During the height of the famine, Trevelyan was slow to disburse direct government food and monetary aid to the Irish due to his strong belief in laissez-faire economics and the free hand of the market.
Full Answer
How important was Charles Trevelyan to the famine relief policy?
The revisionist historians will generally admit that Charles Trevelyan was an influential adviser for his government department, but not the key influence on the British Government’s overall Famine relief policy.
What did Sir Charles Trevelyan do in the 1850s?
Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet. Trevelyan was instrumental in the process of reforming the British civil service in the 1850s, but this legacy has largely been overshadowed by the controversial role he played in the British government's response to the Irish Potato Famine .
Was Trevelyan to blame for the Irish Famine?
Though no one man can be accused for the disasters of the famine, It could be argued that an individual by the name of Trevelyan was responsible for exacerbating the fatalities of Irish during the famine years because of a lack of effective action.
What did Trevelyan do to help the poor?
Trevelyan relied heavily on officials on the ground such as Sir Randolph Routh, head of the Famine Relief Commission, who played a prominent role in organising the distribution of relief, especially supplies of grain.
Why is Charles Edward Trevelyan's name etched in our understanding of the Great Irish Famine?
Charles Edward Trevelyan's name is etched in our understanding of the Great Irish Famine due to the reference to stealing 'Trevelyan’s corn’ in Pete St. John’s ballad, The Fields of Athenry (1979). Sung by Irish and Celtic football fans, it is the unofficial national anthem of both the Irish at home and across ...
How many people perished in the Trevelyan relief effort?
On this measure the relief efforts that Trevelyan designed and implemented fell far short of what was needed, since at least one million people perished.
What was Trevelyan's career?
Trevelyan had a very successful career in India, including famously denouncing one of his superiors for bribery , a case which was upheld and led to the subsequent dismissal of Sir Edward Colebrooke in 1829.
What was the main reform of the Northcote-Trevelyan report?
Trevelyan’s major reform was introducing the principle of open competition for British civil service appointments as part of his role in the drafting of the Northcote–Trevelyan report (1854) for which he is widely credited, reforming a process that was previously characterised by patronage and corruption.
When did Trevelyan marry Hannah?
Trevelyan and Hannah were married in India in 1834. On furlough back in England from June 1838, he was unexpectedly appointed to the post as Assistant Secretary to the Treasury in January 1840, just as he was about to return to India.
When was the programme of relief first published?
His own self-satisfied account of the programme of relief, first published anonymously in early 1848, then under his own name the same year, shows that he understood the issues of a 'famine of the thirteenth century acting upon a population of the nineteenth century', as Lord John Russell put it, even if his understanding of his society was shown to be wholly inadequate.
When did the relief effort begin?
That’s not to suggest his contribution was not important; in fact, he demonstrated impressive leadership in directing and supervising the official relief effort between September 1845 and September 1847 when the ‘exceptional’ measures were wound down.
Who was Sir Charles Trevelyan?
Sir Charles Edward Trevelyan, 1st Baronet, KCB (2 April 1807 – 19 June 1886) was a British civil servant and colonial administrator. As a young man, he worked with the colonial government in Calcutta, India; in the late 1850s and 1860s he served there in senior-level appointments.
What did Trevelyan do?
For some time he acted as guardian to the youthful Madhu Singh, the Rajah of Bhurtpore. He also worked to improve the condition of the native population. He abolished the transit duties by which the internal trade of India had long been fettered. For these and other services, he received the special thanks of the governor-general in council. Before leaving Delhi, he donated personal funds for construction of a broad street through a new suburb, then in course of erection, which thenceforth became known as Trevelyanpur.
When was Trevelyan appointed KCB?
Legacy and honours. Trevelyan was appointed KCB on 27 April 1848. Three decades later on 2 March 1874, he was created the first Trevelyan baronet, of Wallington . When his cousin Walter Calverley Trevelyan, 6th Baronet, of Nettlecombe, died at Wallington on 23 March 1879, he was childless after two marriages.
How many wives did Macaulay have?
He married twice: Firstly on 23 December 1834, in India, to Hannah More Macaulay (d. 5 August 1873), a sister of Lord Macaulay, then a member of the supreme council of India and one of his closest friends. By his first wife he had one son and heir: Sir George Otto Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet (1838–1928), the statesman.
Where was John Trevelyan born?
Descended from an ancient family of Cornwall, he was born in Taunton, Somerset, a son of the Venerable George Trevelyan, then a Cornish clergyman, later Archdeacon of Taunton, the 3rd son of Sir John Trevelyan, 4th Baronet (1735–1828) of Nettlecombe in Somerset. His mother was Harriet Neave, a daughter of Sir Richard Neave, 1st Baronet .
Where did the Trevelyan family come from?
