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Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Political People

   Lord Dufferin as a young man
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   Lord Dufferin as a young man

   Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin
   and Ava, KP, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC ( 21 June 1826– 12 February
   1902) was a British public servant and prominent member of Victorian
   society. In his youth, he was a popular figure in the court of Queen
   Victoria, and became well known to the public after publishing a
   best-selling account of his travels in the North Atlantic.

   He is now best known as one of the most successful diplomats of his
   time. His long career in public service began as a commissioner to
   Syria in 1860, where his skillful diplomacy maintained British
   interests while preventing France from instituting a client state in
   Lebanon. After his success in Syria, Lord Dufferin served in the
   Government of the United Kingdom as the Chancellor of the Duchy of
   Lancaster and Under- Secretary of State for War. In 1872 he became the
   third Governor General of Canada, bolstering imperial ties in the early
   years of the Dominion, and in 1884 he reached the pinnacle of his
   diplomatic career as eighth Viceroy of India.

   Following his retirement from the diplomatic service in 1896, his final
   years were marred by personal tragedy and a misguided attempt to secure
   his family's financial position. His eldest son was killed in the
   Second Boer War, shortly before a mining company of which he had become
   chairman collapsed under scandalous circumstances. Although no personal
   blame attached to Dufferin, it was a blow to his failing health; he
   withdrew from public life and died in early 1902.

Early life

   On his father's side, Lord Dufferin was descended from Scottish
   settlers who had moved to County Down in the early 17th century. The
   Blackwood family had become prominent landowners over the following two
   hundred years, and were created baronets in 1763, entering the Peerage
   of Ireland in 1800 as Baron Dufferin. The family had influence in
   parliament because they controlled the return for the borough of
   Killyleagh. Marriages in the Blackwood family were often advantageous
   to their landowning and high society ambitions, but Lord Dufferin's
   father, Captain Price Blackwood, did not marry into a landowning
   family. His wife, Helen Selina Sheridan, was the granddaughter of the
   playwright Richard Sheridan, and through her, the family became
   connected to English literary and political circles.

   Lord Dufferin was thus born into considerable advantage as Frederick
   Temple Blackwood in Florence, Italy in 1826. He studied at Eton and the
   College of Christ Church at the University of Oxford, where he became
   president of the Oxford Union Society for debate, although he left the
   college after only two years without obtaining a degree. He succeeded
   his father in 1841 as 5th Baron Dufferin and Claneboye in the Peerage
   of Ireland, and was appointed a Lord-in-Waiting to Queen Victoria in
   1849. In 1850 he was created Baron Claneboye, of Clandeboye in the
   County of Down, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

   In 1856, Lord Dufferin commissioned the schooner Foam, and set off on a
   journey around the North Atlantic. He first visited Iceland, where he
   visited the then-minuscule Reykjavík, the plains of Þingvellir, and
   Geysir. Returning to Reykjavík, the Foam was towed north by Prince
   Napoleon, who was on an expedition to the region in the steamer La
   Reine Hortense. Dufferin sailed close to Jan Mayen Island, but was
   unable to land due to heavy ice, and caught only a very brief glimpse
   of the island through the fog. From Jan Mayen, the Foam sailed to
   northern Norway, stopping at Hammerfest, before sailing for
   Spitzbergen.

   On his return, Lord Dufferin published a book about his travels,
   Letters From High Latitudes. With its irreverent style and lively pace,
   it was extremely successful, and can be regarded as the prototype of
   the comic travelogue. It remained in print for many years, and was
   translated into French and German. The letters were nominally written
   to his mother, with whom he had developed a very close relationship
   after the death of his father when he was 15.

A natural diplomat

   Despite the great success of Letters From High Latitudes, Dufferin did
   not pursue a career as an author, although he was known for his
   skillful writing throughout his career. Instead he became a public
   servant, with his first major public appointment in 1860 as British
   representative on a commission to Syria to investigate the causes of a
   civil war earlier that year in which the Maronite Christian population
   had been subject to massacres by the Muslim and Druze populations.
   Working with French, Russian, Prussian and Turkish representatives on
   the commission, Lord Dufferin proved remarkably successful in achieving
   the objectives of British policy in the area. He upheld Turkish rule in
   the area, and prevented the French from establishing a client state in
   Lebanon, later securing the removal of a French occupying force in
   Syria. He also defended the interests of the Druze community, with whom
   Britain had a long association. The other parties on the commission
   were inclined to repress the Druze population, but Dufferin argued that
   had the Christians won the war they would have been just as
   bloodthirsty. The long-term plan agreed by the commission for the
   governance of the region was largely that proposed by Dufferin — that
   Lebanon should be governed separately from the rest of Syria, by a
   Christian Ottoman who was not a native of Syria.

