Sir William Wedderburn
(1838-1918)
President - Bombay, 1889; Allahabad,
1910
Sir William was born in March 1838 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The
Wedderburns of the Scottish Border were a family of great antiquity. In
1859 William appeared for the Indian Civil Service examination. He left
for India in 1860 and began official duty at Dharwar as an Assistant
Collector. He was appointed Acting Judicial Commissioner in Sind and Judge
of the Sadar Court in 1874. In 1882 he became the District and Sessions
Judge of Poona. At the time of his retirement in 1887, he was the Chief
Secretary to the Government of Bombay.
During his service in India, William, Wedderburn's attention was
focussed on famine, the poverty of the Indian peasantry, the problem of
agricultural indebtedness and the question of reviving the ancient village
system. His concern with these problems brought him in touch with the
Indian National Congress. After his retirement, William Wedderburn threw
himself heart and soul into it. He presided over the fourth Congress held
in Bombay in 1889.
Meanwhile, after the death of his brother David, William succeeded to
the baronetcy in 1879. He entered Parliament in 1893 as a Liberal member
and sought to voice India's grievances in the House. He formed the Indian
Parliamentary Committee with which he was associated as Chairman from 1893
to 1900. In 1895, William Wedderburn represented India on the Welby
Commission (i.e. Royal Commission) on Indian Expenditure. He also began
participating in the activities of the Indian Famine Union, set up in June
1901, for investigation into famines and proposing preventive measures. He
came to India in 1904 to attend the 20th session of the Indian National
Congress in Bombay, which was presided over by Sir Henry Cotton. He was
again invited in 1910 to preside over the 25th session. He remained the
Chairman of the British Committee of the Congress from July 1889 until his
death.
As a Liberal, William. Wedderburn believed in the principle of
self-government. Along with the founders of the Indian National Congress,
he believed in the future of India in partnership with the British
Commonwealth and welcomed the formal proclamation made by the British
Government on August 20, 1917, that the goal of British policy in India
was the progressive establishment of self-government. Some members of the
old order condemned him as a disloyal officer, for his continual tirades
against the bureaucracy, his incessant pleading for the Indian peasant and
for his stand on constitutional reforms for India.
William Wedderburn's main contribution to the promotion of national
consciousness was his life-long labour on behalf of the Indian Reform
Movement. The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms were naturally regarded by him as
the crowning glory of his life's work.
- Sumanta Banerjee
What are the practical objects of the Congress movement? They are, to
revive the national life, and to increase the material prosperity of
country; and what better objects could we have before us? Lastly, as
regards our methods, they are open and constitutional, and based solely on
India's reliance upon British justice and love of fair play.
From the Presidential Address - Sir William Wedderburn
I.N.C.
Session, 1889, Bombay |
