19 Facts About Michael O'Dwyer

Michael O'Dwyer endorsed Reginald Dyer's action at Jallianwala Bagh and made it clear that he considered Dyer's orders to shoot at the crowds was correct.

Michael O'Dwyer subsequently administered martial law in Punjab, on 15 April and backdated it to 30 March 1919.

In 1940, in retaliation for the massacre, Michael O'Dwyer was assassinated by the Indian revolutionist Sardar Udham Singh.

Michael Francis O'Dwyer was born on 28 April 1864 in Barronstown, Limerick Junction, County Tipperary, to John, a landowner of Barronstown, Solohead, and Margaret O'Dwyer, of Toem, both in County Tipperary, Ireland.

Michael O'Dwyer was the sixth son in a family of fourteen children, At the age of seven, he was sent to be schooled at St Stanislaus College, Rahan, County Offaly.

Michael O'Dwyer was one of the fourteen children of an unknown Irish land-owner of no great wealth, as much farmer as landlord.

Michael O'Dwyer was brought up in a world of hunting and snipe-shooting, of threatening letters and houghed cattle, where you were for the Government or against it, where you passed every day the results of lawlessness in the blackened walls of empty houses.

Michael O'Dwyer distinguished himself in land revenue settlement work and in 1896 was made director of land records and agriculture in Punjab.

In December 1912, during Lord Hardinge of Penshurst's tenure as Viceroy, Michael O'Dwyer was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Punjab.

Michael O'Dwyer worked closely with the military authorities and sought the aid of local rural Punjabi leaders to organise a centralised system for the recruitment of soldiers for the First World War effort in exchange for compensation, including major land grants and formal titles.

Michael O'Dwyer played a significant role in persuading the British government in India to pass the 1915 Defence of India Act, which gave him considerable powers.

Michael O'Dwyer subsequently summoned both to Deputy Commissioner Miles Irving's house in the Civil Lines on 10 April 1919 from where they were arrested and secretly escorted to Dharamasala, at the foot of the Himalayas, to be kept under house arrest.

When he received Dyer's initial report, Michael O'Dwyer gave permission to General William Beynon to send a telegram to Dyer that stated "your action correct and the lieutenant-governor approves".

On 21 April 1919 in Dyer's defence, Michael O'Dwyer stated to Viceroy Chelmsford that "the Amritsar business cleared the air, and if there was to be holocaust anywhere, and one regrets that there should be, it was best at Amritsar".

Michael O'Dwyer saw the trial as a way of providing justifications for Dyer's actions at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Michael O'Dwyer wanted to crush the spirit of my people, so I have crushed him.

Michael O'Dwyer married Una Eunice, daughter of Antoine Bord of Castres, France, on 21 November 1896.

Michael O'Dwyer was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in her own right in the 1919 Birthday Honours, in which their daughter, Una Mary O'Dwyer, was created a Member of the Order of the British Empire.

Michael O'Dwyer was portrayed by Dave Anderson in the 2000 Bollywood movie Shaheed Udham Singh and by Shaun Scott in the 2021 Bollywood movie Sardar Udham.