Sir Charles Justin MacCarthy (1811–1864)
was the 12th
Governor of British Ceylon and the 12th
. He was appointed on 22 October 1860 and was Governor until 1 December 1863. He also served as acting governor on two separate occasions. He was first appointed in 1850.
Life
His parents were Donough and Mary MacCarthy, and he was born in
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
.
He was a relation of
Nicholas Wiseman, and in the early 1830s was in Rome, with a view to entering the
Roman Catholic priesthood. Under the influence of the ideas of
Lamennais, however, he ceased theological studies. In Rome through Wiseman he met
Monckton Milnes, who became a lifelong friend. Milnes then helped him into a colonial career.
MacCarthy was knighted in 1857.
In office he adopted a policy of financial retrenchment. His main aim was to promote railway construction.
He left Ceylon in December 1863, in poor health. He died at
Spa, Belgium on 15 August 1864.
Family
MacCarthy married in 1848 Sophia Brunel Hawes, botanist and eldest daughter of
Sir Benjamin Hawes.
They had a son, Charles Philip.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:MacCarthy, Charles Justin
1811 births
1864 deaths
Auditors General of Sri Lanka
Governors of British Ceylon
British expatriates in Sri Lanka
19th-century British people
Chief Secretaries of Ceylon
British colonial governors and administrators in Asia