Michael Francis O`Dwyer, formally addressed as Sir Michael Francis O`Dwyer, GCIE, KCSI served as one of the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, which was annexed by British East India Company in 1849 after Second Anglo Sikh War through Treaty of Lahore, from the year 1912 to 1919. He was Born on April 1864 as the 6th son in a family of 14 children, to John O`Dwyer of Barronstown, Solohead, and Margaret O`Dwyer of Toem, Tipperary County, Ireland. Michael Francis O`Dwyer was killed by Udham Singh in the year 1940.
Early Life of Michael Francis O`Dwyer
Sir Michael Francis O`Dwyer received his education from St Stanislaus College in Tullamore and passed the entrance competition for the British Indian Civil Service in the year 1882. He successfully passed the final examination in 1884. O`Dwyer completed two years of probation at Balliol College, Oxford, and he obtained a first class in jurisprudence in his third year. He later joined the British Indian Civil Service in 1885.
Career of Michael Francis O`Dwyer
Michael Francis O`Dwyer was initially posted in Shahpur in Punjab and was involved in land revenue settlement work. Eventually he was appointed as the Director of Land Records and Agriculture in Punjab in the year 1896. The following year, he was put in charge of settlements of the princely states of Bharatpur and Alwar. After a long period, Sir Michael O`Dwyer was selected for a significant part in the organisation of the new North West Frontier Province and its detachment from Punjab by Lord Curzon. He served as the Revenue Commissioner of the British administration in India from the year 1901 to 1908. He also served as the acting Resident of British India in Hyderabad and Political Agent to the Governor General in Central India from the year 1910 to 1912. Sir Michael Francis O`Dwyer was knighted with Companion of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India (CSI) in June 1908.
Sir Michael Francis O`Dwyer, GCIE, KCSI was appointed as the Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab on 26 May 1913, while Lord Hardinge of Penshurst acted as Viceroy. He was knighted with Knight Commander of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India (KCSI) on 3 June 1913 after he assumed charge as the Lieutenant Governor. O`Dwyer served in office till 26 May 1919. He was appointed as Knight Grand Commander of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire (GCIE) on 4 June 1917 in the 1917 King`s Birthday Honours list.
During his tenure as the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab in undivided India the Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on 13 April 1919 in Amritsar. After the disorder in Punjab, Michael Francis O`Dwyer was relieved of his office. Later Edwin Montagu, the Secretary of State for India, condemned the severity of O`Dwyer, including his policy of communal punishment.
Literary Work of Michael Francis O`Dwyer
Sir Michael Francis O`Dwyer wrote and published a book titled The O`Dwyers of Kilnamanagh: The History of an Irish Sept, which was a historical and genealogical treatise detailing the O`Dwyer noble family.
Personal Life of Michael Francis O`Dwyer
Michael Francis O`Dwyer, GCIE, KCSI was married with Una O`Dwyer, who was appointed as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in her own right in the year 1919. Sir Michael Francis O`Dwyer was assassinated by a Sikh revolutionary named Udham Singh at the age of 75 on 13 March 1940. He was shot dead at a joint meeting of the East India Association and the Central Asian Society in Caxton Hall, London.
