Sir George Arthur, 1st Baronet (21 June 1784 – 19 September 1854) was Lieutenant Governor of

British Honduras British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,

from 1814 to 1822 and of

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sep ...

(present-day

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

) from 1823 to 1836. The campaign against

Aboriginal Tasmanians The Aboriginal Tasmanians ( Palawa kani: ''Palawa'' or ''Pakana'') are the Aboriginal people of the Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. For much of the 20th century, the Tasmanian Aboriginal people were widely, an ...

, known as the

Black War } The Black War was a period of violent conflict between British colonists and Aboriginal Tasmanians in Tasmania from the mid-1820s to 1832. The conflict, fought largely as a guerrilla war by both sides, claimed the lives of 600 to 900 Aborig ...

, occurred during this term of office. He later served as Lieutenant Governor of

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...

from 1838 to 1841, and Governor of Bombay from 1842 to 1846.

Early life

George Arthur was born in Plymouth, England. He was the youngest son of John Arthur, from a Cornish family, and his wife, Catherine, daughter of Thomas Cornish. He entered the army in 1804 as an

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

and was promoted lieutenant in June 1805. He served during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, including Sir James Craig's expedition to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in 1806. In 1807 he went 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 Medit ...

, and was severely wounded in the attack upon Rosetta. He recuperated and was promoted to captain under Sir James Kempt in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

in 1808, and participated in the

Walcheren expedition The Walcheren Campaign ( ) was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Sir John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chath ...

in 1809.

Family

Major George Arthur married Eliza Orde Ussher, daughter of Lieut.-Gen. Sir John Sigismund Smith, K.C.B., in May, 1814. Lady Arthur lived in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

1838–41 with three of the couple's sons and their five daughters. She died in London, England, 14 January 1855. Their daughter Catherine married Sir Henry Bartle Frere after he had been her father's personal secretary for two years in Bombay, and gave birth to the poet

Mary Frere Mary Eliza Isabella Frere (1845–1911) (nickname ''May'') was an English author of works regarding India. In 1868 Frere published the first English-language field-collected book of Indian storytales, ''Old Deccan Days''. Early life Frere was bo ...

. Their son John married Aileen Spring Rice, the granddaughter of Lord Monteagle of Brandon.

Honduras

In 1814 he was appointed lieutenant governor of

British Honduras British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,

, holding at the same time the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

on the staff, thus exercising the military command as well as the civil government. His dispatches about the suppression of a

slave revolt A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by enslaved people, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of enslaved people have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freed ...

in Honduras were seen by

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...

and other philanthropists, and contributed in no slight degree to the 1834

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

within the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

Van Diemen's Land

In 1823 he was appointed lieutenant governor of

(later known as Tasmania). He arrived on the ship with his wife and family on 12 May 1824 and took office on 14 May. At the time Van Diemen's Land was the main British

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...

and it was separated from New South Wales in 1825. It was during Arthur's time in office that Van Diemen's Land gained much of its notorious reputation as a harsh penal colony. He selected Port Arthur as the ideal location for a prison settlement, on a peninsula connected by a narrow, easily guarded

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...

, surrounded by shark-infested seas. Arthur's predecessors had executed no one in Tasmania as capital punishment was carried out in Sydney. George Arthur executed 260 people in his term of office (some bodies were left hanging for months). As lieutenant governor, George Arthur is responsible for the repression and persecution of the Aboriginal population in the conflict known as the

. Throughout the 1820s Arthur had instituted various measures to protect settlers from Aboriginal attacks, including the stationing of garrison troops in remote farmhouses and the dispatch of combined military and police teams into the wilderness to track Indigenous bands. These proved ineffective, and by 1830 the conflict between Aborigines and settlers had increased. In February 1830 Arthur sought public input on alternative measures to end the fighting; suggestions included a system of rewards for captured Aborigines, and the importation of packs of hunting dogs to "set nthe natives as they would a quail." Arthur himself expressed regret that a treaty was not signed with Aborigines when the colony was established. In its absence, and given the increasing attacks on both sides, on 27 August 1830 Arthur obtained Executive Council approval for a declaration of martial law. The centrepiece of Arthur's military efforts would be the

Black Line } The Black War was a period of violent conflict between British Empire, British colonists and Aboriginal Tasmanians in Tasmania from the mid-1820s to 1832. The conflict, fought largely as a guerrilla war by both sides, claimed the lives of 600 ...

fiasco, which was intended to drive the Aborigines from the colony's grazing land onto isolated peninsulas where they could be controlled. At the beginning of the Black War in 1826 Arthur issued an official statement setting out those situations that would justify settlers using violence: 'If it should be apparent that there is a determination on the part of one or more of the native tribes to attack, rob, or murder the white inhabitants generally, any person may arm, and joining themselves to the military, drive them by force to a safe distance, treating them as open enemies. He failed in his attempts to reform the colony and the system of penal transportation with Arthur's autocratic and authoritarian rule leading to his recall in January 1836. By this time he was one of the wealthiest men in the colony, having totaled £50,000 (in 1839 value) by selling nearly all his landed property. He departed Hobart for England on 30 October 1836, boarding the ''Elphinstone'' in tears, acclaimed by hundreds of cheering colonists.

