President of the Board of Control

The President of the Board of Control was a British government official in the late 18th and early 19th century responsible for overseeing the British East India Company and generally serving as the chief official in London responsible for Indian affairs. The position was frequently a cabinet level one. The position was abolished in 1858 with the abolition of the East India Company. It was succeeded by the new position of Secretary of State for India.

Presidents of the Board of Control, 1784-1858

• Thomas Townshend, 1st Lord Sydney, 1st Viscount Sydne (1789) 1784-1790
• William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Lord Grenville 1790-1793
• Henry Dundas 1793-1801
• George Legge, Viscount Lewisham, 3rd Earl of Dartmouth (1801) 1801-1802
• Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh 1802-1806
• Gilbert Elliot, 1st Lord Minto 1806
• Thomas Grenville 1806-1807
• Robert Dundas 1807-1809
• Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby 1809
• Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville (1811) 1809-1812
• Robert Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire 1812-1816
• George Canning 1816-1821
• Charles Bathurst 1821-1822
• Charles Watkin Williams Wynn 1822-1828
• Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville 1828
• Edward Law, 2nd Lord Ellenborough 1828-1830
• Charles Grant 1830-1834
• Edward Law, 2nd Lord Ellenborough 1834-1835
• Sir John Cam Hobhouse, bt. 1835-1841
• Edward Law, 2nd Lord Ellenborough 1841
• William Vesey Fitzgerald, 1st Lord Fitzgerald 1841-1843
• Frederick John Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon 1843-1846
• Sir John Cam Hobhouse, bt. 1846-1852
• Fox Maule 1852
• John Charles Herries 1852
• Sir Charles Wood, bt. 1852-1855
• Robert Vernon Smith 1855-1858
• Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough 1858
• Edward Henry Stanley, Lord Stanley 1858