Home > Charles Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe

He was the second son of Thomas Theophilus Metcalfe, then a major in the Bengal army, who afterwards became a director of the East India Company, and was created a baronet in 1802. Having been educated at Eton, he in 1800 sailed for India as a writer in the service of the Company. After studying Oriental languages as the first student at Lord Wellesley's College of Fort William, he, at the age of nineteen, was appointed political assistant to General Lake, who was then conducting the final campaign of the Mabratta war against Holkar .

In 1808 he was selected by Lord Minto for the responsible post of envoy to the court of Ranjit Singh at LahoreLahore is a major city in Pakistan that is the capital of the province of Punjab. It is located near the river Ravi and the Indian border. Lahore has 6. 5 million inhabitants and thus is the second largest city in Pakistan ( Karachi being the largest).; here, on April 25April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (116th in leap years). There are 250 days remaining. Events 1607 Dutch fleet destroys anchored Spanish fleet 1707 An Allied Austrian army is defeated by Bourbon army at Almansa ( Spain) in th, 1809Events January 16 Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of Corunna. February 3 Illinois Territory was created. February 11 Robert Fulton patents the steamboat. February 20 A decision by the Supreme Court of the United States states t, he concluded the important treaty securing the independence of the SikhA Sikh is a follower of Sikhism, a religious faith originating in the Punjab. The word Sikh is derived from the Sanskrit word shishya which means disciple or student (although this is disputed by some). In the Punjabi language the word Sikh also means to states between the Sutlej and the Jumna. Four years afterwards he was made resident at DelhiDelhi historically known as Dilli along with a few other neighbouring districts forms the 'National Capital Territory' of the Republic of India. It contains the newer city of New Delhi which is no longer a distinguishable urban area, but contains many of, and ~fl 1819 he received from Lord HastingsWarren Hastings ( December 6 1732 August 22 1818) was the first governor-general of British India, from 1773 to 1786. He was famously impeached in the 1780s for corruption. Warren Hastings was born December 6 1732 at Churchill, Oxfordshire. He joined the the appointment of secretary in the secret and political department. From 1820 to 1825 Sir Charles (who succeeded his brother in the baronetcy in 1822) was resident at the court of the nizam, and afterwards was summoned in an emergency to his former post at Delhi.

In 1827 he obtained a seat in the supreme council, and in March 1835, after he had acted as the first governor of the proposed new presidency of Agra, he provisionally succeeded Lord William Bentinck in the governor-generalship. During his brief tenure of office (it lasted only for one year) he carried out several important measures, including that for the liberation of the press, which, while almost universally popular, complicated his relations with the directors at home to such an extent that he resigned the service of the Company in 1838.

In the following year he was appointed by the Melbourne administration to the governorship of Jamaica, where the difficulties created by the recent passing of the Negro Emancipation Act had called for a high degree of tact and ability. Sir Charles Metcalfe's success in this delicate position; was yery marked, but unfortunately his health compelled his resignation and return to England in 1842.

Six months afterwards he was appointed by the Peel ministry to the post of Governor General of the Province of Canada and Lieutenant Governor of Canada West and Canada East from 1843- 1845. His success in carrying out the policy of the home goyernment was rewarded with a peerage shortly after his return in 1845. He died at Malshanger, near Basingstoke, on the 5th of September 1846.

See JW Kaye's Life and Correspondence of Charles Lord Metcalfe (London, 1854).

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