His viceregency was a time of unrest in India, seeing the implementation of the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms (named for the Viceroy and Edwin Stanley Montagu, the Secretary of State for India, which gave greater authority to local Indian representative bodies), but also violent resistance, culminating in the implementation of martial law and the Amritsar Massacre of 1919. This led the Indian National Council to boycott the first regional elections in 1920, and Chelmsford returned home under a cloud, generally accused of incompetence, which did not prevented him from being raised to the dignity of Viscount.
In 1924, despite being a life-long Conservative, Chelmsford was persuaded to join the Labour government of Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 as First Lord of the Admiralty, though this was a technical post and he never joined the Party. After the fall of the government he retired from political life, devoting his later years to work on the Miners' Welfare Committee and to educational projects.
FredericJohnNapierThesiger, 1stViscountChelmsford, GCMG, GCSI, GCIE, GBE (12 August1868 - 1 April 1933) was a British statesman who served as Viceroy of India from 1916 to 1921.
Thesiger was the son of the 2nd Baron Chelmsford.
In 1924, despite being a life-long Conservative, Chelmsford was persuaded to join the Labour government of Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 as First Lord of the Admiralty, though this was a technical post and he never joined the Party.