Trevelyan, Sir Charles Edward

Trevelyan, Sir Charles Edward (1807-1886) was one of the prominent members in the famous Anglicist-Orientalist debate of the 1820s and early 1830s. Educated at haileybury college and secretary to the Board of Revenue, Charles Edward Trevelyan supported thomas babington macaulay, the Law Member of the Council, in his arguments against giving public instructions in vernaculars. It was Trevelyan and Macaulay who actually led the Anglicist group in the debate and finally carried their viewpoint through.

The new education policy made English compulsory for all educational institutions receiving government grant-in-aid. He was also instrumental in reforming civil service and introducing competitive examination in recruiting civilians since 1854. Trevelyan was the governor of Madras from March 1859 to June 1860. He became the Finance Member of the Governor General';s Council in 1863. He was made a Baron in 1874. Trevelyan suggested in 1880 to convert the scripts of the Indian languages into Roman script. His suggestion, however, did not receive support from any serious quarter, either from India or from Europe. [Sirajul Islam]