M. E. Grant Duff - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from Sir Mountstuart Duff) Scottish politician, administrator and author (1829–1906) For the earlier Governor of Bombay, see Mountstuart Elphinstone.

The Right HonourableSir Mountstuart Grant DuffGCSI CIE FRS


Governor of Madras Presidency
In office 5 November 1881 – 8 December 1886
Governors General	The Marquess of Ripon, The Earl of Dufferin
Preceded by	William Huddleston (acting)
Succeeded by	Robert Bourke
Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies
In office 23 April 1880 – 26 June 1881
Monarch	Queen Victoria
Prime Minister	William Ewart Gladstone
Preceded by	The Earl Cadogan
Succeeded by	Leonard Courtney
Under-Secretary of State for India
In office 8 December 1868 – 17 February 1874
Monarch	Queen Victoria
Prime Minister	William Ewart Gladstone
Preceded by	The Lord Clinton
Succeeded by	Lord George Hamilton
Member of Parliament for Elgin Burghs
In office 1857–1881
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	George Skene Duff
Succeeded by	Alexander Asher

Personal details
Born	Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff (1829-02-21)21 February 1829 Eden, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Died	12 January 1906(1906-01-12) (aged 76) Chelsea, London, England
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Anna Julia Webster
Children	8, including Claire Grant Duff
Parent(s)	James Grant Duff Jane Ainslie
Alma mater	Balliol College, Oxford

Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff GCSI, CIE, PC, FRS (21 February 1829 – 12 January 1906), known as M. E. Grant Duff before 1887 and as Sir Mountstuart Grant Duff thereafter, was a Scottish politician, administrator and author. He served as the Under-Secretary of State for India from 1868 to 1874, Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1880 to 1881 and the Governor of Madras from 1881 to 1886.

The son of the distinguished British historian James Grant Duff, he was educated at Grange School and Balliol College, Oxford, before being called to the English bar. He practised and taught law for a short time before starting a political life and entering the House of Commons as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Elgin Burghs.

His abilities won him government positions and he was Under-Secretary of State for India, Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies and Governor of Madras. His performance in politics and administration has received mixed reviews during the 1880s: "a politician of brilliant promise and scant performance, of wide information which he seemed to turn to much account, of abilities which would have made the fortunes of half a dozen men and of which he made little enough."

On his return from Madras, he retired from politics and served in various art and scientific societies, before passing away in 1906.

Early life and education

Duff was born in Eden, Banff, Banffshire on 21 February 1829, the elder son of James Grant Duff, a well-known Indian official from Bombay Presidency and British Resident in the princely state of Satara, and his wife Jane Catherine, daughter of Sir Whitelaw Ainslie. He was named after Mountstuart Elphinstone whom James Grant Duff regarded as his mentor. He had his schooling at Edinburgh Academy and Grange School and at Balliol College, Oxford, from 1847 to 1850. He became a MA in 1853. During these years he experienced problems with his vision, and for the rest of his life he relied on the sight of others.

He studied law at the Inns of Court and passed with honours, ranked only behind James Fitzjames Stephen. He was called to the bar at Inner Temple, London on 17 November 1854 and practised as a junior under William (later Mr Justice) Field. During this time he lectured at the Working Men's College and wrote for the Saturday Review. Soon afterwards, he entered politics and joined the Liberal Party.

Political career

In the 1857 election he was elected to the House of Commons as the Liberal Party's candidate for Elgin Burghs, holding the seat without interruption until 1881. He was returned unopposed at every election except in 1880, when he easily defeated a Conservative candidate. Every year from 1860, Stuart delivered an elaborate speech to his constituents, many of which were collected and reprinted, often on foreign affairs.

As an MP, Duff was mainly concerned with foreign policy, a subject on which he became known as an authority. He travelled widely, wrote extensively, and met with many of Europe's leading personalities. In 1866, he was elected Rector of the University of Aberdeen, holding the post until 1872.

In 1868, William Ewart Gladstone appointed Duff Under-Secretary of State for India under the Duke of Argyll. Duff held the office until the government was defeated in 1874. He worked well with the Secretary of State Argyll; their relationship was described by Duthie as 'rather deliberately obedient to Argyll; and always in agreement with him on policy'.

When Gladstone came back to power in 1880, Grant Duff was appointed Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies and sworn of the Privy Council. He served until 26 June 1881, when he was appointed Governor of Madras.

Governor of Madras

He was captivated by the beach at Madras on an earlier visit to the city. As a result, when he became governor in 1881 he immediately commenced the construction of a promenade along the beach. The beach was extensively modified and layered with soft sand and was named "The Marina". The promenade was opened to the public in 1884.

