Governor-General

The Governor-General of India was the head of the administration in British India. Between 1858 and 1947 the position was titled Viceroy and Governor-General of India.

Warren Hastings - First Governor-General of India from 1773 to 1785

History of the position

• 1773 The office of Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William was created. The holder administered Fort William and supervised the East India Company officials in India.

• 1833 The newly designated Governor-General of India was granted authority over all of British India.

• 1858 After the Indian Mutiny the Crown took control of India and the Governor-General was the head of the government in India. To reflect his further role as the monarch's representative to the Princely states, the office was retitled Viceroy and Governor-General of India.

• 1947 The Governor-General was kept after Independence until India and Pakistan became republics in the 1950s, although the term Viceroy was abandoned.

FIBIS Resources

• General Order of the Governor General in Council, June 15th 1812

Holders

See Category:Governors-General of India as well as a full list on Wikipedia (link below).

External links

	The FIBIS Google Books Library has books tagged: Governors General Government

• Governor-General of India Wikipedia

• List of Governors-General of India

Note it appears that the Earl Of Elgin arrived in January 1894, not the date 11 October 1894 stated in the Wikipedia article.

Historical books online

Viceroys House New Delhi

• See Warren Hastings, who was the first Governor-General of India 20 October 1773 (originally joined on 28 April 1772) to 8 February 1785.
• Cornwallis, the Imperial Years by Franklin and Mary Wickwire 1980. Archive.org Lending Library. The 2nd book on his life by the authors. Cornwallis was Governor General 12 September 1786 to 28 October 1793 and reappointed 30 July 1805 until he died 5 October 1805.
• Lord Amherst and the British advance eastwards to Burma by Anne Thackeray Ritchie and Richardson Evans 1894. Part of the Rulers of India series. Archive.org. (Governor General 1 August 1823 13 March 1828).
• The life and correspondence of Charles, Lord Metcalfe: late governor-general of India, governor of Jamaica, and governor-general of Canada, from unpublished letters and journals preserved by himself, his family, and his friends by John William Kaye 1854. Volume I, Volume II Archive.org. (20 March 1835 to 4 March 1836).

The life of Charles, Lord Metcalfe by Edward John Thompson 1937 Archive.org Lending Library. Also available Central Secretariat Library (CSL) [Delhi] Digital Repository version, and Archive.org mirror version.

Glorious Sahibs; the romantic as empire-builder, 1799-1838 by Michael Edwardes 1969. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. A study based on the careers of four men: Charles Metcalfe, Mountstuart Elphinstone, John Malcolm, and David Ochterlony.

• 'Up the country': letters written to her sister from the upper provinces of India by Hon. Emily Eden 2nd Edition 1867 (contains what in some editions are 2 separate volumes) Google Books
• Letters From India Vol-I and Letters From India Vol-II by Hon Emily Eden 1872 Archive.org
• Golden Interlude: The Edens In India 1836-1842 by Janet Dunbar (1956) recounts the experiences of Governor-General George Eden and his sisters during their time in India. Archive.org
• The letters of the first Viscount Hardinge of Lahore to Lady Hardinge and Sir Walter and Lady James, 1844-1847 edited by Bawa Satinder Singh 1986. Archive.org Lending Library.

Hardinge Papers Relating To Punjab edited and annotated by Dr Kirpal Singh 2002 Archive.org. Includes papers relating to both the Hardinge Governor General and Viceroy.

• Life of the Marquis of Dalhousie 
by Captain L. J. Trotter. 1889 Archive.org. A book in the Statesmen series (1848-1856)
• Lord Dalhousie's administration of the conquered and annexed states by Muhammad Abdur Rahim 1963. Archive.org Lending Library. [1848-1856]
• Earl Canning by Sir H S Cunningham 1891 Archive.org. A book in the series Rulers of India. (1856-1862)
• Recreations of an Indian Official by Lieut.-Colonel G B Malleson 1872 Google Books. The first part of the book is titled "Lord Lawrence". (1864-1869)

Lord Lawrence by Sir Charles Aitchison, formerly Lieutenant -Governor of the Punjab. 1892 Archive.org. A book in the series Rulers of India.

