Sir Charles Umpherston Aitchison (20 May 1832 – 18 February 1896) was a Scottish colonial administrator who was
Lieutenant Governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
of the
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
, then a province of
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 ...
. He founded
Aitchison College
Aitchison College ( ur, ایچیسن کالج) is an independent, semi-private boys school for boarding and day students from grade 1–13 in Lahore, Pakistan. It has a tradition of providing an education that uses academics, sports, and co-curri ...
,
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
in 1886.
He served as
Chief Commissioner of the British Crown Colony of Burma from March 1878 to May 1880.
Biography
Education
Charles Umpherston Aitchison, born in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
on 20 May 1832, was the son of Hugh Aitchison of that city, by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Charles Umpherston of
Loanhead
Loanhead is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, in a commuter belt to the south of Edinburgh, and close to Roslin, Bonnyrigg and Dalkeith. The town was built on coal and oil shale mining, and the paper industries.
History
Loanhead was a tiny villag ...
near Edinburgh. He was educated at the
Royal High School and the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
, where he took the degree of
M.A. on 23 April 1853. While a university student, Aitchison attended the lectures of
Sir William Hamilton on
logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...
and
metaphysics
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...
. He afterwards passed some time in Germany, where he studied the works of
Fichte, and attended the lectures of
Tholuck at the
University of Halle.
Indian civil service
In 1855 he ranked fifth at the first competitive examination for the
Indian Civil Service, and after spending a year in England in the study of law and oriental languages he landed at
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
(then Calcutta) on 26 September 1856. In March 1857 he was appointed an assistant in
Hissár, then a district of the
North-Western Provinces
The North-Western Provinces was an administrative region in British India. The North-Western Provinces were established in 1836, through merging the administrative divisions of the Ceded and Conquered Provinces. In 1858, the nawab-ruled kingdom ...
and in the following month was transferred to the Punjab, where he joined shortly after the outbreak of the
Indian Rebellion of 1857
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 ...
. Owing to this transfer he escaped a massacre of Europeans which took place at Hissár on 29 May. His first station in his new province was
Amritsar
Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...
, and immediately after his arrival there he was employed under the orders of the deputy commissioner in carrying out the measures which were taken to prevent the Jalandhar mutineers from crossing the
Beas River. Shortly afterwards he was appointed personal assistant to the judicial commissioner, in which capacity he compiled ''A Manual of the Criminal Law of the Panjáb'' (1860). While thus employed, he was much thrown with
Sir John Laird Mair Lawrence
John Laird Mair Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence, (4 March 1811 – 27 June 1879), known as Sir John Lawrence, Bt., between 1858 and 1869, was an English-born Ulsterman who became a prominent British Imperial statesman who served as Viceroy ...
(afterwards Baron Lawrence), with whose policy, especially on the Central Asian question, and on British relations with Afghanistan, he was strongly imbued during the remainder of his life. In 1892 he contributed a memoir of Lord Lawrence to Sir
William Wilson Hunter's
Rulers of India series.
In 1859 he joined the secretariat of the government of India as under-secretary in the political department, and served there until 1865, when, at the instance of Sir John Lawrence, then governor-general, in order that he might acquire administrative experience, he took up administrative work in the Punjab, serving first as a deputy-commissioner and subsequently officiating as commissioner of
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
. In 1868 he rejoined the secretariat as foreign secretary, and retained that appointment until 1878.
As secretary Aitchison was extremely industrious and thorough in his work. He exercised a marked influence on successive governors-general, who regarded him as a wise and trusted adviser. During the earlier part of his service in the Indian foreign office he commenced the compilation of a valuable work entitled ''A Collection of Treaties, Engagements, and Sanads relating to India and neighbouring Countries''; the first volume appeared at Calcutta in 1862, and eleven volumes were issued by 1892; each treaty is prefaced by a clear historical narrative. In 1875, he published a treatise on ''The Native States of India'', with the leading cases illustrating the principles which underlie their relations with the British government. A staunch believer in the policy of masterly inactivity, he regarded with grave apprehension the measures which, carried out under the government of
Lord Lytton
Earl of Lytton, in the County of Derby, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1880 for the diplomat and poet Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Baron Lytton. He was Viceroy of India from 1876 to 1880 and British Ambassad ...
, culminated in the
Afghan war of 1878–9.
