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EARL CHARLES JOHN CANNING (1812-1862)

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 186 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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EARL See also:CHARLES See also:JOHN See also:CANNING (1812-1862)  , See also:English states-See also:man, See also:governor-See also:general of See also:India during the See also:Mutiny of 1857, was the youngest See also:child of See also:George See also:Canning, and was See also:born at See also:Brompton, near See also:London, on the 14th of See also:December 1812 . He was educated at See also:Christ See also:Church, See also:Oxford, where he graduated B.A. in 1833, as first class in See also:classics and second class in See also:mathematics . In 1836 he entered See also:parliament, being returned as member for the See also:town of See also:Warwick in the Conservative See also:interest . He did not, however, sit See also:long in the See also:House of See also:Commons; for, on the See also:death of his See also:mother in 1837, he succeeded to the See also:peerage which had been conferred on her with See also:remainder to her only surviving soh, and as See also:Viscount Canning took his seat in the House of Lords . His first See also:official See also:appointment was that of under-secretary of See also:state for See also:foreign affairs, in the See also:administration formed by See also:Sir See also:Robert See also:Peel in 1841—his See also:chief being the See also:earl of See also:Aberdeen . This See also:post he held till See also:January 1846; and from January to See also:July of that See also:year, when the Peel administration was broken up, See also:Lord Canning filled the post of See also:commissioner of See also:woods and forests . He declined to accept See also:office under the earl of See also:Derby; but on the formation of the See also:coalition See also:ministry under the earl of Aberdeen in January .1853, he received the appointment of postmaster-general . In this office he showed not only a large capacity for hard See also:work, but also general administrative ability and much zeal for the improvement of the service . He retained his post under Lord See also:Palmerston's ministry until July 1855, when, in consequence of the death of Lord See also:Dalhousie and a vacancy in the governor-generalship of India, he was selected by Lord Palmerston to succeed to that See also:great position . This appointment appears to have been made rather on the ground of his See also:father's great services than from any See also:proof as yet given of See also:special See also:personal fitness on the See also:part of Lord Canning . The new governor sailed from See also:England in December 1855, and entered upon the duties of his office in India at the See also:close of See also:February 1856 . His strong See also:common sense and See also:sound See also:practical See also:judgment led him to adopt a policy of conciliation towards the native princes, and to promote See also:measures tending to the See also:betterment of the See also:condition of the See also:people .

In the year following his See also:

accession to office the deep-seated discontent of the people See also:broke out in the See also:Indian Mutiny (q.v.) . Fears were entertained, and even the See also:friends of the See also:viceroy to some extent shared them, that he was not equal to the crisis . But the fears proved groundless . He had a clear See also:eye for the gravity of the situation, a See also:calm judgment, and a prompt, See also:swift See also:hand to do what was really necessary . By the See also:union of great moral qualities with high, though not the highest, intellectual faculties, he carried the Indian See also:empire safely through the stress of the See also:storm, and, what was perhaps a harder task still, he dealt wisely with the enormous difficulties arising at the close of such a See also:war, established a more liberal policy and a sounder See also:financial See also:system, and See also:left the people more contented than they were before . The name of " Clemency Canning," which was applied to him during the heated animosities of the moment, has since become a See also:title of See also:honour . While See also:rebellion was raging in Oudh he issued a See also:proclamation declaring the lands of the See also:province forfeited; and this step gave rise to much angry controversy . A " See also:secret despatch," couched in arrogant and offensive terms, was addressed to the viceroy by Lord See also:Ellenborough, then a member of the Derby administration, which would have justified the viceroy in immediately resigning . But from a strong sense of See also:duty he continued at his post; and ere long the general condemnation of the despatch was so strong that the writer See also:felt it necessary to retire from office . Lord Canning replied to the despatch, calmly and in a statesman-like manner explaining and vindicating his censured policy . In See also:April 1859 he received the thanks of both Houses of Parliament for his great services during the mutiny . He was also made an extra See also:civil See also:grand See also:cross of the See also:order of the See also:Bath, and in May of the same year he was raised to the dignity of an earl .

By the See also:

strain of anxiety and hard work his See also:health and strength were seriously impaired, while the death of his wife was also a great See also:shock to him; in the See also:hope that See also:rest in his native See also:land might restore him, he left India, reaching England in April 1862 . But it was too See also:late . He died in London on the 17th of See also:June following . About a See also:month before his death he was created K.G . As he died without issue the title became See also:extinct . See Sir H . S . See also:Cunningham, Earl Canning (" Rulers of India" See also:series), 1891; and A . J . C . See also:Hare, The See also:Story of Two See also:Noble Lives (1893) .

End of Article: EARL CHARLES JOHN CANNING (1812-1862)
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