• A Life of the Earl of Mayo, Fourth Viceroy of India by W W Hunter 2nd edition 1876 Archive.org Volume I, Volume II
• The Earl of Mayo by Sir William Wilson Hunter 1892 Archive.org. A book in the series Rulers of India (1869-1872)
• Our Viceregal Life in India: Selections from my Journal, 1884-1888 by the Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava 1890. Volume I, Volume II Archive.org (The Earl of Dufferin was Viceroy 13 December 1884 - 10 December 1888)
• The Administration of the Marquis of Lansdowne as Viceroy and Governor-general of India, 1888-1894 by George W Forrest 1894 Archive.org

Private Secretary to the Marquess of Lansdowne, Viceroy of India [from 1888] page 233 The life of Major-General Sir John Ardagh, by his wife Susan, Countess of Malmesbury (Lady Ardagh) 1908 HathiTrust Digital Library.

Lord Lansdowne: a Biography by Lord Newton 1929. Archive.org. Also available Central Secretariat Library (CSL) [Delhi] Digital Repository and Archive.org mirror version.

• "The Viceroy’s Daughter. Elizabeth Bruce" page 153 The Fishing Fleet : Husband-Hunting in the Raj by Anne De Courcy 2013 edition, first published 2012. Archive.org Books to Borrow/ Lending Library. Daughter of the Earl of Elgin, she was sixteen and a half (born September 1877) when she arrived in January 1894 and commenced comprehensive diaries. She married in India in September 1898.
• Speeches of Lord Curzon of Kedleston, Viceroy and Governor General of India [Volume I]: 1898-1901, Volume II: 1900-1902 Archive.org. Lord Curzon was in this position 1899-1905.
• Lord Curzon in India, 1898-1903 by H Caldwell Lipsett 1903 Archive.org
• The Failure Of Lord Curzon 1903. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. Full title : The Failure of Lord Curzon. A study in “Imperialism.” An open letter to the Earl of Rosebery by “Twenty-eight years in India” [elsewhere stated to be Charles J. O'Donnell].
• India under Curzon & after by Lovat Fraser 1911 Archive.org
• British Government In India: The Story of the Viceroys and Government Houses by the Marquis Curzon of Kedleston, K.G. , Viceroy and Governor General of India, Jan.1899-May 1904, and Dec. 1904-Nov.1905. 1925 Archive.org Volume One, Volume Two Archive.org. Volume Two, Archive.org Lending Library, with better images.
• The Life of Lord Curzon : being the authorized biography of George Nathaniel, Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, K.G. by The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Ronaldshay 1928. Volume One, Volume Two: Viceroy of India December 1898 to November 1905; Volume Three All Archive.org
• The Glorious Fault : the Life of Lord Curzon by Leonard Mosley 1960. Archive.org Books to Borrow/ Lending Library
• High Noon of Empire : India under Curzon by Michael Edwardes 1965. Archive.org Lending Library
• Below the Peacock Fan : First Ladies of the Raj by Marian Fowler 1987 Archive.org Lending Library. Emily Eden, Charlotte Canning, Edith Lytton, Mary Curzon.
• Lord Minto, A Memoir John Buchan 1924. Gutenberg.net.au. Also available Archive.org mirror version, originally from Digital Library of India. Lord Minto was Viceroy from 1905
• India, Minto and Morley 1905-1910 compiled by Mary, Countess of Minto, published 1934. Hathi Trust Digital Library. It is also available Archive.org version, originally from Digital Library of India.
• India Under Morley And Minto by M N Das 1957. Archive.org version, originally from Digital Library of India. Full title: India under Morley and Minto. Politics behind revolution, repression and reforms.
• Lord Minto and the Indian Nationalist Movement 1905 to 1910 by Syed Razi Wasti. 1964. Archive.org Lending Library.
• Morley and India, 1906-1910 by Stanley A. Wolpert 1967 Archive.org Lending Library. Morley was Secretary of State in charge of the India Office.
• My Indian Years 1910-1916 by Lord Hardinge 1948. Archive.org version, originally from Digital Library of India. Also available to read online on Academy of the Punjab in North America (Lord Hardinge was Viceroy 23 November 1910- 4 April 1916)

Hardinge Papers Relating To Punjab edited and annotated by Dr Kirpal Singh 2002 Archive.org. Includes papers relating to both the Hardinge Governor General and Viceroy.

