Sir Dudley de Chair | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 25th Governor of New South Wales | |
| In office 28 February 1924 – 9 April 1930 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Lieutenant | Sir William Cullen Sir Philip Street |
| Preceded by | Sir Walter Davidson |
| Succeeded by | Sir Phillip Game |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1864-08-30)30 August 1864 Lennoxville,Province of Canada |
| Died | 17 August 1958(1958-08-17) (aged 93) Brighton, England |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingSomerset |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch/service | Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1878–1923 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Unit | HMS Alexandra |
| Commands | Coastguard and Reserves Third Battle Squadron 10th Cruiser Squadron |
| Battles/wars | Anglo-Egyptian War First World War |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Member of the Royal Victorian Order |
AdmiralSir Dudley Rawson Stratford de ChairKCB KCMG MVO (30 August 1864 – 17 August 1958) was a seniorRoyal Navy officer and laterGovernor of New South Wales.
De Chair was born on 30 August 1864 inLennoxville,Province of Canada, the son of Dudley Raikes de Chair and Frances Emily, daughter of Christopher Rawson (of the landed gentry family of Rawson of The Haugh End and Mill House)[1] and the sister ofHarry Rawson (whom he later succeeded as Governor of New South Wales).[2] The De Chair family, settled in England since the end of the seventeenth century, was ofHuguenot descent and could trace their ancestry to Rene de la Chaire, whose grandson, Jean de la Chaire, was ennobled as a marquis in 1600 byHenry IV of France. They rose to gentry status through generations of clergymen.[1][3] In 1870, De Chair moved with his family to England and joined theRoyal Navy in 1878 aged 14, being first stationed as a cadet aboardHMSBritannia.[2]
After becoming amidshipman in 1880, de Chair was posted aboardHMS Alexandra, the flagship of the BritishMediterranean Fleet and took part in thebombardment of Alexandria during theAnglo-Egyptian War in 1882.[4] De Chair had volunteered to carry despatches to a desert fort during the bombardment but was taken prisoner and presented before the revolutionary leaderAhmed 'Urabi and gained significant publicity back home in England.[5] He was promoted tocommander on 22 July 1897,[6] and tocaptain on 26 June 1902.[7] On 21 April 1903, atTorwood,Devon, de Chair marriedEnid, daughter ofHenry William Struben, ofTransvaal,South Africa. They had three children, Henry, Elaine andSomerset.[2][8] FollowingKing Edward VII's visit to the Russian Empire, de Chair was appointedMember of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) on 10 June 1908 for his role in the visit as captain ofHMS Cochrane.[9]
De Chair was promoted to Assistant Controller of the Navy in 1910 and served as Secretary toFirst Lord of the Admiralty in 1912.[4] On 6 March 1911, de Chair was appointed aNaval aide-de-camp (ADC) toKing George V.[10] He relinquished the appointment on 31 July 1912, having been promoted toflag rank on that day.[11] He served in theFirst World War as commander of the10th Cruiser Squadron from 1914 and, having been promoted torear admiral on 31 July 1912,[12] became Naval Adviser to the Foreign Office on Blockade Affairs in 1916.[4] In the1914 King's Birthday Honours, he was appointedCompanion of the Order of the Bath (CB).[13]
In April–May 1917 De Chair was a member of theBalfour Mission, intended to promote cooperation between the United States and United Kingdom during the First World War. He went on to be Vice Admiral,3rd Battle Squadron (that is, the squadron commander) later in 1917. A good friend of theFirst Sea Lord,Sir John Jellicoe, de Chair was personally affronted by the act and manner of Jellicoe's dismissal from that office in December 1917.[3] De Chair later recalled in his memoirs that he unloaded his frustrations and offence at the matter onto Jellicoe's successor,Sir Rosslyn Wemyss and found himself outside of preferment for advancement as a result.[3] Moved sideways to the much less prestigious position ofAdmiral Commanding, Coastguard and Reserves in July 1918, de Chair became president of theInter-allied Commission on Enemy Warships in 1921 before retiring in 1923.[4]
