Sir John Woodburn (13 July 1843 – 21 November 1902) was an

Indian Civil Servant Indian civil servants includes five principal sub-categories of officials: *Administrators of the native states of India *Administrators of British India who came as servants of the East India Company before the formation of the ICS in 1853 *Membe ...

, who later served as

Lieutenant Governor of Bengal The Governor was the chief colonial administrator in the Bengal presidency, originally the "Presidency of Fort William" and later "Bengal province". In 1644, Gabriel Boughton procured privileges for the East India Company which permitted them t ...

from 1898 to 1902.

Early life and education

Woodburn was born at

Barrackpore Barrackpore (also known as Barrackpur) is a city and a municipality of urban Kolkata of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA ...

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 ...

to David Woodburn. After early education at Arya Academy in Bengal, he went to Scotland to study at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

and

Edinburgh University 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 1582 ...

Career

Woodburn joined the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...

in 1863 and arrived in India. He served most of his early career on various positions in 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

Oudh The Oudh State (, also Kingdom of Awadh, Kingdom of Oudh, or Awadh State) was a princely state in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the British in 1856. The name Oudh, now obsolete, was once the anglicized name of ...

. After early years in Oudh, he was from 1882 secretary to the government of the North Western Provinces, and from 1888 to 1893 he was Chief Secretary of the province. During these years, he was from 1890 an additional member of the

Viceroy's Executive Council The Viceroy's Executive Council was the cabinet of the government of British India headed by the Viceroy of India. It is also known as the Council of the Governor-General of India. It was transformed from an advisory council into a cabinet consistin ...

. In 1893 he was appointed

Chief Commissioner A chief commissioner is a commissioner of a high rank, usually in chief of several commissioners or similarly styled officers. Colonial In British India the gubernatorial style was chief commissioner in various (not all) provinces (often after be ...

of the

Central Provinces The Central Provinces was a province of British India. It comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered parts of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Its capital was Nagpur. ...

, serving two years until 1895. He was in 1895 asked by the new Viceroy,

Lord Elgin Earl of Elgin is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1633 for Thomas Bruce, 3rd Lord Kinloss. He was later created Baron Bruce, of Whorlton in the County of York, in the Peerage of England on 30 July 1641. The Earl of Elgin is the h ...

to become a permanent member of the Viceroy's Executive Council, with responsibility for the Home department. During his time in this office he had to deal with the severe famine of 1896–98. The famine especially affected the Central provinces ha had just left, and he worked closely with the new governor Sir Sir Charles Lyall to contain the suffering. He was appointed a Companion 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 ...

(CSI) in 1892, and was knighted as a Knight Commander (KCSI) in the order in 1897.

Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal

In April 1898, he was selected the successor of Sir Charles Stevens to the post of the

, which position he retained till his death on 21 November 1902.Sir John Woodburn, K.C.S.I., Lieut.-Governor of Bengal from 1898 to 1902: a Biographical Retrospect by Sir John Woodburn (K.C.S.I.), Jessy J. Matheson. 1926 During his years in Calcutta he worked to contain the plague taking hold in the city and presidency, and took an interest in local institutions in the city, which he preferred to his summer capital of

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, ...

. Woodburn worked hard for the development of jail and health administration of Bengal. He travelled extensively in the city and throughout the province. In their obituary, ''

The London Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' described his years in

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

the following way: He served as president of

The Asiatic Society The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the p ...

for the years 1900–01. Woodburn died after a short illness at Calcutta on 21 November 1902, and was buried at Circular Road Cemetery of Calcutta. He was succeeded by

Sir Andrew Fraser Sir Andrew Henderson Leith Fraser (14 November 1848 – 26 February 1919) was a British officer of the Indian Civil Service and the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal between 1903 and 1908. Early life and education Born in Bombay on 14 Novembe ...

as next Governor of Bengal.

Family

Woodburn married in 1869 Isabella Cassels Walker, daughter of Mr. John Walker, of Drumgrange,

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

, and they had several daughters.

Works

Woodburn's published works include his memoirs ''Sir John Woodburn, K.C.S.I., Lieut.-Governor of Bengal from 1898 to 1902: a Biographical Retrospect by Sir John Woodburn (K.C.S.I.), Jessy J. Matheson.'' published in 1926.

Memorials

*A bronze statue of him was unveiled in 1905, which earlier stood at Dalhouse Square of

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 ...

- has now been shifted to

Victoria Memorial The Victoria Memorial is a large marble building on the Maidan in Central Kolkata, built between 1906 and 1921. It is dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria, Empress of India from 1876 to 1901. The largest monument to a monarch anywhere ...

. *A street in Kolkata was named after him, as Woodburn Street in Kolkata. *A park is named as Woodburn Park after him and road was earlier known as Woodburn Park Road also at Kolkata. *Woodburn Ward of

SSKM Hospital IPGMER and SSKM Hospital, or in its full name Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research and Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital, colloquially known as P.G. Hospital (Presidency General Hospital), also known as PGI Kolkata, is ...

, Kolkata is also named after him, where at present special patients like VVIP, VIP are treated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodburn, John 1843 births 1902 deaths Lieutenant-governors of Bengal Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Members of the Council of the Governor General of India Alumni of the University of Glasgow Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People from North 24 Parganas district Politicians from Kolkata Presidents of The Asiatic Society