• The Viceroy's Wife: Letters of Alice, Countess of Reading, from India, 1921-25 by Iris Butler 1969. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
• The Viceroyalty of Lord Irwin, 1926-1931 by Sarvepalli Gopal 1957. Archive.org Lending Library.
• Halifax: The Life Of Lord Halifax by the Earl of Birkenhead 1965. Archive.org. Digital Library of India Collection. Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax(Wikipedia), styled Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was Viceroy of India for 5 years from 1926 (appointed 1925).
• Lord Willingdon In India by Victor Trench 1934. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. Author’s name is a pseudonym (Freeman Freeman Thomas, Marquis of Willingdon) who was Viceroy 18 April 1931-18 April 1936.
• The Viceroy at Bay: Lord Linlithgow in India 1936-1943 by John Glendevon 1971 Archive.org
• Linlithgow and India : a study of British policy and the political impasse in India, 1936-43 by Gowher Rizvi 1978. Archive.org Lending Library
• Speeches by the Marquess of Linlithgow Volume I [from 17 April 1936 to 23rd April 1938] 1940; Volume II [to 16 October 1943] 1944. Archive.org.
• Speeches By Earl Wavell from 26th October 1943 to 21 March 1947 1948 Archive.org

Wavell: The Viceroy’s Journal, edited by Penderel Moon. 1973 Archive.org. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library version better quality digital file. Lord Wavell was Viceroy October 1943 to March 1947.

The Chief : Field Marshal Lord Wavell, Commander-in-Chief and Viceroy, 1939-1947 by Ronald Lewin 1980 File 2, File 3 Archive.org Books to Borrow/ Lending Library.

• See British India - Historical books online for the publication The Transfer of Power 1942-7, in 12 volumes.
• Mission With Mountbatten by Alan Campbell-Johnson 1951 Archive.org. “Specially revised and abridged by the author for Indian readers”. The author was Press Attache to Mountbatten when he was Viceroy.
• Freedom At Midnight by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre c 1975. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. The events in India in 1947

Mountbatten And The Partition Of India by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre 1960 Archive.org version mirror from Digital Library of India. Publication date elsewhere is given as 1982. Also available to read online on Academy of the Punjab in North America.

Mountbatten And Independent India by Larry Collins and Dominique Laouerre 1960 Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. Publication date elsewhere is given as 1982.

• Last Viceroy : the life and times of Rear-Admiral, the Earl Mountbatten of Burma by Ray Murphy 1949, first published 1948. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.
• Lord Mountbatten : the Last Viceroy by David Butler 1986. Archive.org Lending Library
• Divide and Quit by Penderel Moon c 1961 Archive.org. Contains references to Mountbatten.
• Shameful Flight: The Last Years of the British Empire in India by Stanley A. Wolpert 2006 Archive.org Lending Library. Wolpert places the blame for the catastrophe largely on Mountbatten.
• The Princely India I knew, from Reading to Mountbatten by Sir Conrad Corfield, former Political Adviser to the Viceroy. 1975 Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Published by the Indo British Historical Society. The author was the last official head of the Indian Political Service, which he had joined in 1925 after preliminary service in the Punjab Province from 1921.
• The Viceroys and Governors-General of India, 1757-1947 by Viscount Mersey 1949. Archive.org Books to Borrow/ Lending Library version with better images. Archive.org version
• The Viceroys of India by Mark Bence-Jones 1982. Archive.org Books to Borrow/ Lending Library.