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The Right
Honourable Lord William Bentinck GCB, GCH, PC |
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In office 4 July 1828 – 20 March 1835 |
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| Monarch | George IV William IV |
| Preceded by | William Butterworth Bayley (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Sir Charles Metcalfe, Bt (acting) |
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| Born | 14 September
1774 |
| Died | 17 June
1839 Paris, France |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Whig |
| Spouse(s) | Lady Mary Acheson (d. 1843) |
Lieutenant-General Lord William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck GCB, GCH, PC (14 September 1774 – 17 June 1839), known as Lord William Bentinck, was a British soldier and statesman. He served as Governor-General of India from 1828 to 1835.
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Bentinck was the second son of Prime Minister William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, and Lady Dorothy, daughter of William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire.[1]
After service in the Peninsular War, Bentinck was appointed commander of British troops in Sicily. A Whig, Bentinck used this position to meddle in internal Sicilian affairs, effecting the King's withdrawal from government in favour of his son, the Crown Prince, the reactionary Queen's disgrace, and an attempt to devise a constitutional government for the troubled island, all of which ultimately ended in failure. In 1814, Bentinck landed with British and Sicilian troops at Genoa, and commenced to make liberal proclamations of a new order in Italy which embarrassed the British government (which intended to give much of Italy to Austria), and led, once again, to his recall in 1815.
As conditions in Sicily began to deteriorate at the beginning of the 19th century, England began worrying about its interests in the Mediterranean. Internal dissensions in the Sicilian government and an ever increasing suspicion that Queen Maria Carolina was in correspondence with the French with the French Occupation of Sicily as its object led to the appointment of Lord William Bentinck as British representative to the Court of Palermo in July of 1811.[2] At the beginning of his time at the head of Sicilian affairs, politicians in London opposed the Bourbon rule and appealed for Sicilian annexation. Bentinck was sympathetic to the cause and plight of the Sicilians and "was quickly convinced of the need for Britain to intervene in Sicilian affairs, not so much for Britain’s sake as for the well-being of the Sicilians.” [3] He was also one of the first of the dreamers to see a vision of a unified Italy.[2] The English, however, were content to support the Bourbons if they were willing to give the Sicilians more governmental control and a greater respect of their rights. Bentinck saw this as the perfect opportunity to insert his ideas of a Sicilian constitution. Opposition to the establishment of a constitution continued to surface, Maria Carolina proving to be one of the toughest. Her relationship with Bentinck can be summed up in the nickname that she gave him: "La bestia feroce" or the ferocious beast.[3] Bentinck, however, was determined to see the establishment of a Sicilian Constitution and shortly thereafter exiled Maria Carolina from Palermo. On June 18, 1812 the Parliament assembled in Palermo and, about a month later, on July 20, 1812 the constitution was accepted and written on the basis of 15 articles. With the establishment of the constitution the Sicilians had now gained an autonomy they had never experienced before. The constitution set up the separation of the legislative and executive powers and abolished the feudalistic practices that had been established and recognized for the past 700 years. [2]
Bentinck's success in establishing a Sicilian constitution lasted only a few years. On December 8, 1816, A year after Ferdinand IV returned to the throne of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the constitution was abolished and Sicily was reunited with Naples. The constitutional experiment was deemed a failure although it can not be said to be his alone. [2] The Sicilian nobles were inexperienced and in the face of the difficulties of 1814 and 1815 could not sustain a constitution without outside British support that was pulled away in the wake of the end of the Napoleonic wars. The British no longer had an invested interest in the internal affairs of Sicily now that the threat of French invasion had been removed. The establishment of a Sicilian constitution that was facilitated by Bentinck was not to be soon forgotten. The ideas found therein and the small taste of freedom lingered in the memories of the Sicilians and had an influence on the desire for autonomy that was at the base of the Sicilian revolutions of 1820 and 1848. [3]
On his return to England, Bentinck served in the House of Commons for some years before being appointed Governor-General of Bengal in 1827. His principal concern was to turn around the loss-making Honourable East India Company, in order to ensure that its charter would be renewed by the British government.