On the naming of the beach, Grant Duff explained in a letter:

We have greatly benefitted Madras by turning the rather dismal beach of five years ago into one of the most beautiful promenades in the world. From old Sicilian recollections, I gave in 1884 to our new creation the name of Marina; and I was not a little amused when walking there last winter with the Italian General Saletta, he suddenly said to me 'On se dirai a Palerme'.

In 1864, several specimens of a yellow flowering iris were collected by Mr. B. T. Lowne on the banks of the river Kishon in Israel. It was later found by Grant Duff on the plains of Esdraelon (Jezreel Valley). The iris was then named after him, Iris grant-duffii.

He was a strong supporter of Dietrich Brandis in his reorganization of the Madras Forest Department and expansion of systematic forest conservancy in India.

His tenure was filled with a number of controversies and allegations of partisan behaviour and injustice. He was sharply criticised for the way he handled the Chingleput Ryots' Case and the arrests and trials following the Salem riots of 1882. The Hindu accused him of indulging in vindictive and vengeful behaviour. In one of the articles, he was criticised thus: "Oh! Lucifer! How art thou fallen? Oh! Mr Grant-Duff, how you stand like an extinct volcano in the midst of the ruins of your abortive reputation as an administrator! Erudite you may be, but a statesman you are not." He was also accused of deliberately nurturing a movement against Brahmins.

However, Louis Mallet, the then Under-Secretary of State for India, was all praise for him. On receipt of his last minute as governor, Mallett said, "I doubt whether any governor has left behind so able and so complete a record".

W. S. Blunt, the British publicist, who visited Madras in November 1884, said of Grant Duff:

"And Mr. Grant Duff?", I asked a friend. "We consider him, he said "a failure. He came out as Governor of Madras with great expectations, and we find him feeble, sickly, unable to do his work himself, and wholly in the hands of the permanent officials. The Duke of Buckingham, of whom we expected less, did much more, and much better. "...I found this opinion of Grant Duff a general one among the natives. Though a clever man, he had spent all his life in the confined atmosphere of the House of Commons, and was quite unable to deal with a state of society so strange to him as that which he found in India

The Madras Mahajana Sabha was established in 1884 with P. Rangaiah Naidu as its president and R. Balaji Rao as its vice-president. This is considered to be one of the oldest Indian political organisations in the Madras Presidency, notwithstanding the Madras Native Association, which was a failure. Members of the Madras Mahajana Sabha played a pivotal role in corresponding with Indian associations in other provinces and forming the Indian National Congress in 1885. The Indian National Congress held its first session at Bombay in December 1885, attended by 72 delegates including 22 from the Madras Presidency. Grant Duff was made a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1881 and a Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India in March 1887. In July 1886, Gladstone tried to get a peerage for him but failed.

On an official visit to Rome a few years after the conclusion of his tenure, Grant Duff records that the Speaker of the Italian Parliament Biancheri inquired about the size of the province that Grant Duff had governed. On receiving the reply that the province was 'larger than Italy, including all the Italian islands', Biancheri astonishedly asked "What an empire is that, in which such a country is only a province?".

Later life

On his return to England in 1887, he devoted himself to the arts and sciences. He was Lord Rector of University of Aberdeen in 1866–1872. He was member of the Athenaeum, the Cosmopolitan Club, Literary Society, Grillion's Club, Breakfast Club and was the president of the Royal Geographical Society from 1889 to 1893 and of the Royal Historical Society from 1892 to 1899. He was treasurer of the exclusive dining club known as The Club from 1893. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1881, and was appointed a trustee of the British Museum in 1903.

He was Chairman of the Liberty and Property Defence League, established to curb socialist tendencies in the Liberal Party.

Personal life

In April 1859 he married Anna Julia Webster; they had four sons and four daughters, including:

Clare Annabel Caroline (1870–1944), wife of the financier Frederick Huth Jackson.
Evelyn Mountstuart Grant Duff, who married in March 1903 Edith Florence Bonham, daughter of Sir George Francis Bonham, 2nd Baronet.
Lieutenant-Colonel Adrian Grant-Duff, CB (1869–1914), colonel of the Black Watch, was killed at the First Battle of the Aisne in September 1914. Adrian's daughter was Shiela Grant Duff while his son, Neill, was killed at Houdetot near St Valery-en-Caux France in 1940 whilst serving with the Black Watch.

He died in his home in Chelsea, London in January 1906, aged 76, and was buried in Elgin Cathedral, Scotland.

