The President of the Board of Control was a British government official in the late 18th and early 19th centuries responsible for overseeing the British East India Company and generally serving as the chief official in London responsible for Indian affairs. The position was frequently a cabinet level one. The position was abolished in 1858 with the abolition of the East India Company. It was succeeded by the new position of Secretary of State for India.
List of presidents of the Board of Control
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:Center"
|+ President of the Board of Control
! colspan=8 |
|-
! colspan=2 | Portrait
! Name<br><small>Honorifics and constituency</small>
! colspan=2 | Term of office
! Party
! Ministry
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Thomas Townshend, 1st Baron Sydney<br><small>before 1789</small><br>Viscount Sydney <small>after 1789</small>
| <small>4 September</small><br>1784
| <small>6 March</small><br>1790
| | Whig
| rowspan=3 | Pitt I
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville
| <small>6 March</small><br>1790
| <small>22 June</small><br>1793
| | Tory<br><small>(Pittite)</small>
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Henry Dundas<br><small>MP for Edinburgh</small>
| <small>22 June</small><br>1793
| <small>25 April</small><br>1801
| | Tory
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| George Legge, 3rd Earl of Dartmouth
| <small>25 April</small><br>1801
| <small>2 July</small><br>1802
| | Tory
| rowspan=2 | Addington
|-
| style="background-color: ; border:none" |
| rowspan=2 | 75px
| rowspan=2 | Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh<br><small>MP for Down</small> <small>before 1805</small><br>MP for Boroughbridge <small>after 1806</small>
| rowspan=2 | <small>2 July</small><br>1802
| rowspan=2 | <small>11 February</small><br>1806
| rowspan=2 | Tory
|-
| style="background-color: ; border:none" |
| | Pitt II
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Baron Minto<br>
| <small>11 February</small><br>1806
| <small>15 July</small><br>1806
| | Whig
| rowspan=3 | All the Talents<br/>
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Thomas Grenville<br><small>MP for Buckingham</small>
| <small>15 July</small><br>1806
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | <small>30 September</small><br>1806
| | Whig
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| George Tierney<br><small>MP for Athlone</small>
| style="white-space: nowrap;" | <small>30 September</small><br>1806
| <small>6 April</small><br>1807
| | Whig
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville<br><small>MP for Midlothian</small>
| <small>6 April</small><br>1807
| <small>11 July</small><br>1809
| | Tory
| rowspan=2 | Portland II
|-
| rowspan=2 style="background-color: " |
| rowspan=2 | 75px
| rowspan=2 | Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby
| rowspan=2 | <small>11 July</small><br>1809
| rowspan=2 | <small>November</small><br>1809
| rowspan=2 | Tory
|-
| rowspan=3 | Perceval
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville<br><small>MP for Midlothian</small> <small>before 1811</small><br>Viscount Melville <small>after 1811</small>
| <small>November</small><br>1809
| <small>4 April</small><br>1812
| | Tory
|-
| rowspan=2 style="background-color: " |
| rowspan=2 | 75px
| rowspan=2 | Robert Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire
| rowspan=2 | <small>4 April</small><br>1812
| rowspan=2 | <small>4 June</small><br>1816
| rowspan=2 | Tory
|-
| rowspan=4 | Liverpool
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| George Canning<br><small>MP for Liverpool</small>
| <small>4 June</small><br>1816
| <small>June</small><br>1821
| | Tory
|-
| |
| 75px
| Charles Bathurst<br><small>MP for Harwich</small>
| <small>June</small><br>1821
| <small>4 February</small><br>1822
|
|-
| rowspan=4 style="background-color: " |
| rowspan=4 | 75px
| rowspan=4 | Charles Williams-Wynn (1775–1850)<br><small>MP for Montgomeryshire</small>
| rowspan=4 | <small>4 February</small><br>1822
| rowspan=4 | <small>4 February</small><br>1828
| rowspan=4 | Tory
|-
| | Canning<br><small>(Canningite–Whig)</small>
|-
| | Goderich<br><small>(Canningite–Whig)</small>
|-
| rowspan=3 | WellingtonPeel
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville
| <small>4 February</small><br>1828
| <small>17 September</small><br>1828
| | Tory
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Edward Law, 2nd Baron Ellenborough
| <small>17 September</small><br>1828
| <small>1 December</small><br>1830
| | Tory
|-
| rowspan=2 style="background-color: " |
| rowspan=2 | 75px
| rowspan=2 | Charles Grant<br><small>MP for Inverness-shire</small>
| rowspan=2 | <small>1 December</small><br>1830
| rowspan=2 | <small>18 September</small><br>1834
| rowspan=2 | Whig
| | Grey
|-
| | Melbourne I
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Edward Law, 2nd Baron Ellenborough
| <small>18 September</small><br>1834
| <small>23 April</small><br>1835
| | Conservative
| | Peel I
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Sir John Hobhouse, 2nd Baronet<br><small>MP for Nottingham</small>
| <small>23 April</small><br>1835
| <small>30 August</small><br>1841
| | Whig
| | Melbourne II
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Edward Law, 2nd Baron Ellenborough
| <small>4 September</small><br>1841
| <small>23 October</small><br>1841
| | Conservative
| rowspan=3 | Peel II
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| William Vesey-FitzGerald, 2nd Baron FitzGerald and Vesey
| <small>23 October</small><br>1841
| <small>17 May</small><br>1843
| | Conservative
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| F. J. Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon
| <small>17 May</small><br>1843
| <small>30 June</small><br>1846
| | Conservative
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| John Hobhouse, 1st Baron Broughton<br><small>MP for Nottingham</small> <small>before 1847</small><br>MP for Harwich <small>after 1848</small><br>
| <small>8 July</small><br>1846
| <small>5 February</small><br>1852
| | Whig
| rowspan=2 | Russell
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Fox Maule<br><small>MP for Perth</small>
| <small>5 February</small><br>1852
| <small>21 February</small><br>1852
| | Whig
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| John Charles Herries<br><small>MP for Stamford</small>
| <small>28 February</small><br>1852
| <small>17 December</small><br>1852
| | Conservative
| | Who? Who?
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Sir Charles Wood, 3rd Baronet<br><small>MP for Halifax</small>
| <small>30 December</small><br>1852
| <small>3 March</small><br>1855
| | Whig
| | Aberdeen<br><small>(Peelite–Whig)</small>
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Robert Vernon Smith<br><small>MP for Northampton</small>
| <small>3 March</small><br>1855
| <small>21 February</small><br>1858
| | Whig
| | Palmerston I
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough
| <small>6 March</small><br>1858
| <small>5 June</small><br>1858
| | Conservative
| rowspan=2 | DerbyDisraeli II
|-
| style="background-color: " |
| 75px
| Edward Stanley, Lord Stanley<br><small>MP for King's Lynn</small>
| <small>5 June</small><br>1858
| <small>2 August</small><br>1858
| | Conservative
|-
|}
Lord Stanley took up the new post of Secretary of State for India on 2 August 1858, upon the establishment of the British Raj.