British Burma
Before the war broke out in 1878 he accepted the appointment of chief commissioner of
British Burma
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
. When holding that office he raised two questions of considerable importance. The first was the question of the
opium trade as bearing upon Burma. The second had reference to the relations of certain English public servants with the women of the country. Neither of these questions was dealt with officially by Lytton's government; but with reference to the second the
viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...
intimated semi-officially that he disapproved of a circular which Aitchison had issued, as mixing up morals with politics. After Aitchison's departure from the province both these questions were taken up by his successor, who received the support of
Lord Ripon
George Frederick Samuel Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon, (24 October 1827 – 9 July 1909), styled Viscount Goderich from 1833 to 1859 and known as the Earl of Ripon in 1859 and as the Earl de Grey and Ripon from 1859 to 1871, was a British p ...
's government in dealing with them. The number of licensed opium shops was then reduced to one-third of those previously licensed, and the consumption of licit opium was reduced by two-fifths, involving a loss of revenue of four
lakh
A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ex ...
s (400,000) of rupees. On the other question, the principle of Aitchison's circular, stopping the promotion of officers who continued the practice which he had denounced, was enforced.
The Punjab
In 1881 Aitchison left Burma, to become on 4 April 1882, lieutenant-governor of the Punjab. His government there was very successful, and — according to the
Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
- popular with all classes of the people. Amongst his major achievements in the field of public education, at this time, were the establishment of the
Aitchison College
Aitchison College ( ur, ایچیسن کالج) is an independent, semi-private boys school for boarding and day students from grade 1–13 in Lahore, Pakistan. It has a tradition of providing an education that uses academics, sports, and co-curri ...
and the
University of the Punjab
The University of the Punjab (Urdu, pnb, ), also referred to as Punjab University, is a public, research, coeducational higher education institution located in Lahore, Pakistan. Punjab University is the oldest public university in Pakistan. ...
, both at
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
. He was a staunch advocate of the policy of advancing indigenous Indians in the public service as they proved their fitness for higher posts and for more responsible duties. On this point, in connection with what is known as the
Ilbert Bill, he advocated measures even more liberal than those proposed by Lord Ripon's government.
He had intended to leave India for good when his lieutenant-governorship came to an end in 1887, but being invited by
Lord Dufferin to join the council of the governor-general and give the viceroy the benefit of his experience on the many questions which had to be dealt with consequent upon the annexation of Upper Burma, he returned to India for another nineteen months. During the latter part of his government of the Punjab he had discharged the additional duty of presiding over the public service commission, and this duty he continued to perform after joining the governor-general's council. He gave unremitting attention to this work, and by his influence over the somewhat heterogeneous body of which the commission was composed he induced them to present a unanimous report.
He retired and finally left India in November 1888. Early in the following year he settled in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, but subsequently moved to
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. In 1881 he was nominated Knight Commander of the
Order of the Star of India
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 Companion of the
Order of the Indian Empire. He received the degree of
LL.D. from the university of Edinburgh on 24 February 1877, and that of honorary M.A. from
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
in 1895.
Personal life
Aitchison, a religious man, was a supporter of
Christian missions while in India, and after his retirement was an active member of the committee of the
Church Missionary Society
The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British mission society working with the Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as mission ...
. He died at Oxford on 18 February 1896.
Aitchison married, on 2 February 1863, Beatrice Lyell, one of four daughters of James Cox (1808–1875),
D.L., of Clement Park,
Forfarshire
Angus ( sco, Angus; gd, Aonghas) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross. Main industries include agri ...
, who was the senior partner of Cox Brothers and Co, owners of
Camperdown Works
Camperdown Works was a jute works in Dundee, Scotland, which covered around 30 acres and at one point employed over 14,000, mostly female, workers. It was for a time the world's largest jute works and was owned by Cox Brothers.
Origins
The Cox ...
in
Lochee,
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
.
Their daughter Beatrice Clementia married British Indian Army official
James Dunlop Smith
Lieutenant Colonel Sir James Robert Dunlop Smith (24 August 1858 – 24 April 1921) was a British official in the Indian Army.
Life of Dunlop Smith
He was born in Calcutta on 24 August 1858, son of George Smith (1833–1919), Principal of Do ...
.
Published works
These include:
*Charles Umpherston Aitchison, ed., ''A Collection of Treaties, Engagements, and Sanads Relating to India and Neighbouring Countries''; 7 vols. Calcutta (with Index compiled by Manuel Belletty). 1862-65
**Revised edition. 8 vols. 1876.
**3rd edition. 11 vols. 1892.
**4th edition. 13 vols. 1909.
**5th edition. 14 vols. 1929–33.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Books by Aitchisonfrom the Internet Archive
Memorial at Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxfordfrom findagrave.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aitchison, Charles Umpherston
1832 births
1896 deaths
Civil servants from Edinburgh
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Administrators in British Burma
British people in colonial India
Governors of Punjab (British India)
Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India
Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire
Members of the Council of the Governor General of India
Indian Civil Service (British India) officers
Burials at Wolvercote Cemetery