Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton
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Edward Robert Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton GCB GCSI GCIE PC (8 November 1831–24 November 1891) was an English statesman, serving as Viceroy of India; and poet, under the pen name of Owen Meredith.
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[edit] Life account
He was a son of novelists Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton and Rosina Doyle Wheeler. He was educated at Harrow School and at the University of Bonn. When eighteen years old, he went to the United States as private secretary of his uncle, Sir Henry Bulwer, who was Minister at Washington, DC.
When twenty-five years old, he published in London a volume of poems under the name of Owen Meredith. He went on to publish several other volumes under the same name. The most popular one is "Lucile", a story in verse published in 1860.
He was later secretary at different courts in Europe and Minister to Portugal and France. From 1876 to 1880 he was Viceroy and Governor-General of India. Lytton's tenure as Viceroy coincided with one of the worst recorded famines, and his uncompromising implementation of British Colonial Policy was a factor in its severity.
He succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Lytton in 1873, and in 1880 was created Viscount Knebworth, of Knebworth in the County of Hertford, and Earl of Lytton, in the County of Derby.
[edit] Marriage and children
On October 4, 1864 Lytton married Edith Villiers. She was a daughter of Edward Ernest Villiers (1806 - 1843) and Elizabeth Charlotte Liddell.
Her paternal grandparents were George Villiers and Theresa Parker. Her maternal grandparents were Thomas Liddell, 1st Baron Ravensworth and his wife Maria Susannah Simpson.
George Villiers was a son of Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon and Charlotte Capell. Theresa Parker was a daughter of John Parker, 1st Baron Boringdon and his second wife Theresa Robinson. Maria Susannah Simpson was a daughter of John Simpson and Anne Lyon.
Charlotte Capell was a daughter of William Capell, 3rd Earl of Essex and Lady Jane Hyde. Theresa Robinson was a daughter of Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham and Frances Worsley. Anne Lyon was a daughter of Thomas Lyon, 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and Jean Nicholsen.
Lady Jane Hyde was a daughter of Henry Hyde, 4th Earl of Clarendon and Jane Leveson-Gower.
They had at least seven children:
- Edward Rowland John Bulwer-Lytton (1865 - 1871).
- Lady Elizabeth Edith "Betty" Bulwer-Lytton (12 June 1867 - 28 March 1942). Married Gerald Balfour, 2nd Earl of Balfour.
- Lady Constance Georgina Bulwer-Lytton (1869 - 1923).
- Henry Meredith Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1872 - 1874).
- Lady Emily Bulwer-Lytton (1874 - 1964). Married Edwin Lutyens. Associate of Krishnamurti.
- Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton (1876 - 1947).
- Neville Bulwer-Lytton, 3rd Earl of Lytton (6 February 1879–9 February 1951).
[edit] Career as Viceroy
Lord Lytton arrived as Viceroy of India in 1876. In the same year, a famine broke out in south India which claimed more than 5.5 million lives.
In 1877, Lord Lytton convened a durbar (imperial assembly) in Delhi which was attended by around 84,000 people including princes and title holders. In 1878, he promulgated the Vernacular Press Act, which empowered him to confiscate the press and paper of a local language newspaper publishing 'seditious material'. The resulted in public outcry in Calcutta led by the Indian Association.
[edit] External links
- Works by Owen Meredith at Project Gutenberg
- The LUCILE Project an academic effort to recover the publishing history of Lucile (which went through at least 2000 editions by nearly 100 publishers).
- His profile in ancestry.com
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Lord Northbrook |
Viceroy of India 1876–1880 |
Succeeded by The Marquess of Ripon |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by The Viscount Lyons |
British Ambassador to France 1887–1891 |
Succeeded by The Marquess of Dufferin and Ava |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by Edmund Law Lushington |
Rector of the University of Glasgow 1887—1890 |
Succeeded by Arthur Balfour |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by New Creation |
Earl of Lytton 1880–1891 |
Succeeded by Victor Bulwer-Lytton |
| Preceded by Edward Bulwer-Lytton |
Baron Lytton 1873–1891 |
|
