Babakigadi123 at 03:19, 29 December 2025

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{{Short description|British India public servant (1881–1962)}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=April 2019}}
{{wikisource|Author:Herbert William Emerson}}
[[File:Herbert William Emerson.jpg|thumb|Former Governor of Punjab]]

'''Sir Herbert William Emerson''', {{post-nominal|sep=,|GCIE|KCSI|CBE}} (1 June 1881 — 13 April 1962) was a [[Indian Civil Service|civil servant]] in [[British Raj|British India]] and served as the [[List of governors of Punjab (British India)|Governor of Punjab]] in the 1930s. Emerson University Multan was earlier known as Emerson College Multan, named after Sir Emerson's services as Governor Punjab in 1930.

==Early life==
He was born on 1 June 1881, at [[West Kirby]], England to Stephen S. Emerson and Emelia Susan Emerson. He was educated at [[Calday Grange Grammar School|Calday Grange School]] and [[Magdalene College, Cambridge]].<ref name="auto1">Journal Officiel: Supplément special / Société des nations. Switzerland, Harrison & Sons, 1939.</ref>

==Career==
===Early career===
He was appointed to the [[Imperial Civil Service|Indian Civil Service]] in 1904 and served as an Assistant Commissioner at [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]]. Between 1911 and 1914, he served as the Manager of the [[princely state]] of [[Bushahr]].<ref name="auto1"/> In 1916 he became Superintendent and Settlement Officer of [[Mandi State]]. The following year he was made an Assistant Commissioner and Settlement Officer in the Punjab, and in 1922 became Deputy Commissioner.<ref name="auto1"/>

===Home Secretary===
From April 1930 to April 1933, he served as the Home Secretary of the government of [[British Raj|British India]] succeeding [[Harry Graham Haig]]. In the role, Emerson had talks with [[Mahatma Gandhi]] over release of political prisoners after the [[Salt March|civil disobedience movement]]. He and the [[Governor-General of India|Viceroy]], [[Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|Lord Irwin]] agreed for negotiation and resulted in [[Gandhi–Irwin Pact]] which conditioned the release but only of those who have not been accused of violent oppression. Due to this, three revolutionaries [[Bhagat Singh]], [[Sukhdev]] & [[Shivaram Rajguru|Rajguru]], who had been accused for brutally murdering ASP of Lahore, John Saunders in late 1928, were hanged in the [[Kot Lakhpat Jail|Central Jail of Lahore]] in the evening of 23 March 1931.

There was great public furore after their hanging. In many places protests and strikes took place against the British Government's unjust decision to hang them after an illegitimate trial where they were not even chanced to be defended. People even protested against Emerson to be just working on the orders of the Viceroy and not bearing any decisive powers.

===Governor of Punjab===
In 1933, he was appointed [[List of governors of Punjab (British India)|Governor of the Punjab]] and [[Maurice Garnier Hallett|Sir Maurice Hallett]] took over as Home Secretary. The following year he took leave from the role and was deputised for four months by [[Sikandar Hayat Khan|Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan]].<ref>Punjab Administration Report. India, Government Printing, Punjab, 1934.</ref> Emerson served as Governor until his retirement in April 1938.<ref name="auto1"/>

==Other Home Secretaries before Emerson==
Here is a probable list of Home Secretaries of the [[British Raj#Organisation|British Indian government]] who had served before Emerson —

*[[Herbert Hope Risley|Sir Herbert Hope Risely]] — 1904–1910
*[[William Sinclair Marris|Sir William Sinclair Marris]] — 1913–1916
*[[James Houssemayne Du Boulay|Sir James Houssemayne Du Boulay]] — 1916–1919
*Sir Sidney Robert Hignell — 1919–1921
*[[Henry Duffield Craik|Sir H. D. Craik]] — 1921–1926
*[[Harry Graham Haig|Sir Harry Graham Haig]] — 1926–1930

==Later life==
On 23 September 1938, he became League of Nations' High Commissioner for Refugees, and later Director of the Inter-Governmental Committee on Refugees, dealing primarily with Russian and European Jewish refugees.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jta.org/1938/09/23/archive/sir-herbert-emerson-former-punuab-governor-named-to-head-leagues-new-refugee-body | title=Sir Herbert Emerson, Former Punuab Governor, Named to Head League's New Refugee Body | date=23 September 1938 | publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency | accessdate=27 April 2019 }}</ref> He was an active writer, recording local customs and publicizing his opinions.

He died at the age of 80 on 13 April 1962 at the British capital [[London]].<ref>Obituaries on File: A-R. United States, Facts on File, 1979.</ref>

==Indian legacy==
He was portrayed by a British actor Ryan Jonathan in the 2002 [[Hindi cinema|Bollywood]] film ''[[The Legend of Bhagat Singh]]''. In the film, he had been wrongly portrayed as a Home Member of [[Viceroy's Executive Council]] while he had actually been a Home Secretary of the [[British Raj|Government of India]]. In it, his appearance also differs from his real one as he is shown having a moustache while he actually did not have any. Sir Herbert is also portrayed in the film ''[[Jinnah (film)|Jinnah (1998)]]''. He is shown as [[List of head of the State of Punjab (British India)|Governor of Punjab]] along with his deputy [[Sikandar Hayat Khan|Sikandar Hayat]] meeting with [[Mahatma Gandhi|Gandhi]] and [[Jawaharlal Nehru|Nehru]]. Sir Herbert played a key role in education in Punjab. Emerson College in Multan was established in 1920 in his honour. The college is now known as Emerson University.

== Literature ==
* Oxford Biography Index Number 101067177

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emerson, Herbert William}}
[[Category:Indian Civil Service (British India) officers]]
[[Category:Governors of Punjab (British India)]]
[[Category:1881 births]]
[[Category:1962 deaths]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Government Emerson College]]
[[Category:People educated at Calday Grange Grammar School]]
[[Category:Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge]]

Herbert William Emerson - Revision history

Babakigadi123 at 03:19, 29 December 2025