Charles James O'Cahan O'Donnell (1849 – 3 December 1934) was an Irish colonial administrator in the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, and later a member of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

. O'Donnell was born in Donegal in 1849. His elder brother was Frank Hugh O'Donnell (1846–1916), later writer, journalist and

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

politician. He was educated at Queens College Galway, and passed 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 Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

Examinations in 1870. He served in

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

and dealt with the famine of 1874. His duties also included tenant rights and judicial control of rents. He was appointed assistant to the Director General of Statistics William Wilson Hunter in 1875 but returned to district work as a joint

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

in 1884. He was the Superintendent of Bengal for the census of 1891, and rose to Commissioner in 1898 before his retirement in 1900. O'Donnell had a palpable dislike of

Lord Curzon George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925), known as Lord Curzon (), was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician, explorer and writer who served as Viceroy of India ...

Viceroy of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...

, addressing "The Failure of Lord Curzon" to Lord Rosebery. He engaged in politics after his return to the United Kingdom, and was elected as the Liberal opposition candidate for Walworth constituency in London in January 1903. He had to wait another three years for a general election to be called, but was elected as a Liberal member for

Walworth Walworth ( ) is a district of South London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the ...

in the 1906 general election. In Parliament, O'Donnell levelled heavy criticism at the

Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India secretary or the Indian secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of ...

, for actions such as the partition of Bengal in 1905. He decided not to contest the

January 1910 general election The January 1910 UK general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. Called amid a constitutional crisis after the Conservative-dominated House of Lords rejected the People's Budget, the Liberal government, seeking a mandate, los ...

. O'Donnell married Constance Langworth in 1882. He died at Hans Crescent, London, in December 1934. His legacy includes the commission of the annual "O'Donnell lectures" on British or Celtic elements in the English language or the existing population of England, which are held at the universities of Edinburgh, Oxford, Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff, Swansea and Lampeter (Trinity St David). The inaugural lecturer was J.R.R. Tolkien in 1954.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, Charles James 1849 births 1934 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Irish expatriates in England Politicians from County Donegal UK MPs 1906–1910 Alumni of the University of Galway Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Irish colonial officials