Origins. Descended from an ancient family of Cornwall, he was born in Taunton, Somerset, a son of the Venerable George Trevelyan, then a Cornish clergyman, later Archdeacon of Taunton, the 3rd son of Sir John Trevelyan, 4th Baronet (1735–1828) of Nettlecombe in Somerset. His mother was Harriet Neave, a daughter of Sir Richard Neave, 1st Baronet .
Who edited the Trevelyan papers?
In conjunction with his cousin, Sir Walter Calverley Trevelyan, he edited the Trevelyan Papers ( Camden Society 1856, 1862, 1872).
Who was Trevelyan?
In other words, Trevelyan was simply a centrally placed civil servant who was unfortunate to become a ‘scapegoat’ for the manoeuvrings and machinations of the British Government and those who were governing Ireland from Dublin Castle.
Why was Trevelyan important?
In answer to those who wonder why Trevelyan was considered for such an important post. But, he had already enjoyed a distinguished career in India before the Famine, having been involved in schemes aimed at gaining economic improvement. At the same time, he had expounded very forthright views on educating the native Indian population along English lines. Because of his work in India, Trevelyan was convinced that he was qualified to handle any problems that related to land tenure and the consolidation of smallholdings in Ireland. He seems to have failed to recognise that in India he had presided over an area where smallholdings had been peacefully well established for many decades, which was not the case in Ireland. Furthermore, Trevelyan ignored the fact that India in the mid-nineteenth century was much different from Ireland in the same period, particularly when it came to the problems of widespread poverty and famine. Poverty and famine-stricken Ireland was a country that was supposed to be an integral part of the United Kingdom and expected to be treated as such. At the same time, Ireland resembled India only in its resistance to having English standards of improvement and development being imposed on them.
What did Trevelyan believe?
Trevelyan truly believed in Smiths theory and politically worked on the same basis. This explains Trevelyan’s harsh and enactive governing of the relief in Ireland. Trevelyan’s actions have been seen by many as brutal and inhuman but he may have possibly set the ground work for a new system in Ireland. [1] Coogan, Tim.
What did Trevelyan do to stop the exporting of Irish food?
Trevelyan refused to do anything to stop the extensive exporting of Irish foodstuffs and even defended it saying ‘do not encourage the idea of prohibiting exports…Perfect free trade is the right of course.’ [6] Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of starving Irish presents looked on as a quarter of a million sheep and close to half a million swine left the island to be exported to England. Trevelyan had to arrange for troops to be sent to Ireland so as to be on the ready for any food riots that broke out in the port cities. Trevelyan was an ideological follower of Adam Smith. Adam Smith is considered by many people to be the father of capitalism. In his celebrated work, The Wealth of Nations, he wrote:
Why did Trevelyan send troops to Ireland?
Trevelyan had to arrange for troops to be sent to Ireland so as to be on the ready for any food riots that broke out in the port cities. Trevelyan was an ideological follower of Adam Smith. Adam Smith is considered by many people to be the father of capitalism.
What was Trevelyan's moralistic view?
Trevelyan’s moralistic view was opposed to assistance on the grounds that the relief deprived the poor of the incentives to change the behaviours that made them poor. [4] . Trevelyan went as far as to say that “God had ‘sent the calamity to teach the Irish a lesson… [and it] must not be too much mitigated.’”. [5]
Who was responsible for the Irish famine?
Charles Edward Trevelyan. Though no one man can be accused for the disasters of the famine, It could be argued that an individual by the name of Trevelyan was responsible for exacerbating the fatalities of Irish during the famine years because of a lack of effective action. Trevelyan’s character has been compared to Yeats’s description ...
Why did the British governments fail so catastrophically to respond effectively to the Great Famine?
Why did British governments fail so catastrophically to respond effectively to the Great Famine? They were confronted by an unprecedented combination of crises in 1845-50 – repeated failures of the subsistence potato crop, the wildly fluctuating availability and cost of alternative foodstuffs, and political instability and economic crisis in Britain and Europe.
What was the most successful government intervention during the Great Famine?
Probably the most successful Government intervention over the years of the Great Famine was the introduction of the soup kitchens in the spring of 1847. The Government had come to recognise that the public relief works were both failing to stem the march of famine and fever and were deemed to be far too costly.
What did Peel and Russell refuse to do?
As free traders, both Peel and his successor Russell refused appeals to embargo food exports from Ireland, which were large in 1845 but smaller (if still significant) after the 1846 and subsequent harvests.
Why was the Relief Commission dissolved?
The Relief Commission was dissolved to allow more direct control from the Treasury, and the ‘Labour Rate Act’ passed, continuing public works but on much harsher terms. Projects were now to be of no economic value to landowners and wages were pegged below private levels and paid by ‘piece rates’, intended to stimulate work discipline but condemning the weak and elderly to hunger.
What were grants offered to stimulate the formation of district relief committees?
Grants were offered to stimulate the formation of district relief committees, comprised of landowners, clergy and other ‘notables’, to select labourers for the public works, raise charitable subscriptions, and distribute or sell subsidised food to those most in need.
