Trevelyan, Sir Charles Edward [key], 1807–86, British colonial administrator. After a period of service in India, he returned (1838) to England and was (1840–59) assistant secretary of the treasury. He was knighted (1848) for his administration of Irish famine relief. In 1853 he headed, with Sir Stafford Northcote (later earl of Iddesleigh), the important commission that recommended recruitment to the civil service by competitive examination. He was governor of Madras (1859–60) and finance minister in India (1862–65), promoting public works. Trevelyan was father of the historian George Otto Trevelyan and brother-in-law of Thomas Macaulay.
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