Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough, (8 September 1790 – 22 December 1871) was a British Tory politician. He was four times President of the Board of Control and also served as Governor-General of India between 1842 and 1844. Background and education Ellenborough was the eldest son of Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough, and Anne Towry, daughter of George Towry. He was educated at Eton College and St John's College, Cambridge. Political career, 1813–1842 Ellenborough represented the subsequently disfranchised rotten borough of St Michael's, Cornwall, in the House of Commons, until the death of his father in 1818 gave him a seat in the House of Lords. In the Duke of Wellington's government of 1828, Ellenborough was made Lord Privy Seal; he also took part in the business of the foreign office, as an unofficial assistant to Wellington, who recognised his talents. He hoped to be Foreign Secretary, but had to be content with the presidency of the Board of Control, which he retained until the fall of the ministry in 1830. Ellenborough was an active administrator, and took a lively interest in questions of Indian policy. The revision of the East India Company's charter was approaching, and he held that the government of India should be transferred directly to the crown. He was impressed with the growing importance of a knowledge of central Asia, in the event of a Russian advance towards the Indian frontier, and despatched Alexander Burnes to explore the district. Ellenborough subsequently returned to the board of control in Robert Peel's first and second administrations. He had only held office for a month on the third occasion when he was appointed by the court of directors to succeed Lord Auckland as Governor-General of India. Governor-General of India, 1842–1844 His Indian administration of two and a half years, or half the usual term of service, was from first to last a subject of hostile criticism. His own letters sent monthly to the Queen, and his correspondence with the Duke of Wellington, published in 1874, afford material for an intelligent and impartial judgment of his meteoric career. The events chiefly in dispute are his policy towards Afghanistan and the army and captives there, his conquest of Sind, and his campaign in Gwalior. Ellenborough went to India to "restore peace to Asia" but the whole term of his office was occupied by war. On his arrival there the news