Warren Hastings

The son of an Anglican clergyman, Hastings was born on December 6, 1732, in Churchill, Oxfordshire, England, and attended Westminister School in London. At the age of 18 he went to India as a clerk in the service of the English East India Company, where his careful work there soon revealed set him above the other clerks and revealed his administrative talent. He advanced far more quickly than most men of his age through the ranks of the company, serving on the company's administrative councils that governed the cities of Calcutta and Madras (Moon, 1961, pp. 12-35).

His first marriage was a brief one. His wife died after only a few years, their daughter died in infancy and their son as a young child. His second marriage, to the German Baroness Imhoff, was far happier, lasting nearly a half century. They had no children together, but were otherwise very happy (Lawson, 1895, p. 49).

By 1772 he had been appointed to the most important post in India  the governorship of Bengal  and his private correspondence of the time demonstrates that he had already formed

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ndia and its charter was renewed several times in the 18th century, each time with financial concessions to the Crown. In 1773 the British government established a governor-generalship in India, thereby greatly decreasing administrative control by the company; however, the fact that Hastings, a company man through and through, become the first governor-general of India, guaranteed the maintenance of some informal administrative power to the company that it would not otherwise have merited (Lawson, 1895, pp. 34-48). As governor-general of India, Hastings ruled with a governing council of four members. Although he was blocked by the council at every turn, during his tenure Hastings was able to initiate extensive judicial and civil service reforms. Among his most important accomplishments were his successful defenses from 1778 to 1782 of the dominions of the East India Company from attacks by the native Indian rulers who had aligned themselves with the French. His victory secured British influence in India, but in order to defray the expenses of the war Hastings was forced to confiscate the property and financial resources of some local rulers who refused to contribute for the war expenses (Moon, 1967, pp. 168-175). His popular
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Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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