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[[File:Sir Frederick James Halliday.png|thumb|Sir Frederick James Halliday]]

'''Sir Frederick James Halliday''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCB}} (25 December 1806 – 22 October 1901) was a British civil servant and the first Lieutenant-Governor of [[Bengal]].

==Early life and career==
Frederick James Halliday was born on 25 December 1806 at [[Ewell]], Surrey. According to the ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'', he was educated at [[Rugby School]].<ref name=ODNB /> However, a 1901 publication says that, although he went to Rugby in 1814, he entered [[St Paul's School, London]] in 1815, spent seven years there and thus "he may fairly be claimed as a Scholar of St. Paul's."<ref>{{cite book |title=Our Public Schools, Their Influence on English History |first=James George Cotton |last=Minchin |year=1901 |url=https://archive.org/details/ourpublicschool00cottgoog |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ourpublicschool00cottgoog/page/n292 271]–272 |location=London |publisher=S. Sonnenschein & Co |access-date=14 May 2012}}</ref> This is also the opinion of a historian of St. Paul's, Michael McDonnell, who notes that Halliday was sent to Rugby to be under the influence of its head master, [[John Sleath]], and moved to St. Paul's as a consequence of Sleath being appointed as [[High Master (academic)|High Master]] there.<ref>{{cite book |title=A History of St. Paul's School |first=Michael Francis Joseph |last=McDonnell |location=London |publisher=Chapman & Hall |year=1909 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofstpaul00uoft/page/n332 379], 395 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofstpaul00uoft |access-date=14 May 2012|isbn=9781440044298 }}</ref> Subsequently, he attended the [[East India College]] in [[East India Company College|Haileybury]], before joining the Bengal civil service in 1824.<ref name=ODNB /> He attended [[Fort William College]] in [[Calcutta]], where he was taught by [[Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar|I. C. Vidyasagar]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Thinkers of the Indian Renaissance |first=Gopal. |last=Haldar |editor-first=Donald H. |editor-last=Bishop |edition=Second |publisher=New Age International |location=New Delhi |year=1998 |orig-year=1982 |chapter=I. C. Vidyasagar: Realist and Humanist |page=81 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sGXRtaQklagC |isbn=978-81-224-1122-5 |access-date=14 May 2012}}</ref> His first office in the civil service was as an assistant working for the supreme court in 1825.<ref name=ODNB>{{ODNBweb|id=33660|title=Halliday, Sir Frederick James (1806–1901), administrator in India}}</ref>

Halliday had become secretary to the Board of Revenue by 1836 and was appointed Home Secretary for the Government of India in 1849. He took a period of leave in England between July 1852 and November 1853, although he was frequently called upon to provide information to [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] during that time.<ref name=ODNB />

==Lieutenant-governor==
Around May 1854, Halliday was appointed as the first Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal. He took up residence at [[Belvedere Estate|Belvedere House]], the former home of [[Warren Hastings]] in Calcutta.<ref>{{cite book |title=Parganas: Bengal District Gazetteers |first=L. S. S. |last=O'Malley |edition=Reprinted |publisher=Logos Press |location=New Delhi |orig-year=1914 |year=2009 |isbn=978-81-7268-193-7 |page=207 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Hkj2xOrEwkC |access-date=15 May 2012}}</ref> Prior to that time the region had been overseen by the [[Governor-General of India|governor-general]], and by a deputy-governor when the former was away. The deputies were appointed more on the basis of seniority than of merit. It had been recognised for some time that continued territorial acquisitions, which involved disparate populations and regions, both necessitated different administrative approaches and were causing the governor-general to be more frequently away from the area. The [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie|Marquess of Dalhousie]], who was governor-general between 1847 and 1856, took the opportunity presented by the renewal of the [[East India Company]]'s [[Royal charter|charter]] to reorganise affairs. It was anticipated that the appointment of Halliday would result in significant improvements to the administration of Bengal, and this proved to be the case because he had gained considerable administrative experience by this time.<ref name=ODNB /><ref>{{cite book |title=The Cambridge History of the British Empire: The Indian empire 1858–1918 |volume=5 |pages=21–22 |chapter=District Administration in Bengal, 1818–1858 |first=Sir H. Verney |last=Lovett |editor-first=Henry Herbert |editor-last=Dodwell |publisher=CUP Archive |year=1932 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G-48AAAAIAAJ |access-date=14 May 2012}}</ref>

