Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff
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Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff (21 February 1829 – 12 January 1906), known as M. E. Grant Duff before 1887 and as Sir Mountstuart Grant Duff thereafter, was a Scottish politician, administrator and author. He served as the under-secretary of state for India from 1868 to 1874, under-secretary of state for the colonies from 1880 to 1881 and the governor of Madras from 1881 to 1886. The son of the distinguished British historian James Grant Duff, he was educated at Grange School and
Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...
, before being called to the English bar. He practised and taught law for a short time before starting a political life and entering the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Elgin Burghs. His abilities won him government positions and he was Under-Secretary of State for India, Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies and Governor of Madras. His performance in politics and administration has received mixed reviews during the 1880s: "a politician of brilliant promise and scant performance, of wide information which he seemed to turn to much account, of abilities which would have made the fortunes of half a dozen men and of which he made little enough." On his return from Madras, he retired from politics and served in various art and scientific societies, before his death in 1906.


Early life and education

Duff was born in Eden, Banff, Banffshire on 21 February 1829, the elder son of James Grant Duff, a well-known
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 ...
n official from Bombay Presidency and British Resident in the princely state of Satara, and his wife Jane Catherine, daughter of Sir Whitelaw Ainslie. He was named after Mountstuart Elphinstone whom James Grant Duff regarded as his mentor. He had his schooling at Edinburgh Academy and Grange School and at
Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...
, from 1847 to 1850. He became a MA in 1853. During these years he experienced problems with his vision, and for the rest of his life he relied on the sight of others. He studied law at the
Inns of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court: Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple, and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have s ...
and passed with honours, ranked only behind
James Fitzjames Stephen Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, 1st Baronet, Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India, KCSI (3 March 1829 – 11 March 1894) was an English lawyer, judge, writer, and philosopher. One of the most famous critics of John Stuart Mill, S ...
. He was called to the bar at
Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...
, London on 17 November 1854 and practised as a junior under William (later Mr Justice) Field. During this time he lectured at the Working Men's College and wrote for the ''Saturday Review''. Soon afterwards, he entered politics and joined the Liberal Party.


Political career

In the 1857 election he was elected to the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
as the Liberal Party's candidate for Elgin Burghs, holding the seat without interruption until 1881. He was returned unopposed at every election except in 1880, when he easily defeated a Conservative candidate. Every year from 1860, Stuart delivered an elaborate speech to his constituents, many of which were collected and reprinted, often on foreign affairs. As an MP, Duff was mainly concerned with foreign policy, a subject on which he became known as an authority. He travelled widely, wrote extensively, and met with many of Europe's leading personalities. In 1866, he was elected rector of the University of Aberdeen, holding the post until 1872. In 1868,
William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...
appointed Duff Under-Secretary of State for India under the Duke of Argyll. Duff held the office until the government was defeated in 1874. He worked well with the secretary of state Argyll; their relationship was described by Duthie as 'rather deliberately obedient to Argyll; and always in agreement with him on policy'. When Gladstone came back to power in 1880, Grant Duff was appointed Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies and sworn of the Privy Council. He served until 26 June 1881, when he was appointed Governor of Madras.


