Governors from 1700 to 1774

The oldest British Settlement in India is that of Fort St. George, Madras, the next being Bombay. The first British factories in Bengal were established in 1633 and from that date to 1700 the Bengal establishment was subordinate to Madras except for a period of two years between 1682 and 1684 when William Hodges was appointed independent Governor of Bengal. Bengal was made a Presidency in 1699 and the period of permanent independent Governors of Bengal started in 1700, the first being Job Charnock’s son-in-law. Sir Charles Eyre, and the title that was held till 1774 was President in the Bay and Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Fort William in Bengal for the United East India Company. From 1699 therefore there were three Presidencies Madras, Bombay and Bengal, each of which, governed by a President or Governor with a Council, was entirely independent of the others and subordinate only to the Directors in London.