Sir John Eldon Gorst (25 June 1861 – 12 July 1911) was
Consul-General in Egypt from 1907–1911.
Career
Gorst was the son of
Sir John Eldon Gorst,
Solicitor General for England and Wales
His Majesty's Solicitor General for England and Wales, known informally as the Solicitor General, is one of the law officers of the Crown in the government of the United Kingdom. They are the deputy of the Attorney General, whose duty is to ad ...
and
Vice-President of the Committee of the Council on Education. Born in New Zealand but raised in London, Gorst attended
Eton College
Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...
and
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
. In 1885 he became both a barrister and a member of the British diplomatic corps, going to
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
the following year as controller of direct taxes, becoming undersecretary for finance in 1892, adviser to the Egyptian Interior Ministry in 1894, and Financial adviser to the Egyptian government in 1898. He was promoted to a Knight Commander of the
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as ...
(KCB) in the
1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902, and received the order and knighthood on 22 September 1902, during a visit to King
Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...
at
Balmoral Castle
Balmoral Castle () is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and a residence of the British royal family. It is near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and west of Aberdeen.
The estate and its original castle were boug ...
. He was back in Egypt in time to receive
Lord Kitchener Lord Kitchener may refer to:
* Earl Kitchener, for the title
* Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, (; 24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was a senior British Army officer and colonial administrator. ...
during a short visit in late October 1902, when Kitchener was ''en route'' to take up the appointment as Commander-in-Chief, India. In 1904 Gorst returned to London where, as undersecretary of state, he effectively represented
Lord Cromer in the
Foreign Office
Foreign may refer to:
Government
* Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries
* Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries
** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government
** Foreign office and foreign minister
* United S ...
.
After the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a l ...
came to power, the British government sent Gorst to replace Cromer with instructions to give Egyptians greater responsibility to manage their internal affairs. As British Agent and Consul General in Egypt,
The London Gazette, 7 May 1907
/ref> Gorst quickly improved the Agency's relationship with Khedive Abbas Hilmi II, brought more Egyptians into responsible government positions, and weakened the Egyptian National Party. However, his efforts to rein in the burgeoning corps of Anglo-Egyptian officials offended many old Egypt hands. The appointment of Boutros Ghali
, image = Boutros Ghali Pasha.jpg
, order = 9th Prime Minister of Egypt
, monarch = Abbas II
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Kiman-al-'Arus, Beni Suef, Ottoman Empire
, death_date =
, death_place = Cairo, Khedivate o ...
as prime minister, popularly ascribed to Gorst, angered the Nationalists and many other Egyptians, leading to press attacks and eventually to Boutros Ghali's assassination. The revival of the Press Law in 1909 alienated Europeans as well as Egyptians and proved unenforceable. Gorst's attempt to extend the Suez Canal Company's concession in 1909–1910 to raise additional funds for development in Egypt and the Sudan was disliked by all Egyptians; when he put the issue to the Egyptian General Assembly
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years o ...
, vehement opposition from the Nationalist press led to its rejection.
This rejection, together with the murder of Boutros Ghali, caused Gorst to abandon his lenient policy in favor of a harsher one, using the Exceptional Laws and various penal measures to stifle the Nationalists. He had almost restored British control when he became stricken with cancer and went back to England to die.
An unprepossessing and egotistical man, disliked by the older British colonial administrators in Egypt and distrusted by the Egyptians as sphinxlike, Gorst was never accorded the respect that his intelligence and strong will warranted, although he received the Grand Cordons of the Osmanieh and Mejidiye Orders and was a Knight Commander of Sts. Michael and George. His autobiographical notes and diaries are at St Antony's College, Oxford
St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economics ...
and other papers are in the possession of his grandson, Paul Lysley.
Eldon Gorst was also the lover for two years in the 1880s of (Christina Anne) Jessica Sykes, née Cavendish-Bentinck, whose son Sir Mark Sykes
Colonel Sir Tatton Benvenuto Mark Sykes, 6th Baronet (16 March 1879 – 16 February 1919) was an English traveller, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician, and diplomatic advisor, particularly with regard to the Middle East at ...
, 6th Bt., later married 1903 Eldon's younger sister Edith.
Works
*
References
Further reading
*Arthur Goldschmidt Jr., ''Biographical Dictionary of Modern Egypt'' Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2000.
*Sir Archie Hunter. ''Power and Passion in Egypt: A Life of Sir Eldon Gorst'' London: I.B. Tauris, 2007.
extracts available
via GoogleBooks)
*Peter Mellini, ''Sir Eldon Gorst: The Overshadowed Proconsul'' Stanford, CA, Hoover Institution Press, 1977.
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorst, Eldon
1861 births
1911 deaths
People educated at Eton College
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
British consuls-general in Egypt
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
Recipients of the Order of the Medjidie