President of the Board of Control

President of the Board of Control
Royal Arms as used by His Majesty's Government
India Board
Member ofBritish Cabinet
Privy Council
SeatWestminster, London
AppointerThe British Monarch
(on advice of the Prime Minister)
Term lengthNo fixed term
Constituting instrumentEast India Company Act 1784
Formation4 September 1784
First holderThomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney
Final holderEdward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby
Abolished2 August 1858

The President of the Board of Control was a British government official in the late 18th and early 19th centuries responsible for overseeing the British East India Company and generally serving as the chief official in London responsible for Indian affairs. The position was frequently a cabinet level one. The position was abolished in 1858 with the abolition of the East India Company. It was succeeded by the new position of Secretary of State for India.

List of presidents of the Board of Control

President of the Board of Control[1][2]
  Whig       Tory       Conservative
Portrait Name
Honorifics and constituency
Term of office Party Ministry
Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney
before 1789
Viscount Sydney after 1789
4 September
1784
6 March
1790
Whig Pitt I
William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville 6 March
1790
22 June
1793
Tory
(Pittite)
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville
MP for Edinburgh
22 June
1793
25 April
1801
Tory
George Legge, 3rd Earl of Dartmouth 25 April
1801
2 July
1802
Tory Addington
Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh
MP for Down before 1805
MP for Boroughbridge after 1806
2 July
1802
11 February
1806
Tory
Pitt II
Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto
11 February
1806
15 July
1806
Whig All the Talents
(WhigTory)
Thomas Grenville
MP for Buckingham
15 July
1806
30 September
1806
Whig
George Tierney
MP for Athlone
30 September
1806
6 April
1807
Whig
Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville
MP for Midlothian
6 April
1807
11 July
1809
Tory Portland II
Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby 11 July
1809
November
1809
Tory
Perceval
Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville
MP for Midlothian before 1811
Viscount Melville after 1811
November
1809
4 April
1812
Tory
Robert Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire 4 April
1812
4 June
1816
Tory
Liverpool
George Canning
MP for Liverpool
4 June
1816
June
1821
Tory
Charles Bathurst
MP for Harwich
June
1821
4 February
1822
Charles Williams-Wynn (1775–1850)
MP for Montgomeryshire
4 February
1822
4 February
1828
Tory
Canning
(CanningiteWhig)
Goderich
(CanningiteWhig)
Wellington–Peel
Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville 4 February
1828
17 September
1828
Tory
Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough 17 September
1828
1 December
1830
Tory
Charles Grant, 1st Baron Glenelg
MP for Inverness-shire
1 December
1830
18 September
1834
Whig Grey
Melbourne I
Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough 18 September
1834
23 April
1835
Conservative Peel I
John Hobhouse, 1st Baron Broughton
MP for Nottingham
23 April
1835
30 August
1841
Whig Melbourne II
Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough 4 September
1841
23 October
1841
Conservative Peel II
William Vesey-FitzGerald, 2nd Baron FitzGerald and Vesey 23 October
1841
17 May
1843
Conservative
F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich 17 May
1843
30 June
1846
Conservative
John Hobhouse, 1st Baron Broughton
MP for Nottingham before 1847
MP for Harwich after 1848
8 July
1846
5 February
1852
Whig Russell
Fox Maule-Ramsay, 11th Earl of Dalhousie
MP for Perth
5 February
1852
21 February
1852
Whig
John Charles Herries
MP for Stamford
28 February
1852
17 December
1852
Conservative Who? Who?
Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax
MP for Halifax
30 December
1852
3 March
1855
Whig Aberdeen
(PeeliteWhig)
Robert Vernon
MP for Northampton
3 March
1855
21 February
1858
Whig Palmerston I
Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough 6 March
1858
5 June
1858
Conservative Derby–Disraeli II
Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby
MP for King's Lynn
5 June
1858
2 August
1858
Conservative

Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby took up the new post of Secretary of State for India on 2 August 1858, upon the establishment of the British Raj.

References

  1. ^ Venning, Timothy (2005). Compendium of British Office Holders. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan. pp. 316–319. ISBN 1-4039-2045-1.
  2. ^ "President of the Board of Control". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 7 August 2017.