Bentinck engaged in an extensive range of cost-cutting measures, earning the lasting enmity of many military men whose wages were cut. Although his financial management of India was quite impressive, his modernizing projects also included a policy of westernization, influenced by the Utilitarianism of Jeremy Bentham and James Mill, which was more controversial. Reforming the court system, he made English, rather than Persian, the language of the higher courts and encouraged western-style education for Indians in order to provide more educated Indians for service in the British bureaucracy.
Bentinck also took steps to suppress sati, the death of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre, and other Indian customs which the British viewed as barbaric. Although his reforms met little resistance among native Indians at the time, it has been argued that they brought on dissatisfaction which ultimately led to the great Mutiny of 1857. His reputation for ruthless financial efficiency and disregard for Indian culture led to the much-repeated story that he had once planned to demolish the Taj Mahal and sell off the marble. According to Bentinck's biographer John Rosselli, the story arose from Bentinck's fund-raising sale of discarded marble from Agra Fort and of the metal from a famous but obsolete Agra cannon.[4]
Bentinck returned to the UK in 1835, refusing a peerage, and again entered the House of Commons as a Member for Glasgow.
Bentinck married Lady Mary, daughter of Arthur Acheson, 1st Earl of Gosford, in 1803. The marriage was childless. He died in Paris in June 1839, aged 64. Mary died in May 1843.[5] The department of Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham holds the personal papers and correspondence of Lord William Bentinck (Pw J), as part of the Portland (Welbeck) Collection.
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by James Macpherson William Smith |
Member of
Parliament for Camelford with William Smith 1796–1796 |
Succeeded by William Joseph Denison John Angerstein |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by Lord Edward Cavendish-Bentinck Charles Pierrepont |
Member of
Parliament for Nottinghamshire with Lord Pierrepont 1796–1801 Lord Pierrepont 1801–1803 1796–1803 |
Succeeded by Lord Pierrepont Anthony Hardolph Eyre |
| Preceded by Viscount Newark Anthony Hardolph Eyre |
Member of
Parliament for Nottinghamshire with Viscount Newark 1812–1814 |
Succeeded by Viscount Newark Frank Sotheron |
| Preceded by Viscount Newark Frank Sotheron |
Member of
Parliament for Nottinghamshire with Frank Sotheron 1816–1826 |
Succeeded by Frank Sotheron John Lumley |
| Preceded by John Walpole Lord John Bentinck |
Member of
Parliament for King's
Lynn with John Walpole 1826–1828 |
Succeeded by John Walpole Lord George Bentinck |
| Preceded by James Oswald Colin Dunlop |
Member of
Parliament for Glasgow with James Oswald 1836–1837 John Dennistoun 1837–1839 1836–1839 |
Succeeded by John Dennistoun James Oswald |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by William Butterworth Bayley (acting) |
Governor-General of
India 1828–1835 |
Succeeded by Sir Charles Metcalfe, Bt (acting) |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by Sir Edward Barnes |
Commander-in-Chief,
India 1833–1835 |
Succeeded by Sir James Watson |
LORD WILLIAM BENTINCK (1774-1839), governor-general of India, was the second son of the 3rd duke of Portland and was born on the 14th of September 1774. He entered the army, rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and was present at Marengo. In 1803 he was nominated governor of Madras, where he quarrelled with the chief justice, Sir Henry Gwillim, and several members of his council. The sepoy mutiny at Vellore in 1807 led to his recall. His name was considered at this time for the post of governor-general, but Lord Minto was selected instead; and it was not until twenty years later that he succeeded Lord Amherst in that office. His governor-generalship (1827-1835) was notable for' many reforms, chief among which were the suppression of the Thugs, the abolition of suttee, and the making of the English language the basis of education in India. It was on this last subject that Lord Macaulay's famous minute was written. Lord William's administration was essentially peaceful, but progressive and successful. He died at Paris on the 17th of June 1839.
See Demetrius C. Boulger, Lord William Bentinck, in the "Rulers of India" series (1892).
Categories: BEF-BEN | Biography | History of India | UK Members of Parliament
  | Biography of Lord William Bentinck, with links to online catalogues, from Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham - Biography of Lord William Bentinck - Family and Estate Resources - Manuscripts & Special Collections- The University of Nottingham |
| | Biography of Lord William Bentinck, with links to online catalogues, from Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham - Biography of Lord William Bentinck - Family and Estate Resources - Manuscripts & Special Collections- The University of Nottingham |
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