Baron Antony Patrick Macdonnell MacDonnell

Antony Patrick MacDonnell, 1st Baron MacDonnell, (7 March 1844 - 9 June 1925), known as Sir Antony MacDonnell between 1893 and 1908, was an Irish civil servant, much involved in the administration of India. He was Permanent Under-Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1902-1908); Member of the Council of India (1902); Privy Councillor (1902); Lieutenant-Governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh (1895-1901); Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal (1893-1895); Chief Commissioner of the Central Provinces (1890-1893); Chief Commissioner of Burma (1889-1890); Home Secretary to the Central Government of India (1886-1889); Secretary to the Government of Bengal and the Bengal Legislative Council. MacDonnell sanctioned Rs. 20,000 from the provincial budget in 1900 for the construction of a hostel at Aligarh Muslim University to meet lodging problems of the students at the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College. The construction work was completed in March 1904 and a hostel of Aftab Hall was named after him. MacDonnell was born at Palmfield House, Carracastle, Shragh, County Mayo, in Connacht, on 7 March 1844, to Mark Garvey MacDonnell (1807-1889) and his wife Bedelia (née O'Hara). He was educated at Summerhill College, Athlone, County Westmeath, and at the age of fifteen enrolled at Queen's College, Galway. His main area of study was the field of modern languages, and he graduated with the degree of B.A. in 1864, winning the Peel Gold Medal. Little is known of MacDonnell's early life, as he left no memoirs nor any letters. He participated in the Literary & Debating Society (then known as the Literary and Scientific Society) at Queen's College, holding the office of vice-auditor for the 1863-1864 session; indeed he was referred to by one of his professors as the finest debater he had ever seen. On leaving university in 1864, MacDonnell successfully sat the entrance examination for the Indian Civil Service, and was posted to Bengal, arriving in Calcutta in November 1865.