sir william stevenson meyer was appointed as the first high commissioner of india in 1920 a.d.
sir william stevenson meyer was appointed as the first high commissioner of india in 1920 a.d.
who was appointed as the first high commissioner of india in 1920 a.d?
sir william stevenson meyer
on 13 august 1920, king-emperor george v issued the required order in council. until india became independent in 1947, the post was styled "high commissioner for india". the first high commissioner for india was indian civil service officer sir william stevenson meyer; the first of indian origin was sir dadiba merwanji dalal. the high commissioner enjoyed the same status as his counterparts from the british dominions. upon indian independence, the post was given the present designation.
india house, london
the first dominion high commissioner was appointed by canada as its envoy in london. previously, sir john rose, 1st baronet, a canadian businessman resident in london and former canadian finance minister, had acted as the personal representative of the canadian prime minister sir john a. macdonald, from 1869 to 1874 and then was given the title of financial commissioner from 1874 until 1880. alexander mackenzie, while he was prime minister, appointed edward jenkins a british member of parliament with links to canada, to act as the government's representative in london as agents-general (1874–1876), followed by former nova scotia premier william annand (1876–1878). when macdonald returned to power in 1878 he requested to elevate the position of financial commissioner to resident minister, but was denied the request by the british government who instead offered to allow the designation of high commissioner. the canadian government appointed alexander tilloch galt as the first high commissioner of canada to the united kingdom in 1880.
high commissioner (commonwealth)