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Womesh Chandra Banerjee (1844-1906) was born into a prosperous Brahmin family in Calcutta. Following in his family’s footsteps, he studied law (at the Middle Temple in London) and went on to have a successful legal career. He assisted in forming the London Indian Society, which later merged with the East India Association, while in London. As a result, even while in London, he advocated for his country and its people. Banerjee, a nationalist and supporter of the Swadeshi movement, is one of the party’s youngest presidents in its 133-year old history.
Womesh Chandra Banerjee – Life Story
- W C Banerjee was born in Calcutta on December 29, 1844. He completed his education at the Oriental Seminary and the Hindu School.
- He began his legal career as a clerk in a law firm in Calcutta in 1862. Banerjee moved to England in 1864 to study law, and three years later, he was called to the Bar.
- He returned to Calcutta in 1868 and began practising law. As a barrister, solid reputation and changes brought by him.
- He was the first Indian to be named a Standing Counsel in 1882. In 1884, 1886, and 1887, he served as a judge three more times.
- Banerjee presided over the INC’s first session in December 1885 in Bombay. A total of 72 people attended this session.
- The following year, at the second INC session, presided over by Dadabhai Naoroji, Banerjee proposed that the party form Standing Committees for each province to coordinate its operations better.
- Banerjee was re-elected as President of the party in Allahabad in 1892.
- He also practised law in England for a time. During his time there, he was given a seat in the House of Commons by the Liberal Party.
- Despite his defeat, he was the first Indian to run for the British Parliament.
- In 1906, at the age of 61, he died in Calcutta.
A legal career
- Womesh Chandra Banerjee was born on December 29, 1844, in the Calcutta (now Kolkata) neighbourhood of Kidderpore to a family of two generations of lawyers and had a great role in the freedom struggle.
- In Calcutta, he studied at the Oriental Seminary and the Hindu School. Nonetheless, before he could compose his class ten tests, his dad had him articled to a nearby lawyer, W.P. Bringing down, in 1861. Therefore, he started his vocation as a legal advisor.
- After a year, he started functioning as a representative in the workplace of legal counsellor W.F. Gillanders. Banerjee took up the speciality of composing deeds and pleadings here.
- Womesh Chandra Banerjee moved to London in 1864 in the wake of winning the R.J. Jijibhai training grant. T.H. Dart and Edward Fry, two noticeable attorneys, showed him during his time in London. In one of his previous political undertakings, he assisted with laying out the London Indian Society.
- Banerjee was the principal Indian to be selected as a Standing Counsel, and he was named multiple times: in 1882, 1884, and 1886 because of his role in the freedom struggle.
As a politician
- Banerjee presided over the first session of the Indian National Congress in 1885, which was the pinnacle of his career. He was 41 years old when he was unanimously elected as the party’s President in the Bombay session.
- In 1892, he presided over the INC’s Allahabad session once more.
- Womesh Chandra Banerjee also slammed the British Salt Tax, calling it an unjust tax on “almost the chief necessity of life” in an emerging country.
Later life
- Womesh Chandra Banerjee returned to London in 1902 with his wife, Hemangini Motilal, and three children.
- Womesh Chandra Banerjee named his Croydon home after Kidderpore because of his strong attachment to his birthplace.
- Banerjee died on July 21, 1906, after a long illness at 62.
Conclusion
He relocated to the United Kingdom and began practising before the Privy Council. He supported the British Committee of Congress and its publications in London. Dadabhai Naoroji established the London Indian Society in 1865, and Banerjee was appointed general secretary. When Banerjee was elected, Congress president Naoroji, Eardley Norton, and William Digby established The Congress Political Agency, a branch of Congress in London.
He ran unsuccessfully as a Liberal party candidate for the Barrow and Furness seat in the 1892 United Kingdom general election. In 1893, Naoroji, Banerjee, and Badruddin Tyabji established the Indian Parliamentary Committee in England.
