List of governors - General of India - Wikipedia List of governors - General of India The Regulating Act of 1773 created the office with the title of Governor - General of the Presidency of Fort William, or Governor - General of Bengal to be appointed by the Court of Directors of the East India Company ( EIC ). The Court of Directors assigned a Council of Four ( based in India ) to assist The Governor General, and decision of council was binding on Governor General during 1773 - 1784. The Saint Helena Act 1833 ( or Government of India Act 1833 ) re-designated the office with the title of Governor - General of India. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the company rule was brought to an end, and the British India along with princely states came under the direct rule of the Crown. The Government of India Act 1858 created the office of Secretary of State for India in 1858 to oversee the affairs of India, which was advised by a new Council of India with 15 members ( based in London ). The existing Council of Four was formally renamed as the Council of Governor General of India or Executive Council of India. The Council of India was later abolished by Government of India Act 1935. Following the adoption of the Government of India Act of 1858, the Governor - General as representing the Crown became known as the Viceroy. The designation ' Viceroy ', although it was most frequently used in ordinary parlance, had no statutory authority, and was never employed by Parliament. Although the Proclamation of 1858 announcing the assumption of the government of India by the Crown referred to Lord Canning as `` first Viceroy and Governor - General '', none of the Warrants appointing his successors referred to them as ' Viceroys ', and the title, which was frequently used in Warrants dealing with precedence and in public notifications, was basically one of ceremony used in connection with the state and social functions of the Sovereign 's representative. The Governor - General continued to be the sole representative of the Crown, and the Government of India continued to be vested in the Governor - General - in - Council. From the year 1858 onwards, the appointments of Governor - General of India were made by British Crown at the advice of Secretary of State for India. The office of Governor - General continued to exist as a ceremonial post in each of the new dominions until they adopted republican constitutions in 1950 and 1956 respectively... List of Viceroys and Governor - generals Portrait Name ( Birth -- Death ) Term of office Notable events Appointer Governors Generals of the Presidency of Fort William ( Bengal ), 1773 -- 1833 Warren Hastings ( 1732 - 1818 ) 20 October 1773 1 February 1785 Regulating Act of 1773 Supreme Council Of Bengal Asiatic Society of Bengal Stopped Mughal pension to Shah Alam II Stopped Diarchy in Bengal New Sanskrit School by Jonathan Deccan Moved Treasury from Murshidabad to Calcutta Bengal Gazette - First Indian newspaper published First Anglo - Maratha War ( 1775 -- 82 ) Second Anglo - Mysore war ( 1780 -- 84 ) First Rohilla War of 1773 -- 1774 Second Rohilla War 1779 Experimentation on land settlements. ( 1772 - five years settlement, changed to 1 year in 1776 ) English Translation of Bhagwat Gita East India Company ( 1773 -- 1858 ) John Macpherson ( acting ) ( 1745 -- 1821 ) 1 February 1785 12 September 1786 Charles Cornwallis The Marquess Cornwallis ( 1738 -- 1805 ) 12 September 1786 28 October 1793 Established lower courts and appellate courts Permanent Settlement in Bihar and Bengal in 1793 3rd Mysore war Introduction of Cornwallis