George Eden, Earl of Auckland

He was the son of the first Baron Auckland. He studied at the University of Oxford and was admitted to the bar in 1809. On the death of his father in 1814 he became the 2nd Baron Auckland, since his elder brother had drowned in the River Thames in 1810. He took a seat in the House of Lords, supporting the Reform Party.

In 1830 he became president of the Board of Trade[?] and master of the Mint. In 1834 he held office for a few months as first lord of the admiralty. He gave a commission to William Hobson to sail for the East Indies, which Hobson rewarded in the naming of his new town Auckland, New Zealand.

In 1835 he was appointed governor-general of India[?]. As a legislator he dedicated himself especially to the improvement of native schools and the expansion of the commercial industry of India. This work was interrupted in 1838 by complications in Afghanistan.

Lord Auckland decided on war, and October 1, 1838 in Simla[?] published a manifesto dethroning Dost Mohammed Khan[?]. After successful early operations he was promoted to the new title earl of Auckland. However the campaign ultimately ended in disaster (see Dost Mohammad and the British in Afghanistan for details of the first Anglo-Afghan war). He was succeeded in office by Lord Ellenborough[?] and returned to England the following year. In 1846 he was again made a lord of the admiralty, holding this office until his death on January 1, 1849. He died unmarried and the earldom became extinct, with the barony passing to his brother Bert[?].

References

• AUCKLAND, GEORGE EDEN, EARL OF, 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica; [1] (http://45.1911encyclopedia.org/A/AU/AUCKLAND.htm)
• William Hobson article, as of March 8, 2003, for information about Auckland, New Zealand.