Sir Ashley Eden (13 November 1831 – 8 July 1887) was an official and diplomat in
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
.
Background and education
Eden was born at
Hertingfordbury
Hertingfordbury is a small village in Hertfordshire, England, close to the county town of Hertford. It was mentioned in the ''Domesday Book''. Hertingfordbury is also the name of a neighbouring civil parish, which does not contain the village. ...
,
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
, the third son of
Robert Eden, 3rd Baron Auckland
Robert John Eden, 3rd Baron Auckland (10 July 1799 – 25 April 1870), styled The Honourable Robert Eden from birth until 1849, was a British clergyman. He was Bishop of Sodor and Man from 1847 to 1854 and Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1854 to ...
,
Bishop of Bath and Wells
The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England.
The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of Do ...
, by Mary Hurt, daughter of Francis Edward Hurt, of
Alderwasley
Alderwasley ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 469. Alderwasley Hall is the home to one of the sites of Alderwasley Hall School which ...
,
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
. His uncle was
George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland
George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland, (25 August 1784 – 1 January 1849) was an English Whig politician and colonial administrator. He was thrice First Lord of the Admiralty and also served as Governor-General of India between 1836 and 1842 ...
. He was educated first at
Rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
and then at
Winchester
Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
, until 1849, in which year he received a nomination to the Indian civil service.
Public life
Eden spent 1850 and 1851 at the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
's college at
Haileybury, but did not pass out last of his term until December 1851. In 1852 he reached India, and was first posted as assistant to the magistrate and collector of
Rájsháhí. In the year 1854 he was recruited as a sub divisional officer of Jangipur. In 1856 he was promoted to be magistrate at
Moorshedábád, and during the
Indian Mutiny
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...
he checked sympathy with the revolt in that city. In 1860 he was appointed secretary to the government of Bengal and an ''ex officio'' member of the Bengal legislative council. This post he held for eleven years, during the last part of
Sir John Peter Grant's lieutenant-governorship, and throughout
Sir Cecil Beadon's and
Sir William Grey's terms of office.
In 1860 Eden accompanied a force ordered to invade the hill state of
Sikkim
Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...
in the
Himalaya
The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
s, as political agent, and in March 1861 he signed the
Treaty of Tumlong
The Treaty of Tumlong was a March 1861 treaty between Great Britain and the Kingdom of Sikkim in present-day north-east India. Signed by Sir Ashley Eden on behalf of the British and Sikkimese Chogyal, Tsugphud Namgyal, the treaty secured prot ...
with the
raja
''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...
,
Sidkeong Namgyal
Sidkeong Namgyal ( Sikkimese: ; Wylie: ''srid skyong rnam rgyal'') (1819–1874) was king of Sikkim from 1863 to 1874. He was son of Tsugphud Namgyal
Tsugphud Namgyal ( Sikkimese: ; Wylie: ''gtsug phud rnam rgyal'') (1785–1863) was kin ...
, which secured protection to travellers and free trade.
This success caused Eden to be appointed special envoy to the hill state of
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
in 1863. He was accompanied by no armed force and his demands were rejected. He signed a treaty favourable to the Bhutiás, after being assaulted by having his hair pulled and face rubbed with wet dough. This treaty was not ratified by the supreme government, and the
Bhutan War
The Duar War (or Anglo-Bhutan War) was a war fought between British India and Bhutan in 1864–1865. It has been the only military conflict between the two states since 1774.
Background
Across the nineteenth century, British India commissioned ...
resulted.
In 1871 Eden became the first civilian governor of British
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, a post he held until his appointment in 1877 as lieutenant-governor of Bengal. The
Eden Mohila College
Eden Mohila College (known as Eden College), is a women's college in Azimpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was established in 1873 in the Farashganj area of Dhaka. In 1878 the school was named after Ashley Eden, Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. The colleg ...
in Dhaka was named after him in 1878.
In 1878 he was made a
K.C.S.I.
The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes:
# Knight Grand Commander (GCSI)
# Knight Commander ( KCSI)
# Companion ( CSI)
No appointments ...
, and in 1882 resigned the lieutenant-governorship. After his retirement from India, on being appointed a member of the secretary of state's council in 1882, admirers founded in his honour the
Eden Hospital for Women and Children
Eden may refer to:
*Garden of Eden, the "garden of God" described in the Book of Genesis
Places and jurisdictions
Canada
* Eden, Ontario
* Eden High School
Middle East
* Eden, Lebanon, a city and former bishopric
* Camp Eden, Iraq
Oce ...
in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
, and a statue was erected. The
Eden canal
Eden may refer to:
*Garden of Eden, the "garden of God" described in the Book of Genesis
Places and jurisdictions
Canada
* Eden, Ontario
* Eden High School
Middle East
* Eden, Lebanon, a city and former bishopric
* Camp Eden, Iraq
Oce ...
joins the
Ganges
The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
and the
Tistá, and was intended to relieve
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
from famine.
Eden returned to England and attended the
Council of India
The Council of India was the name given at different times to two separate bodies associated with British rule in India.
The original Council of India was established by the Charter Act of 1833 as a council of four formal advisors to the Governor ...
for the remainder of his life.
Personal life
Eden married Eva Maria Money, daughter of
Vice-Admiral Rowland Money. They had no children. Eden died suddenly of paralysis on 9 July 1887, aged 55.
Notes
References
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Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Eden, Ashley
1831 births
1887 deaths
People educated at Rugby School
Indian Civil Service (British India) officers
Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire
British diplomats
Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India
Younger sons of barons
British East India Company people
British people of the Indian Rebellion of 1857
Administrators in British Burma
People from East Hertfordshire District
Ashley Ashley is a place name derived from the Old English words '' æsc'' (“ash”) and '' lēah'' (“meadow”). It may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Ashley (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...
Lieutenant-governors of Bengal
Presidents of The Asiatic Society