Code Introduction of Civil Services in India John Shore ( 1751 -- 1834 ) 28 October 1793 18 March 1798 Policy of Non-intervention Charter Act of 1793 Battle of Kharda between Nizam and Marathas ( 1795 ) Alured Clarke ( acting ) ( 1744 -- 1832 ) 18 March 1798 18 May 1798 Richard Wellesley, Earl of Mornington ( 1760 -- 1842 ) 18 May 1798 30 July 1805 Introduction of Subsidiary Alliance Fourth Anglo Mysore War 1799 Second Anglo - Maratha War ( 1803 -- 05 ) Fort William College at Calcutta Formation of Madras Presidency in 1801 The Marquess Cornwallis ( 1738 -- 1805 ) 30 July 1805 5 October 1805 Sir George Barlow, Bt ( acting ) ( 1762 -- 1847 ) 10 October 1805 31 July 1807 Sepoy mutiny at Vellore The Lord Minto ( 1751 -- 1814 ) 31 July 1807 4 October 1813 Charter Act of 1813 Treaty of Amritsar, 1809 with Ranjit Singh Francis Rawdon - Hastings, The Earl of Moira ( 1754 -- 1826 ) 4 October 1813 9 January 1823 Ended the policy of Non-intervention Third Anglo - Maratha War ( 1816 - 1818 ) 1816, Treaty of Sagauli with Nepal Creation of Bombay Presidency in 1818 Establishment of Ryotwari System in Madras and Mahalwari System in Central India, Punjab And Western UP. John Adam ( acting ) ( 1779 -- 1825 ) 9 January 1823 1 August 1823 Licensing Regulations The Lord Amherst ( 1773 -- 1857 ) 1 August 1823 13 March 1828 First Anglo - Burmese War ( 1824 -- 26 ) Treaty of Yandabo, 1826 William Butterworth Bayley ( acting ) ( 1782 -- 1860 ) 13 March 1828 4 July 1828 Governors - General of India, 1833 -- 1858 Lord William Bentinck ( 1774 -- 1839 ) 4 July 1828 20 March 1835 First Governor General of India Bengal Sati Regulation, 1829 Charter Act, 1833 Saint Helena Act 1833 English Education Act 1835 Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata East India Company ( 1773 -- 1858 ) Charles Metcalfe, Bt ( acting ) ( 1785 -- 1846 ) 20 March 1835 4 March 1836 Repealed 1823 Licensing Regulations The Lord Auckland ( 1784 -- 1849 ) 4 March 1836 28 February 1842 The Lord Ellenborough ( 1790 -- 1871 ) 28 February 1842 June 1844 William Wilberforce Bird ( acting ) ( 1784 -- 1857 ) June 1844 23 July 1844 Henry Hardinge ( 1785 -- 1856 ) 23 July 1844 12 January 1848 The First Anglo - Sikh War ( 1845 -- 46 ) The Second Anglo - Sikh War ( 1848 -- 49 ) Treaty of Lahore The Earl of Dalhousie ( 1812 -- 1860 ) 12 January 1848 28 February 1856 Doctrine of Lapse Charles Wood Despatch Second Anglo - Burmese War ( 1852 ) First Railway line connecting Bombay and Thane First telegraph Line was laid between Diamond Harbour to Calcutta. Post Office Act, 1854 Established Public Works Department Engineering College was established at Roorkee. Governors - General and Viceroys of India, 1858 -- 1947 The Viscount Canning ( 1812 -- 1862 ) 28 February 1856 21 March 1862 University of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras were set up in 1858 The revolt of 1857 Hindu widow remarriage act 1856 The Government of India Act, 1858 Hindu Widows ' Remarriage Act, 1856 Victoria ( 1837 -- 1901 ) The Earl of Elgin ( 1811 -- 1863 ) 21 March 1862 20 November 1863 Robert Napier ( acting ) ( 1810 -- 1890 ) 21 November 1863 2 December 1863 William Denison ( acting ) ( 1804 -- 1871 ) 2 December 1863 12 January 1864 Sir John Lawrence, Bt ( 1811 -- 1879 ) 12 January 1864 12 January 1869 Bhutan War Establishment of Shimla as India 's summer capital in 1863 The Earl of Mayo ( 1822 -- 1872 ) 12 January 1869 8 February 1872 Assassinated by a Pathan Sher Ali Afridi Started the Census. Sir John Strachey ( acting ) ( 1823 -- 1907 ) 9 February 1872 23 February 1872 The Lord Napier ( acting ) ( 1819 -- 1898 ) 24 February 