Ancestry

Ancestors of M. E. Grant Duff

James Grant

John Grant of Kincardine O'Neill

Margaret Stewart of Bonkyl

James Cunningham Grant Duff of Eden

George Miln

James Miln Duff

Margaret Duff of Corsindae

Margaret Miln Duff

William Gordon, fourth & last of Farskane

Jean Gordon

Margaret Duff of Crombie

Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff

Robert Ainslie of Rowallen

Robert Ainslie of Darnchester

Magdeline Elliot of Woolie

Sir Whitelaw Ainslie K.B., M.D

John Whitelaw of Whitelaw

Katherine Whitelaw of Whitelaw

Rachel Stirling

Jane Catharine Ainslie

James Cunninghame of Balbogie

Mary Cunninghame

George Stirling of Carnock

Jean Ogilvy

Janet Hamilton of Preston

Works

Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff (1866). Studies in European Politics. Edmonston and Douglas. (Scan)
Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff. Elgin Speeches. 1871. (Scan)
Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff (1876). Notes of an Indian journey. Macmillan and Company. (Scan)
Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff (1893). Ernest Renan: In memoriam. Macmillan and Company. (Scan)
Notes from a diary. London: John Murray. - (1851-1872):1 2 - (1873-1881):1 2 - (1881-1886):1 2 - (1886-1888):1 2 - (1889-1891):1 2 - (1892-1895):1 2 - (1896-1901):1 2
Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff. A Political Survey. (Scan)
Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff (1903). Out of the past. Some biographical essays. volume 1 volume 2

Notes

J McCarthy, England, (2009), Bibliobooks reprint
^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1912). "Grant Duff, Mountstuart Elphinstone" . Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). Vol. 2. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 150–151. ISBN 978-1-4021-7063-8.
George Taubman Goldie, "Right Hon. Sir Mountstuart E. Grant Duff, P. C., G. C. S. I., F. R. S.", The Geographical Journal, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Mar., 1906), pp. 306-308
^ Stephen Lucius Gwynn (2009). The Life of the Rt. Hon. Sir Charles W. Dilke, Volume 1. BiblioBazaar, LLC. p. 385. ISBN 978-0-559-13101-1.
"Affairs in Foreign Lands" (PDF). The New York Times. 13 April 1880.
^ S. Muthiah (21 August 2002). "the second longest beach". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ Tercentenary Madras Staff (1939). Madras Tercentenary Celebration Committee Commemoration Volume. Indian Branch, Oxford Press. pp. 271–273.
"Iris grant-duffii, Iris melanosticta". flowersinisrael.com. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
Kramb, D. (6 September 2004). "Iris grant-duffii". signa.org. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
Maxwell, Herbert. "Memories of the months, being pages from the notebook of a field-naturalist and antiquary (Volume 1) online". ebooksread.com. p. 114. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
Oliver, J.W. (1901). "Forestry in India". The Indian Forester. Vol. v.27 (Original from Harvard University, Digitized 4 April 2008 ed.). Allahabad: R. P. Sharma, Business Manager, Indian Forester. pp. 616–617.
S. Muthiah (13 September 2003). "WILLING TO STRIKE AND NOT RELUCTANT TO WOUND". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012.
Eugène F. Irschick (1994). Dialogue and history: constructing South India, 1795-1895. University of California Press. p. 239. ISBN 978-0-520-08405-6.
R. N. Sampath; Pe. Cu Maṇi (1992). V.O. Chidambaram Pillai: Builders of modern India. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India. pp. 15–16.
^ Thurston, Edgar (1913). Provincial Geographies of India: The Madras Presidency with Mysore, Coorg and Associated States. Cambridge University. p. 7.
"Marriages". The Times. No. 36103. London. 30 March 1900. p. 1.
H. C. G. Matthew, 'Duff, Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant- (1829–1906)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004
"Sir Grant Duff dead" (PDF). The New York Times. 12 January 1906.

References

Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff. Oxford University Press. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
Fremantle, Anne (1971). Three-Cornered Heart. London.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded byGeorge Skene Duff	Member of Parliament for Elgin Burghs 1857–1881	Succeeded byAlexander Asher
Political offices
Preceded byThe Lord Clinton	Under-Secretary of State for India 1868–1874	Succeeded byLord George Hamilton
Preceded byThe Earl Cadogan	Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies 1880–1881	Succeeded byLeonard Courtney
Preceded byWilliam Huddleston	Governor of Madras 1881–1886	Succeeded byRobert Bourke
Academic offices
Preceded byThe Earl Russell	Rector of the University of Aberdeen 1866–1872	Succeeded byThomas Henry Huxley
Preceded byThe Lord Aberdare	President of the Royal Historical Society 1891–1899	Succeeded bySir Adolphus William Ward

