Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst
Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst, (20 June 1858 – 2 August 1944) was a British diplomat and statesman who served as Viceroy and Governor-General of India from 1910 to 1916. Background and education. Hardinge was the second son of Charles Hardinge, 2nd Viscount Hardinge, and the grandson of Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge, a former Governor-General of India. He was educated Cheam School, Harrow School and at Trinity College, Cambridge. Career. Hardinge entered the diplomatic service in 1880. He was appointed the first secretary at Tehran in 1896, and the  first secretary at Saint Petersburg in 1898, when he was promoted over the heads of seventeen of his seniors. After a brief tenure as Assistant Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, he became Ambassador to Russia, in 1904. In 1906, he was promoted to the position of Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, where, despite his own conservatism, worked closely with Liberal Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey. In 1907, he declined the post of Ambassador to the United States. In 1910, Hardinge was raised to the peerage as Baron Hardinge of Penshurst, in the County of Kent, and appointed by  the Asquith government as Viceroy of India. His tenure was a memorable one, and included the visit of King George V, and the Delhi Durbar of 1911, as well as the move of the capital from Calcutta to New Delhi, in 1911. Although Hardinge was the target of assassination attempts with bomb attack by Indian nationalists Rashbehari Bose and Sachin Sanyal, his tenure included an improvement of relations between the British administration and the nationalists, as a consequence of the implementation of the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909; and of Hardinge's own admiration for Mohandas Gandhi and criticism of  the South African government's anti-Indian immigration policies.. The Hardinge Railway bridge in Bangladesh was constructed and inaugurated(1915) in his tenure. It continues to serve a crucial a role in the country's railway network even today. Hardinge's efforts paid off in 1914 during the First World War. Due to improved colonial relationships, Britain was able to deploy nearly all of the British troops in India as well as many native Indian troops to areas outside of India. In particular the British Indian Army was able to play a significant (though initially mismanaged) role in the Mesopotamian campaign . In 1916, Hardinge returned to his former post in England as Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, serving with Arthur Balfour. In 1920 he became ambassador to France before his retirement in 1922. Orders. As well as the distinction of being awarded 6 British knighthood's, he also gained foreign awards : Personal life. He married his first cousin Winifred Selina Sturt on 17 April 1890, over the objections of her family, due to the couple's consanguinity and Hardinge's financial status. She was the 2nd daughter of Henry Gerard Sturt, 1st Baron Alington, by his first wife Lady  Augusta Bingham, 1st daughter of George Charles Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan. The couple had a daughter, Diamond Hardinge (1900-1927), and two sons, Edward and Alexander (1894–1960), who succeeded him as Baron Hardinge of Penshurst. The 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst is commemorated at St John the Baptist, Penshurst. His eldest son, The Hon. Edward Hardinge, died 18 December 1914, aged 22, from wounds while serving as a Lieutenant with the 15th (The King's) Hussars in France. He was also the godson of Alexandra of Denmark. Diamond Hardinge was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Prince Albert, Duke  of York, and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon on 3 May 1923. Styles and honours. Hardinge had the unusual distinction of being a non-royal recipient of six British knighthoods.