1872 3 May 1872 The Lord Northbrook ( 1826 -- 1904 ) 3 May 1872 12 April 1876 The Lord Lytton ( 1831 -- 1891 ) 12 April 1876 8 June 1880 Vernacular Press Act Second Anglo - Afghan War The Indians Act ( 1878 ) The Marquess of Ripon ( 1827 -- 1909 ) 8 June 1880 13 December 1884 First Factory Act ( 1881 ) Repeal of the Vernacular Press Act ( 1882 ) Ilbert Bill The Earl of Dufferin ( 1826 -- 1902 ) 13 December 1884 10 December 1888 Formation of Indian National Congress Third Anglo - Burmese War The Marquess of Lansdowne ( 1845 -- 1927 ) 10 December 1888 11 October 1894 The Earl of Elgin ( 1849 -- 1917 ) 11 October 1894 6 January 1899 The Lord Curzon of Kedleston ( 1859 -- 1925 ) 6 January 1899 18 November 1905 Partition of Bengal ( 1905 ) Second Delhi Darbar ( 1903 ) The Earl of Minto ( 1845 -- 1914 ) 18 November 1905 23 November 1910 Morley - Minto Reforms 1909 or The Indian Councils Act 1909 Edward VII ( 1901 -- 1910 ) The Lord Hardinge of Penshurst ( 1858 -- 1944 ) 23 November 1910 4 April 1916 Third Delhi Darbar 1911 George V ( 1910 -- 1936 ) The Lord Chelmsford ( 1868 -- 1933 ) 4 April 1916 2 April 1921 Montagu - Chelmsford reforms and Govt of India Act 1919 The Earl of Reading ( 1860 -- 1935 ) 2 April 1921 3 April 1926 The Lord Irwin ( 1881 -- 1959 ) 3 April 1926 18 April 1931 The Earl of Willingdon ( 1866 -- 1941 ) 18 April 1931 18 April 1936 The Marquess of Linlithgow ( 1887 -- 1952 ) 18 April 1936 1 October 1943 Edward VIII ( 1936 ) The Viscount Wavell ( 1883 -- 1950 ) 1 October 1943 21 February 1947 George VI ( 1936 -- 1952 ) The Viscount Mountbatten of Burma ( 1900 -- 1979 ) 21 February 1947 15 August 1947 Governors - General of the Dominion of India, 1947 -- 1950 The Viscount Mountbatten of Burma ( 1900 -- 1979 ) 15 August 1947 21 June 1948 George VI ( 1936 -- 1952 ) C. Rajagopalachari ( 1878 -- 1972 ) 21 June 1948 26 January 1950 &88 Notes Jump up ^ Originally joined on 28 April 1772 Jump up ^ Earl Cornwallis from 1762 ; created Marquess Cornwallis in 1792. Jump up ^ Created Marquess Wellesley in 1799. Jump up ^ Created Marquess of Hastings in 1816 Jump up ^ Created Earl Amherst in 1826. Jump up ^ Created Earl of Auckland in 1839. Jump up ^ Created Viscount Hardinge in 1846. Jump up ^ Created Marquess of Dalhousie in 1849. Jump up ^ Created Earl Canning in 1859. Jump up ^ The Lord Ampthill was acting Governor - General in 1904 Jump up ^ Created Earl Mountbatten of Burma on 28 October 1947. See also Council of India Secretary of State for India List of Presidents of India Citations Jump up ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India, Clarendon Press, Oxford, New Edition 1909, vol 4, p. 16. Jump up ^ Clarke, John James ( 1 January 1997 ). Oriental Enlightenment : The Encounter Between Asian and Western Thought. Psychology Press. ISBN 9780415133753. Jump up ^ Link text Jump up ^ `` What was the Arms Act 1878 ? - Quora ''. www.quora.com. Retrieved 2017 - 01 - 13. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_governors-general_of_India&oldid=834368089 '' Categories : Governors - General of India Lists of governors - general India history - related lists Hidden categories : Use Indian English from August 2016 All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English Use dmy dates from August 2016 Talk About Wikipedia Čeština Français 한국어 हिन्दी Italiano ಕನ್ನಡ മലയാളം मराठी ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Русский Suomi தமிழ் Українська اردو 5 more Edit links This page was last edited on 5 April 2018, at 10 : 43. About Wikipedia

Question: who was the first governor general of east india company
Answer: Lord Canning