Arthur Lawley, 6th Baron Wenlock

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Administrator of Matabeleland
In office
5 December 1896 – 24 January 1901
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byWilliam Henry Milton (as Administrator of Southern Rhodesia)
Personal details
Born(1860-11-12)12 November 1860
Freiberg, Germany
Spouse(s)Annie Allen Cunard; (3 children)

Arthur Lawley, 6th Baron Wenlock,

Governor of Madras. The fourth and youngest son of the 2nd Baron Wenlock, he attended Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge, before joining the military. Serving in the Mahdist War, he reached the rank of captain before resigning his commission to pursue other interests. Lawley was then private secretary to his uncle, the 1st Duke of Westminster, and subsequently to the 4th Earl Grey
, who he followed to Rhodesia.

Representing the

Madras Legislative Council. Prominent in the Red Cross during the First World War, Lawley succeeded the youngest of his brothers as Baron Wenlock
in 1931, but died a year later. His only son had died in a hunting accident in 1909, and the title consequently became extinct upon his death.

Early life and education

Lawley was born in 1860 to

1st Duke of Sutherland. He was their seventh child to the couple and their fourth and youngest son. He was educated at Eton, where he became President of the Eton Society and Editor of the Eton Chronicle.[1]

In October 1879, he went to

Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 10th Hussars in 1882.[3] He served in India and in fought in the Sudan Mahdist War seeing action at Suakin (1884). In 1885 he was promoted to captain and served in the United Kingdom until 1892.[4] Upon retiring from the army, he became involved in politics, serving as the private secretary to his uncle, the Duke of Westminster from 1892 to 1896, after which he was appointed secretary to Earl Grey, who went to administer Rhodesia after the Jameson Raid.[5]

Administrator of Matabeleland

When

Sir Leander Starr Jameson, Lawley was in due course appointed the acting administrator of Matabeleland representing the British South Africa Company. In November 1896 he was appointed Deputy Administrator for Matabeleland. He served as Administrator of Matabeleland from 1897 to 1901.[6][7] In 1898, Lawley led a mission to the court of Lewanika, the king of Barotseland
.

Lawley later wrote a detailed account and a diary of his journey to Barotseland and his experiences. An agreement was signed at the Victoria Falls on 21 June 1898 between King Lewanika and Captain Arthur Lawley with Robert Coryndon, the resident in Barotseland as witness. The ivory seal with its gold handle used by Lawley to endorse the Treaty is in The National Trust Collection at Tyntesfield.[8][9]

The

Robert Baden Powell, who later served under him as Chief of Police in the Transvaal.[14]

Governor of Western Australia

Lawley was knighted and appointed Governor of Western Australia in February 1901,[15] and arrived in Albany aboard the ship Ophir, along with the Duke and Duchess of York (about to commence a royal tour). Lawley's official term as Governor of Western Australia ran from 1 May 1901 to 14 August 1902.[16] One of his first duties was to represent Western Australia at the opening of the first Federal Parliament in Melbourne on 9 May 1901.[17]

Despite only being governor for a little over 15 months, the inconclusive results of the 1901 state election meant that Lawley was met with five different governments during his time in office. He received the resignation of George Throssell on 21 May 1901, and commissioned George Leake as the new premier six days later. Leake's first government fell on 21 November 1901, but his replacement, Alf Morgans, was unable to form a new ministry, and resigned on 23 December 1901. Lawley then re-appointed Leake as premier. Leake almost immediately requested that Lawley dissolve parliament and order a new election, but Lawley refused, citing the precedent established by Lord Canterbury (the Governor of Victoria), in 1872, when he refused a dissolution to Charles Duffy. Despite this, Leake's government endured until his premature death on 24 June 1902. The final premier of Lawley's governorship, Walter James, was appointed on 1 July 1902.[18]

In December 1901, Lawley toured the south-western parts of the province along with the Governor General

Mount Lawley in Perth is named after Lawley. Lawley laid the foundation stones of the Supreme Court of Justice and the Parliament of Western Australia.[11]

Lieutenant-Governor of the Transvaal

On the recommendation of Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, Lawley was appointed as Lieutenant-Governor of the Transvaal in July 1902.[20][21] The Transvaal Colony had been established on the area which was previously the Boer republic of the same name, and Lawley was its first lieutenant-governor. He arrived in Pretoria at the end of August and was sworn in as lieutenant governor of the Transvaal on 29 September 1902,[22] serving as such until December 1905.[23]

South Africa in 1902 was emerging from the bitter conflict of the

King Edward VII in 1907.[30]

