Charles Grant, 1st Baron Glenelg PC FRS (26 October 1778 – 23 April 1866) was a Scottish politician and colonial administrator who served as

Secretary of State for War and the Colonies The Secretary of State for War and the Colonies was a British cabinet-level position responsible for the army and the British colonies (other than India). The Secretary was supported by an Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. Hist ...

Background and education

Grant was born in Kidderpore,

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, the eldest son of

Charles Grant Charles or Charlie Grant may refer to: Arts and entertainment * C.J. Grant (Charles Jameson Grant, ), American editorial cartoonist * Charles L. Grant (1942–2006), American novelist * Charles Grant (actor) (born 1957), American actor * Charles G ...

, chairman of the directors of the British East India Company. His brother, Sir Robert Grant, was also an MP as well as Governor of Bombay. He was educated at

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

, and became a fellow in 1802. He was called to the bar in 1807.

Political career

In 1811 Grant was elected to the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

as Member of Parliament for Inverness Burghs. He held that seat until 1818, when he was returned for Inverness-shire. He was a Lord of the Treasury from December 1813 until August 1819, when he became

Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British Dublin Castle administration, administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretar ...

and a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

. In 1823 he was appointed

Vice-President of the Board of Trade The office of Vice-president of the Board of Trade was a junior ministerial position in the government of the United Kingdom at the Board of Trade, within the Department for Business and Trade. The office of Vice-president was created in 1786 b ...

; from September 1827 to June 1828 he was

President of the Board of Trade The president of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. A committee of the His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, it was first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th centur ...

and Treasurer of the Navy. Grant broke with the Tories over Reform and joined the Whigs (via the Canningite Tory splinter group). He was

President of the Board of Control President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

under Lord Grey and Lord Melbourne from November 1830 to November 1834. At the Board of Control Grant was primarily responsible for the

Government of India Act 1833 The Government of India Act 1833 ( 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 85), sometimes called the East India Company Act 1833 or the Charter Act 1833, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, later retitled as the Saint Helena Act 1833. It extended th ...

that altered the constitution of the Government of India. In April 1835 he became

, and was created Baron Glenelg, of Glenelg in the County of Inverness. His term of office was a stormy one. His differences with Sir Benjamin d'Urban, Governor of

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

, were serious; but more so were those with King William IV and others over the administration of Canada. Lord Glenelg was still Secretary when the Canadian rebellion broke out in 1837; his policy was fiercely attacked in Parliament; he became involved in disputes with Lord Durham, and the movement for his supersession found supporters even among his colleagues in the cabinet. In February 1839 Lord Glenelg resigned. He has been called the last of the Canningites.

Personal life

Lord Glenelg died in Cannes, France in April 1866, aged 87. The barony became extinct on his death.

Legacy

A ship, the ''Lord Glenelg'' was named after him which voyaged from Britain to Australia in 1841.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Glenelg, Charles Grant, 1st Baron 1778 births 1866 deaths Nobility from Highland (council area) 18th-century Scottish people 19th-century Scottish nobility 19th-century Scottish politicians Politicians from Kolkata Presidents of the Board of Control Secretaries of State for War and the Colonies Whig (British political party) MPs for Scottish constituencies Scottish Tory MPs (pre-1912) Fellows of Magdalene College, Cambridge Grant, Charles Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Grant, Charles Grant, Charles Grant, Charles Grant, Charles Grant, Charles Grant, Charles Grant, Charles Grant, Charles UK MPs who were granted peerages Chief secretaries for Ireland Presidents of the Board of Trade Peers of the United Kingdom created by William IV British people in colonial India