Frederick Barlee
Sir Frederick Barlee Lieutenant Governor | |
---|---|
In office March 1877 – September 1882 | |
Trinidad Administrator | |
In office April 1884 – August 1884 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Worlingworth, Suffolk, England | 6 February 1827
Died | 8 August 1884 Port of Spain, Trinidad | (aged 57)
Sir Frederick Palgrave Barlee
Frederick Barlee was born in
In 1855, Kennedy was appointed Governor of Western Australia, and he arranged for Barlee to be appointed Colonial Secretary.[2] Both men arrived in Western Australia in June 1855, and commenced work the following month. As colonial secretary, Barlee became a nominated member of the Western Australian Legislative Council. Kennedy immediately embarked on a range of reforms, with Barlee largely responsible for their implementation. Kennedy's reforms were unpopular, and Barlee made numerous enemies during this time. However, by 1856 Barlee and Kennedy had fallen out; after this, Barlee often opposed Kennedy on important issues, and his influence declined.
From January 1856 to March 1857, Barlee was Acting Commissioner of Police.[3]
In 1862, Governor Kennedy was succeeded by Governor
John Bruce was replaced by
In 1873, Barlee began to work for early achievement of responsible government. Both directly and through a newspaper that he had recently bought a stake in, Barlee agitated for responsible government, and in 1874 the Legislative Council passed a resolution calling for the constitutional change. Although Weld did not think that Western Australia was yet ready for responsible government, he accepted the situation and passed on the request to the Colonial Office in London. The Colonial Office were strongly against granting responsible government, and were critical of Weld for allowing the situation to arise. Shortly afterwards, Weld was transferred to Tasmania. Barlee, perhaps anticipating a transfer, took long service leave and left for England in July 1875. In his absence, the demand for responsible government receded, and it would not be granted until 1890.
Barlee remained nominal colonial secretary for another eighteen months, and intended to return to the position unless he was offered a better appointment elsewhere. In 1877, he was made CMG.[2] Also in 1877, he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of British Honduras (now Belize), a position that he held until 1882.[2] After briefly visiting Western Australia to attend to some investments, he returned to England to await his next posting. He was made KCMG in 1883, but had to wait until April 1884 for his next posting, as Administrator of Trinidad. Barlee arrived at Port of Spain, Trinidad and took up his appointment in June 1884, but died from asthma just seven weeks later on 8 August 1884. Barlee had married in 1851, Jane, daughter of Edward John Oseland, of Coleraine, Ireland, who survived him.[2]
Barlee was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1878.[4]
References
- ^ a b
Honniball, J. H. M. "Barlee, Sir Frederick Palgrave (1827–1884)". ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ^ a b c d Mennell, Philip (1892). . The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co – via Wikisource.
- ^ "WA Police Commissioners 1853-1867". Western Australian Police Force. 9 August 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- ^ American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
- ISBN 0730738140.
- Honniball, J. H. M. (1979). "Sir Frederick Barlee, the administrator". In Hunt, Lyall (ed.). Westralian Portraits. Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press. ISBN 0-85564-157-6.