Lawley's administration also saw the legislation introduced, which led to the creation of the Kruger National Park.[31] and the University of the Witwatersrand.[32] At one of the schools established at that time by Bishop William M. Carter and the Mirfield Fathers, a young Desmond Tutu received his education.[33] Lawley's administration undertook the task of demarcating and allotting separate reserves in the Transvaal for indigenous Africans.[34] In the end, Lawley set aside only about 3% of the Transvaal for Africans.[34]

In 1903, due to petitions from

Bechuanaland protectorate to recover their stolen cattle on the condition they reciprocate by offering the Kgatla access to their own settlements.[35] The Kgatla responded by requesting Lawley to merge Kgatla reserves in Bechuanaland and the Crown colony into a single settlement.[35]

The Kgatla request was framed to enable their chief Lentshwe gain complete sovereignty over all the lands occupied by the Kgatla from the Boers during the Second Boer War.[36] The request was turned down by Lawley, who, however, permitted Lentshwe to appoint his brother Ramono as his deputy over Saulspoort.[36]

During his tenure, Lawley had reservations about Lord Milner's policy of importing cheap Chinese labour into Transvaal to work in the gold mines.

Mohandas Gandhi in the Transvaal and Gandhi wished him well when he was appointed Governor of the Madras Presidency in India.[42]

Governor of Madras

c. 1908

While serving as Lieutenant-Governor of Transvaal, Lawley was appointed Governor of Madras on 28 December 1905 at a monthly pay of Rs. 10,000. He took office on 28 March 1906 succeeding

Morley-Minto reforms which brought Indian representation into the government of Madras. He appointed the Maharaja of Bobbili to be the first Indian to have membership of the Executive.[45]

Lawley also promoted the building of railways and encouraged modern agriculture and industrial development. With his close friend the Maharaja of Mysore he promoted technical education. In 1910 there was an Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition in Mysore.[46]

The newly constructed building housing the Government Museum, Chennai was opened by Lawley on 5 September 1906. Lawley inaugurated the Victoria Memorial Hall in Madras on 28 March 1909 in memory of Queen Victoria.[47] In 1910, Lawley unveiled a portrait of Queen Victoria inside the Victoria Public Hall after the building was acquired by the Suguna Vilas Sabha. On 27 October 1911, Lawley presided over the Annual Day function of the Madras Sanskrit College and presented diplomas to meritorious students.[48]

Lawley inaugurated the Giffard School block of the Women and Children's Hospital in Egmore in October 1911.[49] On 1 November 1911, Sir Arthur Lawley opened the Lady Lawley Nurses Home. Their Excellencies were garlanded with extravagant garlands of flowers.[50] The nurses' quarters was established opposite to the hospital and named after Lady Lawley.[49]

Later life and death

In August and September 1912 he visited Canada at the instigation of the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill. He gave speeches in Ottawa and Winnipeg on the subject of "Canada, the Royal Navy and the Empire". The purpose was to encourage Canada to build Dreadnoughts for the Royal Navy.[51] In May 1913, Lawley was Deputy Leader of the British Empire Delegation to the United States to celebrate 100 years of peace between Britain and the U.S.A.[52][53][54] He delivered memorable speeches in New York, Washington, Philadelphia and Chicago.[55][56][57] A photograph illustrating the arrival of the delegation was taken in New York on 7 May 1913. On 19 November 1914, he accompanied Lady Roberts to the State Funeral in St Paul's Cathedral of her husband, Field Marshal Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts of Kandahar.[58] During the First World War, Lawley served as a Commissioner of the British Red Cross Society in Boulogne, France. In 1917 he served as Red Cross Commissioner in Mesopotamia and liaised with the Indian Red Cross because so many Indian soldiers were injured in Mesopotamia.[citation needed]

In 1919, Lawley represented Britain at the Founding of the

British Legion.[62][63] In his later life, he served as the director of numerous London-based companies including Forestal in Argentina.[64][65] In 1927 Lawley and Lady Lawley visited the Fairbridge Farm School at Pinjarra, Western Australia, and Lady Lawley Cottage. He remained president of the Child Emigration Society until 1929.[66] He succeeded his brother, Reverend Algernon George Lawley, who died without an heir, as the 6th Baron Wenlock
in June 1931.

Lord Wenlock died on 14 June 1932 at

Freiburg, in Baden Württemberg,[45] Germany, and was interred at St Helen's Church Escrick, Yorkshire.[67]
As he had no surviving sons, he was the last Baron Wenlock.

Legacy

A road in

Lawley, Gauteng, a township in Johannesburg. Lawley's Court Dress as Governor of Madras is kept in the National Trust Victorian House of Tyntesfield.[citation needed
]

Lady Lawley lived there from 1939 until her death in 1944 and many things in the house belonged to Sir Arthur and Lady Lawley. Portraits of Sir Arthur Lawley as Governor of Western Australia, Lady Lawley painted in Madras in 1911, and of their son Richard Edward Lawley are to be seen at Tyntesfield. There were two dozen photo albums kept at Tyntesfield which were loaned to the Empire and Commonwealth Museum.[70] Many of the photographs can be seen in the biography – Sir Arthur Lawley, Eloquent Knight Errant (see below).