[[File:Belvedere House Alipur Calcutta (Kolkata) by William Prinsep 1838.jpg|thumb|1838 illustration by [[Prinsep|William Prinsep]] of Belvedere House, Calcutta. This became Halliday's official residence as lieutenant-governor from 1854.]]

Among his achievements was the building of numerous roads that linked various towns. He also enabled much progress in the construction of the [[East Indian Railway]]. Both of these were seen by Halliday as necessities, for he recognised that speedy and accurate communication was a prerequisite for efficient administration. He introduced the Calcutta Municipal Act, enacted reforms of the police service (including better pay), tightened supervision of the inefficient justice system and increased the number of its officials. Arrangements were also introduced to limit civil disturbances and disruption by, for example, creating a force of military police. Although Bengal was on the periphery of events relating to the [[Indian rebellion of 1857]], and Halliday was commended for his successes in dealing with civil unrest,<ref name=ODNB /> he provided advice to [[Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning|Lord Canning]], the governor-general, regarding how to deal with the rebellion elsewhere. He had past experience of uprisings, including one that had occurred at [[Santhal rebellion|Santal]] in 1855, soon after his appointment to office.<ref name=ODNB /><ref>{{cite book |title=The Cambridge History of the British Empire: The Indian empire 1858–1918 |volume=5 |page=27 |chapter=District Administration in Bengal, 1818–1858 |first=Sir H. Verney |last=Lovett |editor-first=Henry Herbert |editor-last=Dodwell |publisher=CUP Archive |year=1932 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G-48AAAAIAAJ |access-date=14 May 2012}}</ref>

Aside from his administrative reforms, Halliday was also active in pursuit of social change. While serving as a magistrate in [[Hooghly district]] in 1829, he had witnessed the last legal ''[[sati (practice)|sati]]'' (ritual burning of a widow) in Bengal,<ref>{{cite book |title=Ashes of Immmortality: Widow-burning in India |first=Catherine |last=Weinberger-Thomas |others=Trans. Mehlman, Jeffrey and White, David Gordon |year=1999 |orig-year=1996 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |pages=41–42 |isbn=0-226-88568-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3wPthVcxWGkC |access-date=15 May 2012}}</ref> and as lieutenant-governor he sought to enforce the anti-sati legislation that had been enacted soon after. He was also involved in enabling the [[Widow Remarriage Act]] to facilitate the remarriage of Hindu widows,<ref name=ODNB /> that piece of legislation being a consequence of agitation by, among others, his former mentor, Vidyasagar.<ref>{{cite book |title=Women and Social Reform in Modern India: A Reader |editor1-first=Sumit |editor1-last=Sarkar |editor2-first=Tanika |editor2-last=Sarkar|publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-253-22049-3 |first=Lucy |last=Carroll |chapter= Law, Custom and Statutory Social Reform: The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of 1856 |orig-year=First published in ''Indian Economic and Social History Review'', '''20''', Oct.-Dec. 1983, pp. 363-388 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GEPYbuzOwcQC |page=79}}</ref> Indeed, Vidyasagar enjoyed a close relationship to Halliday during the 1850s, and this helped achieve changes in other social policy spheres, such as education.<ref>{{cite book |title=Women and Social Reform in Modern India: A Reader |editor1-first=Sumit |editor1-last=Sarkar |editor2-first=Tanika |editor2-last=Sarkar|publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-253-22049-3 |first=Sumit |last=Sarkar |chapter=Vidyasagar and Brahmanical Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GEPYbuzOwcQC |pages=122, 127}}</ref> Halliday was an enthusiastic supporter of the [[Wood's despatch|despatch on education]] formulated by [[Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax|Charles Wood]] in 1854, and as a consequence various measures were implemented. These included the establishment of director of public instruction for the region and the incorporation of the [[University of Calcutta]].<ref name=ODNB />

