Henry Vansittart facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Henry Vansittart
|
|
|---|---|
Portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds
|
|
| Governor of the Presidency of Fort William | |
| In office 1762–1764 |
|
| Preceded by | Robert Clive |
| Succeeded by | Robert Clive |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 June 1732 Bloomsbury, Middlesex, England |
| Died | 1770 (aged 37) Presumed to have died at sea in the Mozambique Channel |
| Alma mater | Reading School Winchester College |
Henry Vansittart (born June 3, 1732 – died 1770) was an important British official. He served as the Governor of Bengal in India from 1759 to 1764.
Early Life and Career
Henry Vansittart was born in Bloomsbury, England. His family was well-known for being wealthy merchants. His grandfather, Peter van Sittart, had moved to London from Gdańsk and was a director of the British East India Company. This company was very powerful in trading with India.
Henry went to Reading School and Winchester College. At just 13 years old in 1745, he started working for the East India Company. He sailed to Fort St David in Madras, India. He worked very hard and quickly moved up in the company. He even became friends with Robert Clive, another famous British leader in India.
After spending three years back in England, Henry returned to India in 1754. By 1757, he was a member of the Council of Madras. He helped defend the city against the French in 1759. Because of his good work, Robert Clive suggested that Henry take his place. So, in November 1760, Henry Vansittart became the President of the Council and Governor of Fort William in Bengal.
Leading in Bengal
When Henry arrived in Bengal in July 1760, things were difficult. The British trading post had very little money. He decided to remove the local ruler, Mir Jafar, who was called the Nawab of Bengal. Henry replaced him with Mir Jafar's son-in-law, Mir Kasim. This change helped increase Britain's power in the area.
However, Henry faced another big challenge. Many British company workers were also private traders. They used their positions to get special rights and avoid taxes. This was unfair to the local people and caused a lot of problems. Henry tried to stop this unfair system. In 1762, he made an agreement with Mir Kasim. But most of the other British leaders in Bengal disagreed with Henry. The next year, they rejected his agreement.
This led to fighting with Mir Kasim. Henry was upset that his plans for peace had failed. He resigned from his position on November 28, 1764, and went back to England.
Later Life and Disappearance
Back in England, Henry wanted to explain his actions in Bengal. He published three books of papers called A Narrative of the Transactions in Bengal from 1760 to 1764 in 1766. Some company leaders in London criticized him, but later events showed that he had been right about many things. In 1769, he became a director of the East India Company. He was also elected to Parliament for Reading in 1768.
Robert Clive had returned to India and found many problems with how things were run. So, Henry Vansittart, along with two other officials, Luke Scrafton and Francis Forde, were sent back to India. Their mission was to fix the problems and improve the entire government system there.
The group left England in September 1769. They stopped at Cape Town and were last seen getting on their ship, the frigate Aurora, on December 27, 1769. The ship was lost at sea, likely sinking with everyone on board. The captain had chosen to sail through the Mozambique Channel despite bad weather.
Family
Henry Vansittart married Emilia Morse in 1754. She was the daughter of Nicholas Morse, who was also a Governor of Madras. They had five sons and two daughters. The family lived in England at Foxley's Manor.
One of his sons, Robert, was known for scoring the first recorded cricket century in India in 1804. His youngest son, Nicholas Vansittart, 1st Baron Bexley, became a very important person in the British government. He was the Chancellor of the Exchequer (like a finance minister) for many years, from 1812 to 1823.
See also
- List of people who disappeared