Why did the government acknowledge the policy disaster?
The government acknowledged the policy disaster, not least because it was expensive as well as counter-productive : £5 million had been laid out on the public works. Under pressure from humanitarian groups such as the Quakers the state now turned to direct feeding of the poor via a network of soup kitchens.
How many people were dependent on the public works in 1847?
Desperation saw numbers on the works balloon to over 700,000 by March 1847, with between two and three million people dependent on their meagre earnings. The public works became a shambolic fiasco.
Who was the new government that did not handle the famine effectively?
A new government led by Lord John Russell did not handle the famine effectively.
What was the cause of the Great Famine?
The main cause was a disease which affected the potato crop, upon which a third of Ireland's population was dependent for food. There had been crop failures before but during the famine it failed across ...
What was Daniel O'Connell's exit from Parliament?
The famine was also the backdrop for Daniel O'Connell's exit from Parliament. Already seriously ill, in February 1847 he implored the House of Commons to treat Ireland with generosity. He died, en route to Rome, three months later.
When did Peel repeal the Corn Laws?
In 1846 Peel moved to repeal the Corn Laws, tariffs on grain that kept the price of bread artificially high, although this did little to ease the situation in Ireland as the famine worsened.
How many people died in the Great Famine?
Assessments of how many people died during the Great Famine, either of disease or hunger, stands at around 1,000,000. This, along with emigration to escape the famine, significantly reduced the population of Ireland. It also had a revolutionary impact on Irish politics, becoming a defining moment for Irish nationalists.
What did the Relief Commission do to keep unemployment down?
Meanwhile, a relief commission raised funds and distributed food, and a board of works initiated road building to keep unemployment down.
Did crop failures occur before the famine?
There had been crop failures before but during the famine it failed across the whole country, and reoccurred over several years.
Overview
Sir Charles Edward Trevelyan, 1st Baronet, KCB (2 April 1807 – 19 June 1886) was a British civil servant and colonial administrator. As a young man, he worked with the colonial government in Calcutta, India. He returned to Britain and took up the post of Assistant Secretary to the Treasury. During this time he was responsible for facilitating the government's inadequate response to the Irish f…
Origins
Descended from an ancient family of Cornwall, he was born in Taunton, Somerset, a son of the Venerable George Trevelyan, then a Cornish clergyman, later Archdeacon of Taunton, the 3rd son of Sir John Trevelyan, 4th Baronet (1735–1828) of Nettlecombe in Somerset. His mother was Harriet Neave, a daughter of Sir Richard Neave, 1st Baronet.
Much of the wealth of the family derived from the holding of slaves in Grenada.
Education
He was educated at Blundell's School in Devon, at Charterhouse School and then the East India Company College at Haileybury in Hertfordshire. R.A.C. Balfour stated that "his early life was influenced by his parents' membership of the Clapham Sect – a group of sophisticated families noted for their severity of principle as much as for their fervent evangelism." Trevelyan was a student of the economist Thomas Malthus while at Haileybury. His rigid adherence to Malthusian …
Career
In 1826, as a young man, Trevelyan joined the East India Company as a writer and was posted to the Bengal Civil Service at Delhi, India. There, by a combination of diligence and self-discipline together with his outstanding intellectual talents he achieved rapid promotion. He occupied several important and influential positions in various parts of India, but his priggish and often indi…
Marriages and issue
He married twice:
• Firstly on 23 December 1834, in India, to Hannah More Macaulay (d. 5 August 1873), a sister of Lord Macaulay, then a member of the supreme council of India and one of his closest friends. By his first wife he had one son and heir:
• Secondly on 14 October 1875 he married Eleanor Anne Campbell, a daughter of Walter Campbell of Islay in Scotland.
Biography
He entered the East India Company's Bengal civil service as a writer in 1826, having displayed from an early age a great proficiency in Asian languages and dialects. On 4 January 1827, Trevelyan was appointed assistant to Sir Charles Theophilus Metcalfe, the commissioner at Delhi, where, during a residence of four years, he was entrusted with the conduct of several important missions. For some time he acted as guardian to the youthful Madhu Singh, the Rajah of Bhurtpore. He als…
Legacy and honours
Trevelyan was appointed KCB on 27 April 1848. Three decades later on 2 March 1874, he was created the first Trevelyan baronet, of Wallington.
When his cousin Walter Calverley Trevelyan, 6th Baronet, of Nettlecombe, died at Wallington on 23 March 1879, he was childless after two marriages. He bequeathed his north-country property to Charles. A biographer from the family notes that Walter had changed his will in 1852, having bee…
Publications
In addition to works mentioned, Trevelyan wrote the following:
• The Application of the Roman Alphabet to all the Oriental Languages, 1834; 3rd ed. 1858.
• A Report upon the Inland Customs and Town Duties of the Bengal Presidency, 1834.
• The Irish Crisis, 1848; 2nd ed. 1880.