   Dufferin's achievements in Syria launched his long and successful
   career in public service. In 1864 he became Under- Secretary of State
   for India, moving to Under-Secretary of War in 1866, and from 1868 he
   held the position of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in Prime
   Minister Gladstone's government. In 1871 he was raised in the Peerage
   as Earl of Dufferin, in the County of Down, and Viscount Clandeboye, of
   Clandeboye in the County of Down.

   Lord Dufferin took the name Hamilton by royal licence 9 September 1862,
   shortly before his marriage to Hariot Georgina Rowan-Hamilton on
   October 23, 1862. He was distantly related to the Hamilton family by
   previous marriages, and the union was partly designed to eliminate some
   long-standing hostilities between the families. Dufferin also took the
   name of Temple, on 13 November 1872. They had seven children; the two
   youngest, a son and a daughter, were born in Canada:
     * Archibald James Leofric Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Earl of
       Ava (July 28 1863-January 11 1900) was a lieutenant in the 17th
       Lancers and a fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute. He was
       serving as a war correspondent in South Africa during the Second
       Boer War when he was wounded at Waggon Hill during the Siege of
       Ladysmith and died a week later. He was unmarried.

     * Lady Helen Hermione Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood (1865-April 9 1941)
       GBE (1918), LLD, JP for Fife was married on August 31 1889 to
       Ronald Munro-Ferguson (later 1st and last Viscount Novar), who
       later became the Governor General of Australia. They had no issue.

     * Terence Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 2nd Marquess of Dufferin and Ava
       (March 16 1866-February 7 1918)

     * Lady Hermione Catherine Helen Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood
       (1869-October 19 1960) trained as a nurse and qualified in 1901,
       serving in France during the First World War. She was awarded the
       Medaille de Reconnaissance Francaise for her services. She died
       unmarried.

     * Lord (Ian) Basil Gawaine Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood (November
       4 1870-July 3 1917) was a barrister-at-law by profession and was at
       Balliol College, Oxford in 1891 and became part of the
       'kindergarten' of Lord Milner. He was appointed Deputy Judge
       Advocate in South Africa in 1900, secretary to the High
       Commissioner to South Africa in 1902, Assistant Colonial Secretary
       in the Orange River Colony in 1903, Colonial Secretary in Barbados
       from 1907 to 1909 and Assistant Secretary to the Land Development
       Commission of England from 1910 to 1914. He was attached to the 9th
       Lancers and Intelligence Corps from 1914 to 1916 and then appointed
       Private Secretary to Ivor Churchill Guest, 1st Viscount Wimborne,
       the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in 1916. He returned to active
       service as a lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards and was killed in
       action in 1917. He was unmarried.

     * Lady Victoria Alexandrina Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood (1873-1938),
       whose chief sponsor at her christening was Queen Victoria, was
       married firstly in 1894 to William Lee Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket
       and had eight children by him, and secondly to Colonel Francis
       Powell Braithwaite CBE DSO. Her son Terence Conyngham Plunket, 6th
       Baron Plunket was married to Dorothé Mabel Lewis, the illegitimate
       daughter of Charles Stewart Henry Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th
       Marquess of Londonderry, and both were killed in an aircraft
       accident in 1938, while her younger son Flight Lieutenant the
       Honourable Brinsley Sheridan Bushe Plunket was married in 1927 to
       Aileen Guinness, the sister of Maureen Guinness, who was later to
       marry Basil Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 4th Marquess of Dufferin and
       Ava. Terence and Dorothé's eldest son Patrick Terence William Span
       Plunket, 7th Baron Plunket was an equerry to The Queen and Deputy
       Master of the Household, and their second son is Robin Rathmore
       Plunket, 8th Baron Plunket, the present baron.

     * Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 3rd Marquess of Dufferin and
       Ava (February 26 1875-July 21 1930)

   Shortly after his own marriage, he was deeply upset when his mother
   married his friend George Hay, styled Earl of Gifford, a man some 17
   years her junior. The marriage scandalised society, but Lord Gifford
   died only weeks afterward. Despite his disapproval of his mother's
   second marriage, Lord Dufferin was devastated by her death in 1867, and
   built Helen's Tower, a memorial to her, on the estate at Clandeboye. A
   nearby bay was also named Helen's Bay, and a station of that name was
   built there by him, seeding the growth of the modern Belfast commuter
   town of Helen's Bay.

Governor General of Canada

   Lord Dufferin while Governor General of Canada
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   Lord Dufferin while Governor General of Canada

   After his mother's death Dufferin's diplomatic career advanced rapidly.
   He became Governor General of Canada in 1872, and his six-year tenure
   was a period of rapid change in Canadian history. During his term,
   Prince Edward Island was admitted to Confederation, and several
   well-known Canadian institutions, such as the Supreme Court of Canada,
   the Royal Military College of Canada, and the Intercolonial Railway,
   were established.

