Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Member of Parliament
In office
1820–1844
Personal details
Born(1785-03-30)30 March 1785
Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England
SpouseLady Emily Jane Stewart
Children4
Military service
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Branch/serviceBritish Army
Years of service1799–1856
RankField Marshal
CommandsCommander-in-Chief of the British Army
Battles/wars
Awards
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge,

First Anglo-Sikh War and then Commander-in-Chief of the Forces during the Crimean War
.

Early life

The son of the Rev, Henry Hardinge, Rector of Stanhope,[1] and his wife Frances Best, he was educated at Durham School and Sevenoaks School.[2] Hardinge entered the British Army on 23 July 1799 as an ensign in the Queen's Rangers,[3] a corps then stationed in Upper Canada.[4] He was promoted to lieutenant by purchase in the 4th Regiment of Foot on 27 March 1802[5] and transferred to the 1st Regiment of Foot on 11 July 1803[6] before becoming a captain of a company by purchase in the 57th Regiment of Foot on 21 April 1804.[7] In February 1806 he was sent to the newly formed Staff College at High Wycombe.[8]

Military career

Peninsular War

The Battle of Orthez, at which Hardinge commanded the Portuguese brigade, during the Peninsular War

He saw action at the

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in January 1815.[8]

Hundred Days campaign

When war broke out again in 1815 after Napoleon's escape from Elba, Hardinge returned to active service as a brigadier.[4] Attached to the staff of the allied Prussian Army under Marshal Blucher, he was present at the Battle of Ligny on 16 June 1815, where he lost his left hand by a shot, and thus was not present at Waterloo two days later.[4][12] Wellington presented him with a sword that had belonged to Napoleon.[4] Hardinge remained attached to the Prussian army of occupation in France until 1818.[12]

He was promoted to brevet

major-general on 22 July 1830.[14]

Political service

Member of Parliament

Statue of Hardinge in Calcutta, circa 1860.

At the 1820 general election, Hardinge was returned to parliament as member for

pocket borough of St Germans.[16]

In July 1830 he exchanged portfolios with

Lord Francis Leveson-Gower, becoming Chief Secretary for Ireland, but relinquished the post in November following the collapse of the Wellington–Peel ministry. He resigned his seat at St Germans in December and was elected for Newport, another Tory pocket borough, a week later.[16] He held Newport at the 1831 general election and in 1832, after Newport was disenfranchised, stood in Launceston and was re-elected. He would remain in this seat until he stood down in May 1844.[16]

Chief Secretary for Ireland

He was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland from December 1834 to April 1835, and then was Secretary at War once again in Sir

lieutenant-general in 1841.[4] At this time he had a London home at Whitehall Gardens, Westminster.[19]

Governor-General of India

In May 1844 he succeeded

Gulab Singh on 16 March 1846.[24] He was created Viscount Hardinge of Lahore and of King's Newton in Derbyshire on 7 April 1846.[25]

Viscount Hardinge's Annuity Act 1846
Act of Parliament
9 & 10 Vict. c. 21
Dates
Royal assent18 June 1846
Other legislation
Repealed byStatute Law Revision Act 1875
Status: Repealed
Annuity Lord Hardinge Act 1846
Act of Parliament
9 & 10 Vict. c. 31
Dates
Royal assent27 July 1846
Other legislation
Repealed byStatute Law Revision Act 1953
Status: Repealed

Recognising an annuity of £5,000 being paid by the East India Company, Parliament provided that Viscount Hardinge should continue to receive his full salary as Governor General.[26] Under a subsequent Act, in recognition of his "great and brilliant services", Parliament settled an annuity of £3,000 on Lord Hardinge and the next two heirs male of his body, although this was not to be paid if the East India Company paid an annuity.[27]

Commander-in-Chief

The Crimean War, the conduct of which Hardinge directed as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces

Hardinge returned to England in 1848, and became

Prince Albert, he collapsed with a stroke.[4] Albert helped him to a sofa, where despite being paralysed on one side, he continued to deliver his report, apologizing for the interruption.[32]

He was also colonel of the 97th Regiment of Foot from 4 March 1833[33] and of the 57th Regiment of Foot from 31 May 1843.[34]

