Sir Frederick William Duke (8 December 1863 – 11 June 1924) was a Scottish civil servant of the Indian Civil Service and formulated the ''Duke Memorandum'' during the period of constitutional reform in India.

Early life

William Duke was born in

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. The ...

, Scotland. He was the eldest son of Rev. William Duke, who for 50 years was the parish minister of St Vigeans, Forfarshire, and Annie Leonard.''Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950'' He studied at Arbroath High School and then to

Wren and Gurney Wren and Gurney was a Cramming (education), crammer which specialised in preparing candidates for the public examinations of the army, Civil Service (United Kingdom), the United Kingdom civil service and Indian civil service. The college was foun ...

to be coached for the competitive entrance exams for the

Indian Civil Service (British India) 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 p ...

which he passed. A position in the Indian Civil Service at that time was highly regarded. He then spent two years at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

Career

In 1884, he was posted to Bengal and spent twenty four years serving in the districts in various positions. From 1897 to 1902 he served as magistrate and chairman of the municipality at Howrah near Calcutta. He was promoted to commissioner of

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sch ...

in 1905, eventually being appointed the chief secretary of Bengal in 1909. In 1910 Duke became a member of the newly created executive council for Bengal. Duke was the last lieutenant-governor of Bengal as the province was then being re-organised due to the reversal of the 1905 Bengal partition, with the capital of India being relocated from

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 ...

to New Delhi. Bengal also became a full-fledged Governorship at this time and Sir Thomas David Gibson Carmichael, was transferred from

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

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 to ...

. Duke remained with him as his senior member of Council until November 1914, at which time he retired and was appointed as a member of 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 ...

. Duke joined a study group of India Office members and the Round Table Group founded by

Lionel George Curtis Lionel George Curtis CH (1872–1955) was a British official and author. He advocated British Empire Federalism and, late in life, a world state. His ideas concerning dyarchy were important in the development of the Government of India Ac ...

which had a lot of influence on Indian constitutional reforms, In this capacity he formulated the "Duke Memorandum" in which he devised a practical scheme of reforms relating to how the Indians could implement responsible government by means of

dyarchy Diarchy (from Greek , ''di-'', "double", and , ''-arkhía'', "ruled"),Occasionally misspelled ''dyarchy'', as in the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' article on the colonial British institution duarchy, or duumvirate (from Latin ', "the office of ...

Duke's long experience in India had lent authority to the Round table reform schemes and his memorandum formed the basis of the

Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms The Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms or more briefly known as the Mont–Ford Reforms, were introduced by the colonial government to introduce self-governing institutions gradually in British India. The reforms take their name from Edwin Montagu, th ...

and the subsequent Government of India Act of 1919. After the 1919 Act was given royal assent the

Chamber of Princes The Chamber of Princes (''Narendra Mandal'') was an institution established in 1920 by a royal proclamation of King-Emperor George V to provide a forum in which the rulers of the princely states of India could voice their needs and aspirations ...

was established in 1920 to provide a forum for the rulers of the princely states to have a say in the government 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 ...

. Duke was the chairman of the committee that was ultimately responsible for bringing the chamber into existence. When Sir Thomas Holderness retired in 1920, Montagu made Duke the

Permanent Under-Secretary of State A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil ...

, a position he held until his death in 1924.

Personal life

Duke married in 1889 Mary Eliza Addison-Scott, daughter of James Addison-Scott. They had two sons: Leonard Gordon Duke (1890–1971), a civil servant known as a collector of drawings; and William Falcon Duke; and a daughter, Marjorie Clemence, who married Sir Iltyd Nicholl Clayton. The sons were

Honours

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) –

1910 Birthday Honours The 1910 Birthday Honours for the British Empire were announced on 24 June, to mark the occasion of the day set apart to celebrate the birthday of the late King Edward VII, who had died on 6 May. In the circumstances, the list was notably shorter ...

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 ...

(KCSI) –

1915 Birthday Honours The 1915 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...

Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) No appo ...

(GCIE) –

1918 Birthday Honours The 1918 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, 3 June a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duke, William 1863 births 1924 deaths British governors of Bengal Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Lieutenant-governors of Bengal Indian Civil Service (British India) officers People from Arbroath Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India