Governor of Madras

He was captivated by the beach at
Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...
on an earlier visit to the city. As a result, when he became governor in 1881 he immediately commenced the construction of a promenade along the beach. The beach was extensively modified and layered with soft sand and was named " The Marina". The promenade was opened to the public in 1884. On the naming of the beach, Grant Duff explained in a letter: In 1864, several specimens of a yellow flowering '' iris'' were collected by Mr. B. T. Lowne on the banks of the river Kishon in
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
. It was later found by Grant Duff on the plains of Esdraelon (
Jezreel Valley The Jezreel Valley (from the ), or Marj Ibn Amir (), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. It is bordered to the north by the highlands o ...
). The iris was then named after him, '' Iris grant-duffii''. He was a strong supporter of Dietrich Brandis in his reorganization of the Madras Forest Department and expansion of systematic forest conservancy in India. His tenure was filled with a number of controversies and allegations of partisan behaviour and injustice. He was sharply criticised for the way he handled the Chingleput Ryots' Case and the arrests and trials following the Salem riots of 1882. ''
The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
'' accused him of indulging in vindictive and vengeful behaviour. In one of the articles, he was criticised thus: "Oh! Lucifer! How art thou fallen? Oh! Mr Grant-Duff, how you stand like an extinct volcano in the midst of the ruins of your abortive reputation as an administrator! Erudite you may be, but a statesman you are not." He was also accused of deliberately nurturing a movement against
Brahmins Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...
. However, Louis Mallet, the then Under-Secretary of State for India, was all praise for him. On receipt of his last minute as governor, Mallett said, "I doubt whether any governor has left behind so able and so complete a record". W. S. Blunt, the British publicist, who visited Madras in November 1884, said of Grant Duff: The Madras Mahajana Sabha was established in 1884 with P. Rangaiah Naidu as its president and R. Balaji Rao as its vice-president. This is considered to be one of the oldest Indian political organisations in the
Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...
, notwithstanding the Madras Native Association, which was a failure. Members of the Madras Mahajana Sabha played a pivotal role in corresponding with Indian associations in other provinces and forming the
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
in 1885. The Indian National Congress held its first session at
Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
in December 1885, attended by 72 delegates including 22 from the Madras Presidency. Grant Duff was made a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1881 and a Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India in March 1887. In July 1886, Gladstone tried to get a
peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...
for him but failed. On an official visit to
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
a few years after the conclusion of his tenure, Grant Duff records that the Speaker of the
Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament () is the national parliament of the Italy, Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1848–1861), the Parliament of the Kingd ...
Biancheri inquired about the size of the province that Grant Duff had governed. On receiving the reply that the province was 'larger than Italy, including all the Italian islands', Biancheri astonishedly asked "What an empire is that, in which such a country is only a province?".


Later life

On his return to England in 1887, he devoted himself to the arts and sciences. He was Lord Rector of
University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...
in 1866–1872. He was member of the ''Athenaeum'', the Cosmopolitan Club, Literary Society, Grillion's Club, Breakfast Club and was the president of the
Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
from 1889 to 1893 and of the
Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...
from 1892 to 1899. He was treasurer of the exclusive dining club known as The Club from 1893. He was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
in 1881, and was appointed a trustee of the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
in 1903. He was Chairman of the Liberty and Property Defence League, established to curb socialist tendencies in the Liberal Party.


Personal life

In April 1859 he married Anna Julia Webster; they had four sons and four daughters, including: * Clare Annabel Caroline (1870–1944), wife of the financier Frederick Huth Jackson. *Evelyn Mountstuart Grant Duff, who married in March 1903 Edith Florence Bonham, daughter of Sir George Francis Bonham, 2nd Baronet. * Lieutenant-Colonel Adrian Grant-Duff, CB (1869–1914),H. C. G. Matthew, 'Duff, Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant- (1829–1906)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004 colonel of the Black Watch, was killed at the
First Battle of the Aisne The First Battle of the Aisne () was the Allied follow-up offensive against the right wing of the German First Army (led by Alexander von Kluck) and the Second Army (led by Karl von Bülow) as they retreated after the First Battle of the ...
in September 1914. Adrian's daughter was Shiela Grant Duff while his son, Neill, was killed at Houdetot near St Valery-en-Caux France in 1940 whilst serving with the Black Watch. He died in his home in Chelsea, London in January 1906, aged 76, and was buried in Elgin Cathedral, Scotland.


Ancestry


Works

* ( Scan) * ( Scan) * ( Scan) * ( Scan) * ''Notes from a diary''. London: John Murray. - (1851-1872):1 2 - (1873-1881):1 2 - (1881-1886):1 2 - (1886-1888):1 2 - (1889-1891):1 2 - (1892-1895):1 2 - (1896-1901):1 2 * ( Scan) * volume 1 volume 2


Notes


References

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grant Duff, Mountstuart Elphinstone 1829 births 1906 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India Fellows of the Royal Society UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 Presidents of the Royal Geographical Society Presidents of the Royal Historical Society Rectors of the University of Aberdeen People from Banffshire