St Peter, Fordcombe

Hardinge resigned his office of commander-in-chief in July 1856, owing to failing health, and died on 24 September 1856 at South Park near Tunbridge Wells.[4] There is a memorial to him at St John the Baptist, Penshurst.[35] He is buried in the churchyard at St. Peter, Fordcombe.[36]

Family

In 1821 he married Lady Emily Jane, seventh daughter of Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry.[4] They had two sons, and two daughters:

His elder son, Charles Stewart, who had been his private secretary in India, was the 2nd Viscount Hardinge. The younger son of the 2nd Viscount, Charles Hardinge (b. 1858), became a prominent diplomat, and was appointed Viceroy of India in 1910, being created Baron Hardinge of Penshurst.[38]

References

  1. ^ "No. 12833". The London Gazette. 24 February 1787. p. 101.
  2. ^ "Henry Hardinge". Sevenoaks School. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  3. ^ "No. 15161". The London Gazette. 20 July 1799. p. 730.
  4. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/12271. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  5. ^ "No. 15464". The London Gazette. 23 March 1802. p. 304.
  6. ^ "No. 15600". The London Gazette. 9 July 1803. p. 831.
  7. ^ "No. 15694". The London Gazette. 17 April 1804. p. 475.
  8. ^ a b c Heathcote, p.171
  9. ^ "No. 16887". The London Gazette. 19 April 1814. p. 836.
  10. ^ "No. 16934". The London Gazette. 13 September 1814. p. 1850.
  11. ^ "No. 16934". The London Gazette. 13 September 1814. p. 1852.
  12. ^ a b "Hardinge, Sir Henry". History of Parliament. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  13. ^ "No. 17727". The London Gazette. 20 July 1821. p. 1510.
  14. ^ "No. 18709". The London Gazette. 23 July 1830. p. 1535.
  15. ^ "No. 17911". The London Gazette. 5 April 1823. p. 541.
  16. ^ a b c d "HARDINGE, Sir Henry (1785–1856), of Ketton, co. Dur. and 16 Sackville Street, Mdx". History of Parliament Online.
  17. ^ "No. 18477". The London Gazette. 10 June 1828. p. 1118.
  18. ^ "No. 20015". The London Gazette. 7 September 1841. p. 2247.
  19. ^ Cox, Montagu H and Norman, Philip. "No. 3 Whitehall Gardens Pages 204–207 Survey of London: Volume 13, St Margaret, Westminster, Part II: Whitehall I. Originally published by London County Council, London, 1930". British History Online. Retrieved 7 August 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ "No. 20346". The London Gazette. 24 May 1844. p. 1762.
  21. ^ "No. 20363". The London Gazette. 12 July 1844. p. 2418.
  22. ^ "No. 20576". The London Gazette. 23 February 1846. p. 721.
  23. ^ "No. 20602". The London Gazette. 8 May 1846. p. 1678.
  24. ^ "No. 20602". The London Gazette. 8 May 1846. p. 1681.
  25. ^ "No. 20592". The London Gazette. 7 April 1846. p. 1278.
  26. 9 & 10 Vict.
    c. 21)
  27. 9 & 10 Vict.
    c. 31)
  28. ^ "No. 21299". The London Gazette. 9 March 1852. p. 741.
  29. ^ "No. 21362". The London Gazette. 28 September 1852. p. 2573.
  30. ^ "No. 21564". The London Gazette. 22 June 1854. p. 1931.
  31. ^ "No. 21792". The London Gazette. 2 October 1855. p. 3652.
  32. ISBN 0-7195-5756-9
    Weintraub, p.334
  33. ^ "No. 19028". The London Gazette. 8 March 1833. p. 474.
  34. ^ Heathcote, p.172
  35. ^ "Church of St John the Baptist, Penshurst". British listed buildings. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  36. ^ "Fordcombe" (PDF). Kent Fallen. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  37. ^ "Princess Alice of Hesse". The Knickerbocker Press. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  38. ^ "Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst". Cracrofts Peerage. Archived from the original on 17 June 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2012.

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge.
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Hardinge, Henry Hardinge, Viscount".
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New creation Viscount Hardinge
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