Canada

In 1837 Arthur was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed as a

Knight Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order The Royal Guelphic Order (german: Königliche Guelphen-Orden), sometimes referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent (later King George IV). It takes its nam ...

(KCH), given the rank of

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

on the staff. In December 1837 he was appointed lieutenant governor of

and took office in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

from 23 March 1838. From the very start of his administration, he had to deal with the aftermath of the Upper Canada Rebellion and was instrumental in the execution of

Peter Matthews (rebel) Captain Peter Matthews (1789 - April 12, 1838) was a farmer and soldier who participated in the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837. He was born in the Bay of Quinte region of Upper Canada around 1789, the son of Captain Thomas Elmes Matthews and ...

and

Samuel Lount Samuel Lount (September 24, 1791 – April 12, 1838) was a blacksmith, farmer, magistrate and member of the Legislative Assembly in the province of Upper Canada for Simcoe County from 1834 to 1836. He was an organizer of the failed Upper Can ...

. In the same year, Upper Canada was invaded by a band of American sympathizers, one of a series of attempts to subvert British authority in Upper and

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

. He failed to address the issues of fixing colonial administration from the influence of

Family Compact The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today’s Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in ...

, and was replaced by

Lord Durham Earl of Durham is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1833 for the Whig politician and colonial official John Lambton, 1st Baron Durham. Known as "Radical Jack", he played a leading role in the passing of the Gr ...

while the

13th Parliament of Upper Canada The 13th Parliament of Upper Canada was opened 8 November 1836. Elections in Upper Canada had been held 20 June 1836. All sessions were held at Toronto. The House of Assembly had five sessions 8 November 1836 to 10 February 1840. Archives of O ...

sat betimes. The two colonies were united in 1841. The Lord Sydenham, the first governor-general, asked Sir George Arthur to administer Upper Canada as deputy governor. Arthur agreed, on condition that the service was unpaid. Later in 1841 he returned to England and was created a hereditary

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

in recognition of his services in Canada.

India

On 8 June 1842, he was appointed governor of the Indian presidency of

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

, which he retained until 1846. He displayed great tact in the office, as well as ability, and this helped in extending and strengthening British rule in India. He was appointed provisional governor-general, but did not assume office, as he was compelled by ill health to leave India before Lord Hardinge vacated the governor-generalship. Sir George Arthur, during his administration of the affairs of the presidency, perfected the Deccan survey, the object of which was to equalise and decrease the pressure of the land assessment on the cultivators of the

Deccan The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...

; and gave his hearty support to the project of a railway line from Bombay to Cailian, which may be regarded as the germ of the

Great Indian Peninsular Railway The Great Indian Peninsula Railway ( reporting mark GIPR) was a predecessor of the Central Railway (and by extension, the current state-owned Indian Railways), whose headquarters was at the Boree Bunder in Mumbai (later, the Victoria Term ...

, while during his administration the reclamation of the foreshore of the island of Bombay was projected. During his tenure, he inaugurated the famous '

Grant Medical College The Grant Government Medical College, Mumbai, is a public medical college, affiliated to the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences. Founded in 1845, it is one of the oldest institutions teaching medicine in South Asia. Its clinical affil ...

' in Bombay (1845 AD) one of the first three Medical Colleges in India teaching the western medical sciences. The other two being, the Medical College, Bengal (1835 AD) and

Madras Medical College Madras Medical College (MMC) is a public medical college located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established on 2 February 1835, it is the second oldest medical college in India, established after Calcutta Medical College. History The Governm ...

(Formerly Madras Medical School in 1835 and later, Madras Medical College in 1850 AD). The hospital for the Grant Medical College, the Jamshedji Jijiboy Hospital was constructed by the Parsee Trust beforehand.

Final years

On his return to England in 1846, he was made a privy councillor, and in 1853 he received the colonelcy of the

50th (Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot The 50th (Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1755. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 97th (The Earl of Ulster's) Regiment of Foot to form the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regime ...

. He was promoted to lieutenant-general in 1854 and died that September.

Legacy

Famous

Arthur Road Jail The Mumbai Central Prison, also referred to as Arthur Road Jail, was built in 1926, and is Mumbai's largest and oldest prison. It houses most of the city's prisoners. It was declared a Central Jail in 1972. Although its name was changed to Mumba ...

in Mumbai is named after Arthur Road which was named after Sir George Arthur, Governor of Bombay

References

External links

Bio at Australian Dictionary of Biography

*
The Procalamation Cup
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arthur, George 1784 births 1854 deaths Military personnel from Plymouth, Devon British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Governors of Tasmania Lieutenant-Governors of Upper Canada British Army lieutenant generals Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom People from Plymouth, Devon Governors of Bombay Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Australian penal colony administrators Van Diemen's Land people Governors of British Honduras 19th-century Australian public servants