Halliday left the office of lieutenant-governor in May 1859. He had generally enjoyed the support of the governor-general during his tenure but he did antagonise some people within the official circles of the Indian government. Most notably, he had a long-running dispute with William Tayler, whom he considered to be incompetent. Halliday eventually removed Tayler from his position as [[District Commissioner (British Colonial)|Commissioner]] of [[Patna]], following what Halliday considered to be a poor decision made by Tayler. This ultimately caused Tayler to resign and to bear a resentment that persisted until he died in 1892 and caused him publicly to seek redress for Halliday's actions.<ref name=ODNB /><ref>{{cite book |title=Fulham: Old and New |url=https://archive.org/details/fulhamoldandnew00frgoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/fulhamoldandnew00frgoog/page/n252 238] |year=1900 |first=Charles James |last=Fèret |volume=III |location=London |publisher=The Leadenhall Press |access-date=17 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Cambridge History of the British Empire: The Indian empire 1858–1918 |volume=5 |pages=180–181 |chapter=The Mutiny |first=T. Rice |last=Holmes |editor-first=Henry Herbert |editor-last=Dodwell |publisher=CUP Archive |year=1932 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G-48AAAAIAAJ |access-date=14 May 2012}}</ref>

==Subsequent life==
In 1860 Halliday was appointed a [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]].<ref name=ODNB /> He served as a Member of the [[Council of India]] from 1868 to 1886.<ref name=ODNB />

Halliday, who had a lifelong interest in music, was a player of the [[contrabass]] and from this acquired the nickname of "Big Fiddle". He married Eliza Barbara Macgregor, the daughter of an officer in the army of the East India Company, on 25 December 1834. She predeceased him, in 1886, having borne several children,<ref name=ODNB /> one of whom — George Thomas Halliday — was later a Lieutenant-General in the [[Bengal Cavalry]].<ref name=ODNB /><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/indianbiographic00raoc|page=[https://archive.org/details/indianbiographic00raoc/page/174 174] |title=Indian Biographical Dictionary |year=1915 |first=C. Hayavadana |last=Rao |location=Madras |publisher=Pillar & Co}}</ref>

He died, aged 95, on 22 October 1901 and is buried in [[Brompton Cemetery]], London.<ref name=ODNB />

His younger brother was General [[John Gustavus Halliday]] (1822–1917),{{Citation needed|date=May 2012}} and his grandson, Hastings Hadley D'Oyly (whom Clare Anderson thinks was probably named after Warren Hastings) was a member of the family of [[D'Oyly baronets]].<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Journal of Social History |date=Winter 2011 |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=480–496 [495] |doi=10.1093/jsh/shr054 |title=Writing Indigenous Women's Lives in the Bay of Bengal: Cultures of Empire in the Andaman Islands, 1789–1906 |first=Clare |last=Anderson |pmid=22299198 |hdl=2381/28653 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of Governors of Bengal]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |title=Bengal Under The Lieutenant-Governors |url=https://archive.org/details/bengalunderlieu00buckgoog |first=Charles Edward |last=Buckland |volume=1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bengalunderlieu00buckgoog/page/n144 1]–162 |location=Calcutta |publisher=S. K. Lahiri & Co |year=1901}}

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{{succession box|title=[[List of British rulers and high officials in Bengal|Lieutenant-governor of Bengal]]|years=1854–1859|before=None
|after=[[John Peter Grant|Sir John Peter Grant]]}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Halliday, Frederick James}}
[[Category:1806 births]]
[[Category:1901 deaths]]
[[Category:British East India Company civil servants]]
[[Category:Indian Civil Service (British India) officers]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Burials at Brompton Cemetery]]
[[Category:Members of the Council of India]]
[[Category:People from Ewell]]
[[Category:People educated at Rugby School]]
[[Category:Lieutenant-governors of Bengal]]
[[Category:People educated at St Paul's School, London]]

Frederick James Halliday - Revision history

>Citation bot at 16:38, 14 February 2021