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De Chair had been interested in serving in a viceregal role as early as 1922, when he put his name forward to theColonial Office for the position ofGovernor of South Australia. This position however, went toSir Tom Bridges instead and the First Lord of the Admiralty,Leo Amery, put de Chair's name forward for theGovernor of New South Wales. This position, which had been vacant since the death ofSir Walter Davidson in September 1923, was the same one his uncle,Sir Harry Rawson, had held twenty years earlier, and to which he was appointed on 8 November 1923.[14][15][16]
Arriving in Sydney on 28 February 1924, de Chair became governor in relatively calm political times and was warmly received in the city with great fanfare.[17][18] On de Chair's appointment, the President of theRoyal Australian Historical Society, Aubrey Halloran, compared Admiral de Chair to the first Governor, CaptainArthur Phillip: "Our new Governor's reputation as an intrepid sailor and ruler of men evokes from us a hearty welcome and inspires us to place in him the same confidence that [Arthur] Phillip received from his gallant band of fellow-sailors and the English statesmen who sent him."[19]
The political makeup of the State changed shortly after his arrival. The conservativeNationalist/Progressive coalition government ofSir George Fuller, with whom de Chair was sympathetic, was defeated at theMay 1925 state election by theLabor Party underJack Lang. De Chair recorded that their position comprised "radical and far-reaching legislation, which had not been foreshadowed in their election speeches".[2] He also later wrote that Lang's "lack of scruple gave me a great and unpleasant surprise".[3]
With the Labor Government only holding a single seat majority in theLegislative Assembly and only a handful of members in the upperLegislative Council, one of Lang's main targets was electoral reform. The Legislative Council, comprising members appointed by the Governor forlife terms, had long been seen by Lang and the Labor Party as an outdated bastion of conservative privilege holding back their reform agenda. Although previous Labor premiers had managed to work with the status quo, such as requesting appointments from the Governor sufficient to pass certain bills, Lang's more radical political agenda required more drastic action to ensure its passage. Consequently, Lang and his government sought to abolish the council, along the same lines that their Queensland Labor colleagues had done in 1922 to theirLegislative Council, by requesting from de Chair enough appointments to establish a Labor majority in the council that would then vote for abolition.
While Lang's attempts ultimately failed, de Chair failed to gain the support of an indifferentDominions Office. With Lang's departure in 1927, the Nationalist Government ofThomas Bavin invited him in 1929 to stay on as Governor for a further term. De Chair agreed only to a year's extension and retired on 8 April 1930.
Returning to London after a global trip, de Chair worked on his memoirs until his death in 1958.[14][20]
| Viceregal styles of Sir Dudley de Chair | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Reference style | His Excellency |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
 | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) | NY 1916[21] |
| Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) | KB 1914[13] | |
 | Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) | NY 1933[22] |
 | Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) | 1908[9] |
 | Egypt Medal with "Alexandria 11 July" Clasp | 1884 |
 | 1914 Star | |
 | British War Medal | |
 | Victory Medal | |
 | King Edward VII Coronation Medal | 1902 |
 | King George V Coronation Medal | 1911 |
 | Order of the Medjidie, 5th Class | Ottoman Empire; 1884 |
 | Khedive's Star | Egypt; 1884 |
 | Commandeur of the Legion of Honour | France; 1916[23] |
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Rear AdmiralDavid Beatty | Naval Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty 1913–1914 | Succeeded by Rear AdmiralHorace Hood |
| Preceded by Rear AdmiralCharles Napier | Rear-Admiral Commanding, Cruiser Force B 1914–1916 | Succeeded by Vice AdmiralSir Reginald Tupper |
| Preceded by Vice AdmiralSir Herbert Heath | Vice-Admiral Commanding, 3rd Battle Squadron 1917–1918 | Succeeded by Rear AdmiralSir Douglas Nicholson |
| Preceded by Vice AdmiralSir Cecil Thursby | Admiral Commanding, Coastguard and Reserves 1918–1921 | Succeeded by Vice AdmiralSir Morgan Singer |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of New South Wales 1924–1930 | Succeeded by |
| BeforeFederation |  | |
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| AfterFederation | ||
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