Sir George Bowen | |||||||||
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| 1st Governor of Queensland | |||||||||
| In office 10 December 1859 – 4 January 1868 | |||||||||
| Monarch | Victoria | ||||||||
| Preceded by | Office Established | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Samuel Blackall | ||||||||
| 5th Governor of New Zealand | |||||||||
| In office 5 February 1868 – 19 March 1873 | |||||||||
| Monarch | Victoria | ||||||||
| Premier | Edward Stafford William Fox George Waterhouse | ||||||||
| Preceded by | Sir George Grey | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Sir James Fergusson | ||||||||
| 5th Governor of Victoria | |||||||||
| In office 30 July 1873 – 22 February 1879 | |||||||||
| Monarch | Victoria | ||||||||
| Preceded by | Sir John Manners-Sutton | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | The 2nd Marquess of Normanby | ||||||||
| 13th Governor of Mauritius | |||||||||
| In office 1879–1883 | |||||||||
| Monarch | Victoria | ||||||||
| 9th Governor of Hong Kong | |||||||||
| In office 30 March 1883 – 6 October 1887 | |||||||||
| Monarch | Victoria | ||||||||
| Lieutenant Governor | LTGJohn Sargent LTGSir William Cameron | ||||||||
| Colonial Secretary | William Henry Marsh Frederick Stewart | ||||||||
| Preceded by | Sir John Pope Hennessy | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Sir George William Des Vœux | ||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||
| Born | George Ferguson Bowen (1821-11-02)2 November 1821 Taughboyne,County Donegal, Ireland | ||||||||
| Died | 21 February 1899(1899-02-21) (aged 77) Brighton, England | ||||||||
| Resting place | Kensal Green Cemetery | ||||||||
| Nationality | British | ||||||||
| Spouses | |||||||||
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Oxford | ||||||||
| Profession | colonial administrator | ||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 寶雲 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 宝云 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Sir George Ferguson BowenGCMG PC (Chinese:寶雲; 2 November 1821 – 21 February 1899), was anAnglo-Irish author and colonial administrator whose appointments included postings to theIonian Islands,Queensland, New Zealand,Victoria,Mauritius andHong Kong.[1]
Bowen was born the eldest son of the Rev. Edward Bowen (1779–1867),[2]Church of IrelandRector ofTaughboyne, a parish in the Laggan district in the east ofCounty Donegal in the north-west ofUlster.[1][3] It is likely that Bowen was born and raised at Bogay House, just outside the village ofNewtown Cunningham, at what was then the northern end of the Church of Ireland Parish of Taughboyne.[3][4][5][6] Bogay (pronounced 'Bo-gay') House had been builtc. 1730, possibly forThe 6th Earl of Abercorn, and was later used as the Church of Irelandrectory for Taughboyne in the late eighteenth century and for most of the nineteenth century.[3][4][5] One of Bowen's brothers wasThe V. Rev.Edward Bowen, Church of IrelandDean of Raphoe from 1882 onwards.[3]
Bowen was educated atCharterhouse School andTrinity College, Oxford. He matriculated at Oxford in 1840, and graduated with a first-classB.A. inclassics in 1844 (promoted toM.A. in 1847). Bowen was twice President of theOxford Union. He was elected a fellow ofBrasenose College, Oxford, and enteredLincoln's Inn as a student, both in 1844.[7] In 1846 Bowen had some naval training, serving for sixteen days onHMS Victory.[1]
In 1847, Bowen was appointed president of theIonian Academy located inCorfu, a post he held until 1851.[1][8]
Bowen became the chief secretary to the government of theIonian Islands in 1854.[2] While in that post, he married theContessaDiamantina di Roma on 28 April 1856. Diamantina was the daughter ofConte Giorgio-Candiano Roma and his wifeContessa Orsola,née di Balsamo. The Roma family were local aristocracy; her father being the President of the Ionian Senate, titular head of the Islands, from 1850 to 1856. He was appointed aCompanion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1855 and was advanced toKnight Commander (KCMG) in the following year.[8]
In 1859, Bowen was appointed the firstGovernor of Queensland, a colony that had just been separated fromNew South Wales. Sworn in on 10 December 1859, Bowen served until 1868.[9] Bowen's influence in Queensland was greater than that of the governors in other Australian colonies in a large part due toRobert Herbert, who accompanied Bowen from England, and later became colonial secretary and then firstPremier of Queensland in 1860–66.[1] Bowen was interested in the exploration ofQueensland and in the establishment of a volunteer force, but incurred some unpopularity by refusing to sanction the issue of inconvertiblepaper money during the financial crisis of 1866.[10] But overall, he was quite popular in Queensland, so that the citizens requested an extension of his five-year term as governor, resulting in his staying for further two years.[11]
In 1867 Bowen was madeGovernor of New Zealand, where he was successful in reconciling theMāori reaction to British rule and saw the end of theNew Zealand Wars.[10] Bowen also instituted theNew Zealand Cross for colonial soldiers, one of the rarest bravery awards in the world and equivalent to theVictoria Cross (he was reprimanded for exceeding his authority, but it was upheld by Queen Victoria herself).[12]
