List of governors of Bengal Presidency

From 1760, a governor represented the British East India Company which had been granted the right to establish a trading post by the Nawabs of Bengal. Robert Clive (1765-1767) was the first governor of Bengal, and established dual government in Bengal from 1765 to 1772.

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Below is a list of the governors of Bengal during the British Raj:

Presidents, 1680–1758


Name Took office Left office
William Hedges 1680 1683
John Beard 1683 1684
William Gyfford 1684 1685
Job Charnock 1685 1693
Francis Ellis 1693 1693
Charles Eyre 1693 1698
John Beard 1698 1699
Charles Eyre 1699 1700
Edward Littleton 1705 1705
'Ruled by a council' 1705 1710
Anthony Weltden 1710 1711
John Russell 1711 1713
Robert Hedges 1713 1718
Samuel Flake 1718 1723
John Deane 1723 1726
Henry Frankland 1726 1728
Edward Stephenson 1728 1728
John Deane 1728 1732
John Stackhouse 1732 1739
Thomas Broddyll 1739 1746
John Forster 1746 1748
William Barwell 1748 1749
Adam Dawson 1749 1752
William Fytche 1752 1752
Roger Drake 1752 1756

Under the leadership of Robert Clive, British troops and their local allies defeated the nawab on 23 June 1757 at the Battle of Plassey. The nawab was assassinated in Murshidabad, and the British installed their own replacement. Clive became governor.

List of Governors-General Governors (1758–1947)

Under the Charter Act 1853 the Governor General of India was relieved of his concurrent duties as Governor of Bengal and empowered to appoint a lieutenant-governor from 1854.

# Name

(birth–death)

 Picture Took office Left office Appointer
1 Robert Clive 1758 1760
2 Henry Vansittart 1760 1765
3 Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive 1765 1767
4 Harry Verelst 1767 1769
5 John Cartier 1769 1773
Governors of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), 1773–1833
1 Warren Hastings (1732–1818) 20 October 1773 8 February 1785 East India Company
2 Sir John Macpherson (acting)

(1745–1821)

 8 February 1785 12 September 1786
3 Earl Cornwallis[1] (1738–1805) 12 September 1786 28 October 1793
4 Sir John Shore (1751–1834) 28 October 1793 18 March 1798
5 Sir Alured Clarke (acting)

(1744–1832)

 18 March 1798 18 May 1798
6 Marquess Wellesley [2]

(1760–1842)

 18 May 1798 30 July 1805
7 Marquess Cornwallis

(1738–1805)

 30 July 1805 5 October 1805
8 Sir George Barlow, Bt (acting)

(1762–1847)

 10 October 1805 31 July 1807
9 The Lord Minto (1751–1814) 31 July 1807 4 October 1813
10 Marquess of Hastings (1754–1826)

[3]

 4 October 1813 9 January 1823
11 John Adam (acting)(1779–1825) 9 January 1823 1 August 1823
12 The Lord Amherst[4] (1773–1857) 1 August 1823 13 March 1828
13 William Butterworth Bayley

(acting) (1782–1860)

 13 March 1828 4 July 1828
14 Lord William Bentinck (1774–1839) 4 July 1828 1833
Governors-General of India, 1833–1858
14 Lord William Bentinck (1774–1839) 1833 20 March 1835 East India Company
15 Sir Charles Metcalfe, Bt (acting)

(1785–1846)

 20 March 1835 4 March 1836
16 The Lord Auckland (1784–1849) 4 March 1836 28 February 1842
17 The Lord Ellenborough (1790–1871) 28 February 1842 June 1844
18 William Wilberforce Bird (acting)

(1784–1857)

 June 1844 23 July 1844
19 Sir Henry Hardinge (1785–1856) 23 July 1844 12 January 1848
20 The Marquess of Dalhousie (1812–1860) 12 January 1848 28 February 1856
21 The Viscount Canning (1812–1862) 28 February 1856 1 November 1858
Governors-General and Viceroys of India, 1858–1947
21 The Earl Canning (1812–1862) 1 November 1858 21 March 1862 Victoria

Lieutenant-Governors, 1854–1947, Governors of Bengal Province, 1912–1947
Name Took office Left office
Frederick James Halliday 1854 1859
John Peter Grant 1859 1862
Cecil Beadon 1862 1866
William Grey 1867 1870
George Campbell 1870 1874
Richard Temple 1874 1877
Ashley Eden 1877 1882
Augustus Thompson 1882 1887
Steuart Colvin Bayley 1887 1890
Charles Alfred Elliott 1890 1893
Anthony MacDonnell 1893 1895
Alexander Mackenzie 1895 1897
Charles Stevens 1897 1898
John Woodburn 1898 1902
James Bourdillon 1902 1903
Andrews Henderson Leith Frazer 1903 1906
Lancelot Hare 1906 1906
Francis Slacke 1906 1908
Edward Norman Baker 1908 1911
William Duke 1911 1912
Thomas Gibson-Carmichael, 1st Baron Carmichael 1912 1917
Lawrence Dundas, Earl of Ronaldshay 1917 1922
Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton 1922 1927
Sir Stanley Jackson 1927 1932
Sir John Anderson 1932 1937
Michael Knatchbull, 5th Baron Brabourne 1937 1938
Sir John Arthur Herbert 1938 1943
Richard Casey 1944 1946
Sir Frederick Burrows 1946 1947

Post-independence (1947 onwards)

In 1947, the British Raj came to an end, and the new countries of India and Pakistan were created. Bengal was partitioned into two in anticipation of this in 1947, and following independence West Bengal joined India, and East Bengal (renamed as East Pakistan in 1955) joined Pakistan. East Pakistan become independent in 1971 as Bangladesh.

For a continuation of governors of West Bengal, see list of Governors of West Bengal, and for East Bengal, see East Bengal, East Pakistan, and list of Presidents of Bangladesh.

See also

References
  1. Created Marquess Cornwallis in 1792.
  2. Created Marquess Wellesley in 1799.
  3. Created Marquess of Hastings in 1816
  4. Created Earl Amherst in 1826.
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