John Adam (administrator)

John Adam (* May 4, 1779, † June 4, 1825 before Madagascar) was a British officer and interim Governor General of Fort William.

Life

He was born the son of a Scottish Member of Parliament William Adams and educated at Charterhouse. After a year at the University of Edinburgh he reached Calcutta in 1796. He was private and Political Secretary of the Governor-General Hastings whom he accompanied in the field during the third Marathenkrieges. In 1817 he was appointed by the Court of Directors to Council member. After Hastings ' departure in January 1823, Adam was interim governor-general until in August of the same year by William Pitt Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst, was replaced.

During his tenure, Adam curtailed the freedom of the press in British India. He cited James Silk Buckingham, founder of the Calcutta Journal, because critical of the government reporting in the country and issued regulations that restrict the ability to criticize the newspapers. Buckingham called, among others, the Privy Council and the House of Commons. Adams decision was upheld by this though. Adam used as the first governor general government funds to give locals opportunities to education.

After health problems, he was ordered back to their homeland and died on June 4, 1825 on the return trip before Madagascar.