In 1869,Albert Hastings Markham, first lieutenant ofHMS Blanche submitted a design to Bowen for anational ensign for New Zealand. His proposal, incorporating theSouthern Cross, was approved and remains in use to this day.[13] In 1871, he visitedMilford Sound aboardHMS Clio andBowen Falls was named after his wife to mark the occasion.[14]
In March 1873, Bowen was transferred to thecolony of Victoria as theGovernor of Victoria,[1] where he embarked on an endeavour to reduce the expenses of the colony. A political crisis occurred while Bowen took leave in England from January 1875 to January 1876, when the acting governor, SirWilliam Stawell, showed "too little flexibility in the exercise of his temporary powers".[1] One of the main issues was the perennial conflict between theVictorian Legislative Council and theVictorian Legislative Assembly; the Council was blocking legislation for its reform and forpayment of members.[1]
In January 1878, backed by advice from theColonial Office, Bowen consented topremierGraham Berry's plan to break the deadlock by the wholesale dismissal of public servants on so-called "Black Wednesday".[1] In May that year, Bowen said that"my reluctant consent, purely on constitutional grounds, to these dismissals ... has damaged my further reputation and my career to a degree that I shall never recover. It will never be forgotten either in England or in the Colony". However several others, includingHugh Childers andWilliam Ewart Gladstone, approved of Bowen's actions, and he was appointed to subsequent vice-regal posts.[1]
Bowen arrived onMauritius on 4 April 1879, and served as 13thGovernor of the colony until 9 December 1880.[15]
On 30 March 1883, Bowen was madeGovernor of Hong Kong. During his tenure, his administration established theHong Kong Observatory, which also served as the meteorological institute of the territory. He founded the first college in Hong Kong, and ordered the construction of the Typhoon Shelter inCauseway Bay, and a government hospital. He retired in 1887, due to ill health.[16]
Bowen returned to England after his time in Hong Kong and was appointed chief of a Royal Commission sent toMalta in December 1887 to help to draft the new constitution for the island. All recommendations made by the commission were adopted.[17] Afterwards, Bowen was sworn into thePrivy Council.
Bowen was married twice.
His first wife wasContessaDiamantina di Roma, only daughter ofCount Candiano di Roma. Their children were:
Diamantina died in London in 1893 at about the age of 60.[18]
He married his second wife, Letitia Florence White, in late 1896 atChelsea, London.[18] Florence was the daughter of Thomas Luby, a mathematician, and was the widow of Henry White, whom she had married in 1878.[18]
Bowen died on 21 February 1899 inBrighton in Sussex, aged 77 years old.[18] He died frombronchitis after a short illness of two days. He was buried on 25 February 1899 inKensal Green cemetery in London.
The following were named after George Bowen:
Queen Victoria issued theLetters Patent and the accompanying Order-in-Council that are Queensland's primary founding documents on 6 June 1859. The Letters Patent specifically appointed Sir George Ferguson Bowen as Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of Queensland, endowing him with the legal authority to oversee the installation of self-government by and for the citizens of the colony. This document was #1 in the 'Top 150: Documenting Queensland' exhibition when it toured to venues around Queensland from February 2009 to April 2010.[19] The exhibition was part ofQueensland State Archives' events and exhibition program which contributed to the state's Q150 celebrations, marking the 150th anniversary of theseparation of Queensland from New South Wales.[20]
His wife Diamantina appears to have been more popular than George in Queensland, as there are many Queensland places named after her.
Several objects connected to Bowen are held in the collections of theState Library of Queensland, including his ceremonial sword, an 1865 sterling silver ceremonial spade presented to Bowen during turning of the first sod of the first section of the Queensland Northern Railway and an 1882 pastel portrait by artist Henry Gordon Fanner.[21]
This Wikipedia article incorporates text fromQueensland's first Governor (1 November 2022) published by theState Library of Queensland underCC BYlicence, accessed on 1 June 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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| New office | Governor of Queensland 1859–1867 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of New Zealand 1867–1872 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of Victoria 1873–1879 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of Mauritius 1879–1880 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by William H. Marsh (Administrator) | 9thGovernor of Hong Kong 1883–1885 | Succeeded by William H. Marsh (Administrator) |
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