v t e Presidents of the Royal Geographical Society
19th century	F. J. Robinson George Murray John Barrow William R. Hamilton George Greenough Roderick Murchison Charles Abbot William J. Hamilton William Smyth Roderick Murchison Francis Egerton Frederick Beechey Roderick Murchison Bingham Baring Roderick Murchison Henry Rawlinson Henry Frere Rutherford Alcock Thomas Baring Henry Bruce John Campbell Richard Strachey M. E. Grant Duff Clements Markham
20th century	George Goldie Leonard Darwin George Curzon Douglas Freshfield Thomas Holdich Francis Younghusband Lawrence Dundas David George Hogarth Charles Close William Goodenough Percy Cox Henry Balfour Philip Chetwode Francis Rodd Harry Lindsay James Wordie James Marshall-Cornwall Roger Nathan Raymond Priestley Dudley Stamp Gilbert Laithwaite Edmund Irving Edward Shackleton Duncan Cumming John Hunt Michael John Wise Vivian Fuchs George Bishop Roger Chorley Crispin Tickell George Jellicoe John Palmer
21st century	Ron Cooke Neil Cossons Gordon Conway Michael Palin Judith Rees Nicholas Crane Lynda Chalker Nigel Clifford

v t e Presidents of the Royal Historical Society
1871–1872 George Grote 1873–1878 John Russell, 1st Earl Russell 1878–1891 Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare 1891–1899 Sir M. E. Grant Duff 1899–1901 Sir Adolphus Ward 1901–1905 Sir George Prothero 1905–1909 William Hunt 1909–1913 William Cunningham 1913–1917 Sir Charles Firth 1917–1921 Sir Charles Oman 1921–1925 Sir John Fortescue 1925–1929 Frederick Tout 1929–1933 Sir Richard Lodge 1933–1937 Sir F. M. Powicke 1937–1945 Sir Frank Stenton 1946–1949 Robert William Seton-Watson 1949–1953 Theodore Plucknett 1953–1957 Hale Bellot 1957–1961 David Knowles 1961–1965 Sir Goronwy Edwards 1965–1969 Robin Humphreys 1969–1973 Sir R. W. Southern 1973–1977 Sir Geoffrey Elton 1977–1981 Sir John Habakkuk 1981–1985 Sir J. C. Holt 1985–1989 Gerald Aylmer 1989–1993 Michael Thompson 1993–1997 Sir Rees Davies 1997–2001 Sir P. J. Marshall 2001–2005 Dame Janet Nelson 2005–2008 Martin Daunton 2009–2012 Colin Jones 2012–2016 Peter Mandler 2016–2020 Margot Finn 2020-present Emma Griffin

Presidents of the Royal Historical Society

1871–1872 George Grote
1873–1878 John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
1878–1891 Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare
1891–1899 Sir M. E. Grant Duff
1899–1901 Sir Adolphus Ward
1901–1905 Sir George Prothero
1905–1909 William Hunt
1909–1913 William Cunningham
1913–1917 Sir Charles Firth
1917–1921 Sir Charles Oman
1921–1925 Sir John Fortescue
1925–1929 Frederick Tout
1929–1933 Sir Richard Lodge
1933–1937 Sir F. M. Powicke
1937–1945 Sir Frank Stenton
1946–1949 Robert William Seton-Watson
1949–1953 Theodore Plucknett
1953–1957 Hale Bellot
1957–1961 David Knowles
1961–1965 Sir Goronwy Edwards
1965–1969 Robin Humphreys
1969–1973 Sir R. W. Southern
1973–1977 Sir Geoffrey Elton
1977–1981 Sir John Habakkuk
1981–1985 Sir J. C. Holt
1985–1989 Gerald Aylmer
1989–1993 Michael Thompson
1993–1997 Sir Rees Davies
1997–2001 Sir P. J. Marshall
2001–2005 Dame Janet Nelson
2005–2008 Martin Daunton
2009–2012 Colin Jones
2012–2016 Peter Mandler
2016–2020 Margot Finn
2020-present Emma Griffin

v t e Rectors of the University of Aberdeen
Edward Maitland Earl Russell M. E. Grant Duff Thomas Henry Huxley W. E. Forster Earl of Rosebery Alexander Bain Viscount Goschen Marquess of Huntly Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal Charles Thomson Ritchie Sir Frederick Treves H. H. Asquith Andrew Carnegie Winston Churchill Viscount Cowdray Sir Robert Horne Viscount Cecil of Chelwood Earl of Birkenhead Sir Arthur Keith Walter Elliot Admiral Sir Edward Evans Sir Stafford Cripps Eric Linklater Baron Tweedsmuir Jimmy Edwards Admiral Sir Rhoderick McGrigor John Bannerman Peter Scott Brigadier Sir John Hunt Frank George Thomson Jo Grimond Michael Barratt Iain Cuthbertson Sandy Gall Robert Perryment Hamish Watt Willis Pickard Colin Bell Ian Hamilton Allan Macartney Clarissa Dickson Wright Robin Harper Stephen Robertson Maitland Mackie Maggie Chapman Martina Chukwuma-Ezike Iona Fyfe

Rectors of the University of Aberdeen

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