   In Dufferin's opinion, his two predecessors in the post had not given
   the position the prominence it deserved. He consciously set out to
   assume a more active role, and to get to know ordinary Canadians as
   much as possible . He was at ease speaking with a wide variety of
   people, both in English and French, and became known for his charm and
   hospitality. At a time when a weak or uncharismatic Governor General
   might have loosened the ties to Empire, Dufferin felt that involving
   himself with the people of the Dominion would strengthen constitutional
   links to Britain. He visited every Canadian province, and was the first
   Governor General to visit Manitoba.

   Lord Dufferin involved himself as much as was permissible in Canadian
   politics, even going so far as to advise ministers to abandon policies
   which he thought mistaken. He followed proceedings in the Parliament
   with interest, although as the Queen's representative he was barred
   from entering the House of Commons. He established an Office of the
   Governor General in a wing of the Parliament buildings, and Lady
   Dufferin attended many debates and reported back to him. In 1873, the
   Pacific scandal arose when the Conservative government of John A.
   Macdonald was accused by the Liberal opposition of financial
   impropriety in relation to the construction of the Canadian Pacific
   Railway. Dufferin prorogued parliament, and established an enquiry
   which found against the Government, and MacDonald fell from power.

   In 1873 Dufferin established the Governor General's Academic Medals for
   superior academic achievement by Canadian students. Today, these medals
   are the most prestigious that school students can be awarded, and more
   than 50,000 have been awarded in total. He also instituted several
   sporting prizes, including the Governor General's Match for shooting,
   and the Governor General's Curling Trophy.

   Dufferin made several extensions and improvements to Rideau Hall, the
   official governor's residence. He added a ballroom in 1873, and in 1876
   built the Tent Room to accommodate the increasing number of functions
   being held at the Hall. He also attracted ordinary Canadians to the
   Hall grounds by constructing an ice skating rink, to which he
   contributed $1,624.95 of his own money, which was later reimbursed by
   the government. Public use of the rink was on condition of being
   "properly dressed". These additions enhanced Rideau Hall's role as an
   important centre of social affairs.
   Lord and Lady Dufferin on a visit to Manitoba
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   Lord and Lady Dufferin on a visit to Manitoba

   The Dufferins also used the Citadel of Quebec in Quebec City as a
   second vice-regal residence. When Quebec city officials began to
   demolish the old city walls, Dufferin was appalled, persuading them to
   stop the demolition, and to repair and restore what had already been
   damaged. Old Quebec was recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site
   in the 1980s. Dufferin's final public appearance as Governor General
   was in Quebec City, to lay the foundation stone for Dufferin Terrace, a
   walkway overlooking the St. Lawrence River built to his own design.

   Lady Dufferin also maintained a high profile during her husband's term
   as Governor General, accompanying him on tours and frequently appearing
   in public. Visiting Manitoba in September 1877, Lord and Lady Dufferin
   each drove a spike in the line of the new Canadian Pacific Railway, and
   the first engine on the railway was christened Lady Dufferin.
   Throughout her time in Canada, Lady Dufferin wrote letters to her
   mother in Ireland, which were later collected and published as My
   Canadian Journal. She later said that of all her experiences, her
   happiest times had been spent in Canada.

   The popularity and influence of the Dufferins in Canada is reflected by
   the large number of Canadian schools, streets and public buildings
   named after them. Lord Dufferin is particularly well remembered in
   Manitoba, being the first Governor-General to visit the province; a
   statue of him is situated outside the provincial legislature.

Russia and Turkey

   After leaving Ottawa in 1878 at the end of his term, Lord Dufferin
   returned to Great Britain to continue his diplomatic career. He served
   as ambassador to Imperial Russia from 1879 to 1881 and to the Ottoman
   Empire from 1881 to 1884. Although he had previously served in Liberal
   governments, Dufferin had become increasingly alienated from William
   Gladstone over issues of home and Irish policy, particularly the Irish
   Land Acts of 1870 and 1881, both of which tried to resolve issues
   surrounding the property rights of tenants and landlords. He accepted
   the appointment as ambassador to Russia from the Conservative Benjamin
   Disraeli, further alienating the Liberal leader.

   Dufferin's time in Russia was quiet from a political and diplomatic
   point of view, and his papers from this time are concerned mainly with
   his social life. While in Russia, he began to set his sights on the
   ultimate diplomatic prize, the Viceroyalty of India. However, Lord
   Ripon succeeded Lord Lytton in 1880, largely because as a convert to
   Roman Catholicism, Lord Ripon could not be accommodated in the Cabinet.
   Instead, Dufferin's next diplomatic posting was to Constantinople.