In Literature

Immortalized by R.K. Narayan through all his books set in the fictional town of Malgudi. The main road in that town is Lawley Road. There is a statue of Lawley there. The road features in most of Narayan's stories. There is even one of a supposed historic visit of Lawley in the past.

Family

On 15 October 1885, he married Annie Allen Cunard (1863–1944), a daughter of Sir Edward Cunard, 2nd Baronet. The Baroness Wenlock was appointed a

Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire
(GBE) in 1917.

The couple had three children:

Honours

Knight Grand Commander of the Star of India (GCSI) 12 December 1911 [72]
Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (GCIE) 28 March 1906 [73]
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
(KCMG)		 1 March 1901 [74]
Knight of Justice of the Order of Saint John
(KStJ)		 1 June 1920 [75]
Knight of Grace of the Order of Saint John
(KStJ)		 1 November 1917 [76]
Knight of the Order of Leopold (Belgium; Special List) 24 March 1921 [77]

Military ranks

  • 9 August 1882: Lieutenant[3]
  • 10 August 1889: Captain (resigned commission 23 March 1892)[78][79]
  • 19 February 1915: Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel[80]
  • 9 December 1915: Temporary Colonel[81]
  • 21 December 1916: Temporary Honorary Colonel[82]

References

  1. ^ Eton College Archives.
  2. ^ "Lawley, the Hon. Arthur (LWLY879A)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  3. ^ a b "No. 25136". The London Gazette. 8 August 1882. p. 3690.
  4. ^ The Memoirs of the Tenth Royal Hussars, 1891.
  5. ^ The Bulawayo Chronicle, November 1897.
  6. ^ Anglo-African Who's Who, 1907.
  7. ^ a b "Zimbabwe". worldstatesmen.
  8. ^ The National Trust, Tyntesfield, U.K.
  9. ISBN 978-9966-25-357-6
    .
  10. ^ Anglo-African Who's Who 1907.
  11. ^ a b Sir Arthur Lawley's photo albums, Lord Wraxall.
  12. ^ Bulawayo Chronicle, 11 November 1897.
  13. ^ Daily Telegraph, 18 May 1900.
  14. ^ Baden-Powell, Robert (1933). Lessons from the Varsity of Life. Archived from the original on 2 December 2006.
  15. ^ "No. 27290". The London Gazette. 1 March 1901. p. 1499.
  16. ^ "Western Australia". worldstatesmen. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  17. ^ Parliamentary Education Office, Parliament House, Canberra, Australia.
  18. ISBN 0-7309-3983-9
    .
  19. ^ Lorraine Hayes, Lady Lawley Cottage, Western Australia Red Cross.
  20. ^ "The Government of the Transvaal". The Times. No. 36822. London. 17 July 1902. p. 7.
  21. ISBN 978-1-115-38419-3
    .
  22. ^ "Latest intelligence – The Transvaal". The Times. No. 36888. London. 2 October 1902. p. 3.
  23. ^ The Transvaal Leader. Tuesday 5 December 1905.
  24. ^ Photo of Joseph and Mary Chamberlain at Sunnyside Pretoria in Chapter 4 of "Sir Arthur Lawley, Eloquent Knight Errant". Lady Lawley Cottage (Western Australian Red Cross; 2008).
  25. ^ The Brunt of War and where it fell. Emily Hobhouse. Methuen London, 1902.
  26. ^ The Times, 8 January 1903, page 3, column A.
  27. ^ Gold Miners and the Imperial War. ANC. South Africa.
  28. ^ Milner, the Appostle of Empire. John Marlowe, Hamish Hamilton. London 1976. Chapter 7.
  29. ^ Chamberlains Speeches. 27 December 1902; edited by C. W. Boyd, London, 1914.
  30. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica.
  31. ^ The Star, Weekly Edition, Johannesburg, Saturday, 19 December 1903.
  32. ^ Colonial Office Despatches CO510/6. 5 September 1903. National Archives, Kew, London, UK.
  33. ^ Algy Lawley. Latimer Trend and Co. Plymouth, 1933.
  34. ^
    ISBN 978-1-85065-714-9
    .
  35. ^
    ISBN 978-0-521-25216-4
    .
  36. ^
    ISBN 978-0-521-25216-4
    .
  37. ^ Milner Papers. Bodleian Library Oxford. Dep. 323. Folios 133/137, 1903.
  38. ^ Colonial Office Despatches CO510/6. 3559, 9246 and Chinese Labour Regulations. National Archives, Kew, U.K.
  39. ^ a b The Cyclopedia of India: biographical, historical, administrative, commercial, Volume 3. Cyclopedia Pub. Co. 1909. p. 193.
  40. ^ Milner, Apostle of Empire by John Marlowe and Hamish Hamilton. London (1976), p. 164.
  41. ISBN 978-0-415-02811-0
    .
