mughal emperor, his reign marked the ...
gazed east across the
River Yamuna The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Lower H ...
to his creation, the
Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...
. The tablet reads: In grateful commemoration of services rendered to posterity by the Honorable Sir John Strachey G.C.S.I. to whom, not forgetting the enlightened sympathy and timely care of others India is mainly indebted for the rescued and preserved beauty of the Taj Mahal and other famous monuments of the ancient art and history of provinces formerly administered by him This tablet is placed by order of his friend the
Earl of Lytton Earl of Lytton, in the County of Derby, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1880 for the diplomat and poet Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Baron Lytton. He was Viceroy of India from 1876 to 1880 and British Ambassado ...
Viceroy and Governor General of India A.D. 1880 During his period as Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces Strachey directed restoration of the Machchi Bhawan and the nearby
Diwan-i-Am A divan or diwan (, ''dīvān''; from Sumerian ''dub'', clay tablet) was a high government ministry in various Islamic states, or its chief official (see ''dewan''). Etymology The word, recorded in English since 1586, meaning "Oriental cou ...
(Hall of Audience), which had been subject to looting by 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 the early British colonial period.


See also

* Strachey Baronets


References


Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strachey, John 1823 births 1907 deaths Civil servants from London Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire British East India Company civil servants John (civil servant) English male writers