   His posting there saw Britain invade and occupy Egypt, then technically
   part of the Ottoman Empire, under the pretext of "restoring law and
   order" following anti-foreign riots in Alexandria which had left nearly
   50 foreigners dead, and Dufferin was heavily involved in the events
   surrounding the occupation. Dufferin managed to ensure that the Ottoman
   Empire did not attain a military foothold in Egypt, and placated the
   population of Egypt by preventing the execution of Urabi Pasha, who had
   seized control of the Egyptian army. Urabi had led the resistance to
   foreign influence in Egypt, and after the occupation many in the
   Cabinet were keen to see him hanged. Dufferin, believing this would
   only inspire further resistance, instead ensured that Urabi was exiled
   to Ceylon.

   In 1882 Dufferin travelled to Egypt as British commissioner, to
   investigate the reorganization of the country. He wrote a report
   detailing how the occupation was to benefit Egypt, with plans for
   development which were to progressively re-involve Egyptians in running
   the country. Subsequent reforms proceeded largely along the lines he
   had proposed.

Viceroy of India

   Lord Dufferin as Viceroy of India
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   Lord Dufferin as Viceroy of India

   His experiences in Russia and Turkey had further increased Dufferin's
   awareness of the British Empire's place in international affairs, and
   his time in Russia had provided great insight into the Russian threat
   to British rule in India. In 1884, he finally achieved his last great
   diplomatic ambition with his appointment as Viceroy of India.

   Just as in Canada, he presided over some great changes in India. His
   predecessor as Viceroy, Lord Ripon, while popular with the Indians, was
   very unpopular with the Anglo-Indians, who objected to the rapid pace
   of his extensive reforms. To rule with any measure of success, Dufferin
   would need to gain the support of both communities. By all accounts he
   was highly successful in this regard, and gained substantial support
   from all communities in India. He advanced the cause of the Indian
   Nationalists greatly during his term, without antagonising the
   conservative whites. Among other things, the Indian National Congress
   was founded during his term in 1885, and he laid the foundations for
   the modern Indian Army by establishing the Imperial Service Corps,
   officered by Indians.

   He was frequently occupied with external affairs during his tenure. He
   successfully dealt with the Panjdeh Incident of 1885 in Afghanistan, in
   which Russian forces encroached into Afghan territory around the
   Panjdeh oasis. Britain and Russia had for decades been engaged in a
   virtual cold war in Central and South Asia known as the Great Game, and
   the Panjdeh incident threatened to precipitate a full-blown conflict.
   Lord Dufferin negotiated a settlement in which Russia kept Panjdeh but
   relinquished the furthest territories it had taken in its advance. His
   tenure also saw the annexation of Upper Burma in 1886, after many years
   of simmering warfare and British interventions in Burmese politics.

   In 1888, he published the Report on the Conditions of the Lower Classes
   of Population in Bengal (known as the Dufferin Report). The report
   highlighted the plight of the poor in Bengal, and was used by
   nationalists to counter the Anglo-Indian claim that British rule had
   been beneficial to the poorest members of Indian society. Following
   publication of the report, Dufferin recommended the establishment of
   provincial and central councils with Indian membership, a key demand of
   Congress at that time. The Indian Councils Act of 1892, which
   inaugurated electoral politics in the country, was the outcome of his
   recommendations.

Later life

   Following his return from India, Dufferin resumed his ambassadorial
   career, serving as ambassador to Italy from 1888 to 1891. On November
   17, 1888, he was advanced in the peerage as Marquess of Dufferin and
   Ava, in the County of Down and the Province of Burma, and Earl of Ava,
   in the Province of Burma. As ambassador to France from 1891 to 1896, he
   presided over some difficult times in Anglo-French relations, and was
   accused by some sections of the French press of trying to undermine
   Franco-Russian relations. After returning from France, Dufferin became
   President of the Royal Geographical Society, and Rector of Edinburgh
   and St. Andrew's universities.

   Throughout his life, Dufferin was known for living beyond his means,
   and had heavily mortgaged his estates to fund his lifestyle and
   improvements to the estates. In 1875, with his debts approaching
   £300,000, he was facing insolvency and was forced to sell substantial
   amounts of land to pay off his creditors. After he retired from the
   diplomatic service in 1896, he received several offers from financial
   speculators hoping to use his high reputation to attract investors to
   their companies. In 1897, worried about the family financial situation,
   he was persuaded to become chairman of the London and Globe Finance
   Corporation, a mining conglomerate owned by Whitaker Wright, but in
   November 1900, shares in the company crashed and led to its insolvency.
   It subsequently transpired that Wright was a consummate fraudster.
   Dufferin himself lost substantial money on his holdings in the company,
   but was not guilty of any deception and his moral standing remained
   unaffected.

   Soon after this misfortune, Dufferin's eldest son was killed in the
   Boer War. He returned to his stately home at Clandeboye in poor health,
   and died on February 12, 1902. Lady Dufferin died on October 25, 1936.
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