Who was the first Law Member of the Governor-General's Council, appointed under the Charter Act of 1833?
- A.Lord Macaulay
- B.Lord Cornwallis
- C.Sir Elijah Impey
- D.Lord Dalhousie
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, Lord Macaulay. The Charter Act of 1833 added a fourth, law member to the Governor-General's Council for legislative work, and Thomas Babington Macaulay took up the post in 1834. He also became the first chairman of the Law Commission set up under the same Act, whose work led to the codification of Indian law, and he is separately remembered for his minute on education of 1835. Option B, Lord Cornwallis, is wrong because he was Governor-General from 1786 to 1793 and is remembered for the Permanent Settlement of 1793 and the civil service reforms called the Cornwallis Code. Option C, Sir Elijah Impey, is wrong because he was the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at Calcutta set up in 1774. Option D, Lord Dalhousie, is wrong because he was Governor-General from 1848 to 1856 and applied the Doctrine of Lapse.
Read the full article: Company Rule Acts 1773 to 1853: Provisions and PYQs
Practice Questions
View allWarren Hastings became the first Governor General of Bengal in ______.
- A.1772
- B.1778
- C.1775
- D.1773
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The Regulating Act of 1773 changed the designation of the Governor of Bengal to Governor-General of Bengal and created an Executive Council of four members to assist him, and Warren Hastings, who had been Governor of Bengal since 1772, became the first holder of the new office.
Read the full explanation →Which Act of the British Parliament created the office of the Governor-General of Bengal?
- A.Regulating Act, 1773
- B.Pitt's India Act, 1784
- C.Charter Act, 1813
- D.Charter Act, 1833
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It was the first attempt by the British Parliament to regulate the affairs of the East India Company: it redesignated the Governor of Bengal as the Governor-General of Bengal, gave him a Council of four, made Bombay and Madras subordinate to him and provided for a Supreme Court at Calcutta.
Read the full explanation →The Board of Control, which supervised the civil, military and revenue affairs of the Company's Indian territories, was set up by which Act?
- A.Regulating Act, 1773
- B.Amending Act, 1781
- C.Pitt's India Act, 1784
- D.Charter Act, 1793
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The Act separated the commercial and the political functions of the East India Company, leaving trade to the Court of Directors and placing civil, military and revenue administration under a newly created Board of Control answerable to Parliament.
Read the full explanation →Which Act ended the East India Company's monopoly of trade with India, leaving it only the tea trade and the trade with China?
- A.Charter Act, 1793
- B.Charter Act, 1813
- C.Charter Act, 1833
- D.Charter Act, 1853
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Pressed by British manufacturers who wanted a free market in India, Parliament threw Indian trade open to all British subjects and allowed the Company to keep only the tea trade and the trade with China.
Read the full explanation →The Governor-General of Bengal was made the Governor-General of India by which Act?
- A.Regulating Act, 1773
- B.Charter Act, 1813
- C.Charter Act, 1833
- D.Charter Act, 1853
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This Act was the final step in centralising British administration in India: it vested all civil and military powers in the Governor-General of India, took away the legislative powers of the Bombay and Madras governments, and made the East India Company a purely administrative agency holding its territories in trust…
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