Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer GCB, OM, GCMG, KCSI, CIE, PC, FRS (26 February 1841 – 29 January 1917), was a British statesman, diplomat and colonial administrator. He was British controller-general in Egypt during 1879, part of the international Control which oversaw Egyptian finances after the khedives' mismanagement, and during the British occupation prompted by the Urabi revolt, agent and consul-general in Egypt from 1883 to 1907.
1917 Obituary [1]
The Eight Hon. THE EARL OF CROMER, G.C.B., O.M., G.C.M.G., K.C.S.I., C.I.E., P.C., F.R.S., who died in London on the 29th January, 1917, was an Honorary Member of The Institution, into which he was elected on the 3rd March, 1903, “because of his eminent services in developing the resources of Egypt by irrigation works of great magnitude and by the improvement of the means of communication by roads and railways.”
He was born on the 26th February, 1841, at Cromer Hall, Norfolk, entered the Royal Artillery at the age of 17, and in 1872 went to India as Private Secretary to his cousin, the Viceroy, Lord Northbrook. From that date until he retired in 1907, his career was devoted to public administration in India and in Egypt. It would be impossible here to give any adequate account of Lord Cromer’s services to the Empire, which have been fully recorded elsewhere. In announcing his death the President, Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice, said:- "Lord Cromer was very intimately associated with the work of engineers, as it was necessary for him to make arrangements, both financial and otherwise, for carrying out the great engineering works which changed Egypt from a country nearly bankrupt to one of immense wealth. . . . Lord Cromer thought well of engineers, and engineers were always proud to work under him, the principal reason no doubt being that he was a man who got things done.”
Lord Cromer retired, in May, 1907, from the position of British Agent and Consul-General in Egypt, owing to ill-health, but until his death he continued to take a keen interest and an active part in many matters affecting the Empire. In 1909 he unveiled the memorial window to Sir Benjamin Baker, presented to Westminster Abbey by The Institution.