Historical Figures Codexery

Thomas Babington Macaulay

Whig historian, politician, and architect of English education in India.

Thomas Babington Macaulay was a British historian, poet, and Whig politician who served as Secretary at War and Paymaster General.[1] He is best known for his History of England, a key example of Whig history that argued for inevitable sociopolitical progress.[1] Macaulay, as a Whig historian, aligned with the Roundhead side during the 1642–1651 conflict.[2][1]

Quick Facts

Born
25 October 1800
Died
28 December 1859
Field
  • History
  • politics
  • education policy
Nationality
British
Known for
  • The History of England
  • Minute on Indian Education
  • Indian Penal Code

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Macaulay was born on 25 October 1800 at Rothley Temple in Leicestershire, the son of colonial governor and abolitionist Zachary Macaulay.[3] He was educated at a private school in Hertfordshire and then Trinity College, Cambridge, where he won the Chancellor's Gold Medal in 1821.[4] Macaulay served as MP for Calne and then Leeds, and in 1834 went to India as first Law Member of the Governor-General's Council.[5][6] His 1835 Minute on Indian Education introduced Western institutional education and English as the language of secondary instruction in India.[6][7]

He devoted his final years in India to creating a Penal Code, which was enacted after the 1857 Indian Mutiny.[8] After returning to his home country, he held the posts of Secretary at War from 1839 to 1841 and Paymaster General from 1846 to 1848.[1][9][10] A heart attack killed Macaulay on 28 December 1859; his History of England was left unfinished, and his burial took place in Westminster Abbey on 9 January 1860.[11]

What the cited sources add

A 2021 BBC article states that Macaulay's Indian Penal Code came into force in 1862 and contained Section 377, which criminalized intercourse "against the order of nature"[12] The BBC account notes that Macaulay believed the IPC was a "blessing" for India that would "modernise" its society.[12] Section 377 continues to exist in various forms in former colonies such as Pakistan, Singapore, and Bangladesh.[12] Keith Thomas's 2018 review in The New York Review of Books confirms that Whig historians from Macaulay to Trevelyan were Roundheads.[2]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Thomas Babington Macaulay" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: MacKenzie, "A family empire", BBC History Magazine, January 2013; Thomas, Keith. "A Cavalier Collection". The New York Review of Books, June 28, 2018. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Thomas, Keith. "A Cavalier Collection". The New York Review of Books, June 28, 2018.. facts only, no text reused. nybooks.com
  3. Wikipedia, "Thomas Babington Macaulay" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Biographical index of former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002", The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 2006; "Thomas Babbington Macaulay", Josephsmithacademy; Symonds, "Babington, Thomas (1758–1837), of Rothley Temple, nr. Leicester.", History of Parliament on-line; Kuper 2009, p. 146; Knight 1867, p. 8; Sullivan 2010, p. 21 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Thomas Babington Macaulay" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; Thomas, "Macaulay, Thomas Babington, Baron Macaulay (1800–1859), historian, essayist, and poet" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Thomas Babington Macaulay" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Thomas, "Macaulay, Thomas Babington, Baron Macaulay (1800–1859), historian, essayist, and poet"; Thomas, "Macaulay, Thomas Babington, Baron Macaulay (1800–1859), historian, essayist, and poet" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Thomas Babington Macaulay" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Evans 2002, p. 260; Ghosh, "Bentinck, Macaulay and the introduction of English education in India", History of Education, March 1995, p. 17–24; Cutts, "The Background of Macaulay's Minute", The American Historical Review, 1953-07-01, p. 824–853 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Thomas Babington Macaulay" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: MacKenzie, "A family empire", BBC History Magazine, January 2013 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Thomas Babington Macaulay" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "BHARATIYA NYAYA SANHITA IN PLACE OF INDIAN PENAL CODE", www.pib.gov.in; "'Government of India' – A Speech Delivered in the House of Commons on the 10th of July 1833", www.columbia.edu; "377: The British colonial law that left an anti-LGBTQ legacy in Asia", www.bbc.co.uk, 28 June 2021 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Thomas Babington Macaulay" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Thomas Babington Macaulay" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Macaulay's speeches on copyright law"; "Macaulay's speeches on copyright law" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Thomas Babington Macaulay" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Death of Lord Macaulay", The New York Times, 17 January 1960; Stanley, A.P., Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey (London; John Murray; 1882), p. 222.; Thomas, "Macaulay, Thomas Babington, Baron Macaulay (1800–1859), historian, essayist, and poet" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. "377: The British colonial law that left an anti-LGBTQ legacy in Asia", www.bbc.co.uk, 28 June 2021. facts only, no text reused. bbc.co.uk

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Thomas Babington Macaulay (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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