Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford, (7 February 1766 – 14 October 1827), styled The Honourable Frederick North until 1817, was a British politician and colonial administrator.

Early life and education

North was a younger son of Prime Minister Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (usually referred to as Lord North). He was educated at Eton College (1775–82) and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. In 1791, he converted to the Eastern Orthodox Church and became an ardent adherent. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1794.

Career

Parliament

He represented Banbury in Parliament from 1792 to 1794.

Secretary of State for Corsica

North served as Secretary of State to the Viceroy Sir Gilbert Elliot from 1794 to 1796 during the short-lived Anglo-Corsican Kingdom . North was tasked with the delicate negotiations with Pasquale Paoli and came to consider that Corsica was effectively 'ungovernable'.

Governor of Ceylon

He served as first British Governor of Ceylon from 1798 to 1805. North built his official residence, the

Doric Bungalow The Doric Bungalow (also known as The Doric) at Arippu East, Mannar, Sri Lanka, was the residence of the first British Governor of Ceylon. History The first governor, Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford was the son of British Prime Minister, F ...

, near the Mannar Sea according to his own plan; he himself used to supervise the pearl fishery, which at that time provided a substantial income for the British. In 1817 he succeeded his elder brother as fifth Earl of Guilford.

Ionian Academy

In 1824 North established the Ionian Academy on the island of

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

, which was under British control as part of the United States of the Ionian Islands. It was the first University to be established in modern Greece. In this context, he financed the studies in France (at Ecole polytechnique ) of

Giovanni Carandino Giovanni Carandino, also known as Ioannis Karandinos ( el, Ιωάννης Καραντηνός), and sometimes as Jean Carantino or John Carandino, born in 1784 in Cephalonia and died in Napoli in 1834, was a Greek mathematician, founder of the Gre ...

, the founder of the modern Greek mathematics. The academy has now closed but a statue of the Earl stands on the island. A library and a street are also named after him.Miller (1966), p. 123.

Death

Lord Guilford died unmarried in October 1827, aged 61, and was succeeded in his titles by his cousin Francis.

Notes

References

*Miller, W., The Ottoman Empire and its Successors: 1801–1927 ( London, 1966), p. 123 *Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.

External links

* 1766 births 1827 deaths 18th-century English nobility 19th-century English nobility Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford North, Frederick Earls of Guilford Children of prime ministers of the United Kingdom Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George North, Frederick Governors of British Ceylon Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1790–1796 Frederick British philhellenes Barons Guilford {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub