page_title: Charlotte Canning, Countess Canning
section_title: Life in India
hierarchical_section_title: Charlotte Canning, Countess Canning / Life in India
caption_attribution_description: English: Hill Fort of Kot Kangra, Kangra Valley, Himachal Pradesh
context_page_description: Charlotte Canning, Countess Canning was a British artist and the first vicereine of India. She was one of India's most prolific women artists – two portfolios in the Victoria and Albert Museum contain some 350 watercolours by her, the result of four major tours in the country. Her husband was Charles Canning, who served as Governor-General of India from 1856 to 1858 and then as Viceroy of India until 1862.
  As the elder daughter of the British ambassador to France, she was born and raised in Paris. She moved to England with her family in 1831, marrying Canning four years later. From 1842 to 1855, Lady Canning served as a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria and was a favourite of the monarch. She moved to Calcutta in 1856 upon her husband's appointment, and two years later she became India's first vicereine when the country fell under control of the British Crown.
  As an artist and botanist Lady Canning collected flowers and plants during her frequent trips around India, while drawing the natural scenes around her. She became ill shortly before her scheduled return to England, and died of malaria in Calcutta.
context_section_description: Lord Canning was appointed Governor-General of India, and the couple moved to the country in 1856. They resided at Government House in Calcutta. She disliked the formality and routine of the residence, writing that "its greatest sin is its intense dullness". The couple spent their retreats at Barrackpore, a "resonantly Anglicized place" sixteen miles from central Calcutta. An accomplished botanist, Canning came to love Barrackpore's "jungly" characteristics, noting that the "luxuriant growth in the jungly ground outside, of dazzling green during the Rains, is more beautiful than I can describe and I always think of the Palm House at Kew".
  Lady Canning was in the country during the India Mutiny, a rebellion in India against the rule of the British East India Company that ran from May 1857 to July 1859. Her husband was much criticized for his perceived clemency of the rebels, but the Cannings had the firm support of Victoria. After the end of the Mutiny, rule of India was transferred over to the British Crown. Lord Canning was made its viceroy, making his wife the country's first vicereine. Her new position lacked official duties, but she did play a social role and partook in philanthropic efforts.
caption: Watercolour by Lady Canning, of the Hill Fort of Kangra, Kangra Valley, Himachal Pradesh, 1860
exif: {}