  42. ^ Mahatma Gandhi Media and Research Service. Chronology 1905.
  43. ^ Notes on the Administration of His Excellency, the Honourable Sir Arthur Lawley, Governor of Madras from 1906 to 1911. Madras Government Press 1912.
  44. ^ a b "Building a bank the MCt. way". The Hindu. 12 April 2004.
  45. ^ a b The Times obituary for Lord Wenlock, Wednesday, 15 June 1932.
  46. ^ "The Fourteenth Tour of His Excellency the Honourable Sir Arthur Lawley to Mysore, Hospet, Bellary, Anantapur and Hyderabad, 26 October to 17 November 1910", Madras Press.
  47. ^ "Milestones crossed in the history of the museum". Government Museum, Chennai.
  48. ^ V. Sundaram (22 October 2009). "103 glorious years of Madras Sanskrit College-II". The News Today. India. Archived from the original on 6 February 2010.
  49. ^ a b Shobha Menon. "'The best east of Suez,' they described MH". Madras Musings. 19 (4).
  50. ^ Madras Times, 2 November 1911.
  51. ^ National Library of Canada FC243.
  52. ^ New York Times, 5 May 1913, p. 4.
  53. ^ New York Times, 8 May 1913, p. 6.
  54. ^ New York Times, 9 May 1913, p. 1.
  55. ^ The Washington Post, 13 May 1913, pp. 1, 7.
  56. ^ Washington Post, 14 May 1913, p. 2.
  57. ^ Chicago Daily Tribune, 17 May 1913, p. 2.
  58. ^ The Times, 20 November 1914, p. 9 (col. F).
  59. ^ The Times, 22 February 1919, p. 9, col. A.
  60. ^ The Times, 24 February 1919, p. 8, col. C.
  61. ^ Champions of Charity. War and the Rise of the Red Cross by John F. Hutchinson. Westview Press, 1997.
  62. ^ The Times, 16 June 1932, obituary of Lord Wenlock.
  63. ^ The Official History of the British Legion by Graham Wootton. MacDonald and Evans, 1956.
  64. ^ The Times, 21 July 1920, p. 4 (col. E).
  65. ^ The Times, 23 July 1920, p. 22 (col. E).
  66. ^ The Times, 12 June 1930, p. 8.
  67. ^ The Times, Thursday, 18 June 1932, p. 9 (col. B).
  68. ^ "When it rains city is a shambles". The Hindu. 25 October 2007. Archived from the original on 26 October 2007. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
  69. ^ Madras Times, Thursday 16 September 1911.
  70. ISBN 978-0-9554457-2-9
    iBooks.
  71. ^ "Sir A. Lawley's son killed". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. 7 September 1909. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  72. ^ "No. 28559". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 December 1911. p. 9356.
  73. ^ "No. 27899". The London Gazette. 30 March 1906. p. 2253.
  74. ^ "To be an Ordinary Member of the Second Class, or Knights Commanders of the said Most Distinguished Order:— Captain the Honourable Arthur Lawley, on appointment as Governor of the State of Western Australia". "No. 27283". The London Gazette. 12 February 1901. p. 1058.
  75. ^ "No. 31924". The London Gazette. 1 June 1920. p. 6040.
  76. ^ "No. 30365". The London Gazette. 2 November 1917. p. 11357.
  77. ^ "No. 32268". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 March 1921. p. 2388.
  78. ^ "No. 25970". The London Gazette. 3 September 1889. p. 4786.
  79. ^ "10th Hussars, Captain the Honourable Arthur Lawley resigns his Commission". "No. 26270". The London Gazette. 22 March 1892. p. 1702.
  80. ^ "No. 29075". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 February 1915. p. 1715.
  81. ^ "No. 29396". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 December 1915. p. 12292.
  82. ^ "No. 29871". The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 December 1916. p. 12424.

Sources

Further reading

  • The eighth tour of H.E. The Hon. Sir Arthur Lawley: Governor of Madras: Tanjore, February 19th to 28th, 1908. Madras Government Press. 1912.
  • Speeches delivered by His Excellency the Honourable Sir Arthur Lawley, while Governor of Madras, 1906–11. 1912.
Government offices
Preceded by Governor of Western Australia
1901–1902 		Succeeded by
New title Lieutenant-Governor of the Transvaal
1902–1905 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Sir Gabriel Stokes
(acting)
Governor of Madras

1906–1911 		Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Baron Wenlock
1931–1932 		Extinct
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