John Baird, 1st Viscount Stonehaven
Fred Jowett | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 April 1874 Chelsea, London |
| Died | 20 August 1941 (aged 67) Ury House, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Sydney Keith-Falconer, 11th Countess of Kintore (1874–1974) |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
Sir John Lawrence Baird of Urie, 1st Viscount Stonehaven, 1st Baron Stonehaven, 2nd Baronet, 3rd of Ury,
Baird was born in London, and attended
In 1925, Baird was appointed Governor-General of Australia on the advice of
Early life
Baird was born in Chelsea, London,[1][2] son of Sir Alexander Baird, 1st Baronet, and wife The Hon. Annette Maria, daughter of Lawrence Palk, 1st Baron Haldon.[3]
He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, but left university without graduating. He was commissioned in the Lanarkshire Yeomanry (later the Scottish Horse). In 1894 he served as an aide-de-camp to the Governor of New South Wales, then entered the diplomatic service.[1] He was appointed Second Secretary in September 1902,[4] and became a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1904, before he retired from the Diplomatic Service in 1908.[3]
He was a
Political career 1910–1924
Baird was elected to the
Bonar Law became Prime Minister the same month, and appointed Baird
Governor-General of Australia
In December, after the Conservatives returned to power, he accepted the position of
Lord Stonehaven arrived in Australia in October 1925. He quickly established good relations with Bruce, with whom he had much in common. But, like his predecessor, he found that Australian Prime Ministers no longer wanted a Governor-General acting as an Imperial overseer, or as a representative of the British government, but merely as discreet figureheads. The 1926 Imperial Conference in London recognised the de facto independence of the Dominions, and ended the role of the Governors-General as diplomats and as channels of communication between governments. From now on, the Governor-General's sole role was to be a personal representative of the Crown.
There were other changes during Stonehaven's term. In May 1927, he formally opened the first meeting of the Australian Parliament in the newly built Parliament House in Canberra, and the Governor-General was at last given a permanent residence, Government House, Canberra, commonly known by the previous name of the house, Yarralumla. This meant an end to travelling between government houses in Sydney and Melbourne and made the post of Governor-General less expensive. At the same time, the advent of aviation, of which Stonehaven was a keen exponent, made travelling around Australia much easier.[2]
For most of Stonehaven's term, Bruce seemed firmly entrenched in office but, in September 1929, he was unexpectedly defeated on the floor of the House of Representatives, and asked Stonehaven for a dissolution. Although the Parliament was only a year old, Stonehaven agreed at once: the days when Governors-General exercised a discretion in this area had passed.[2]
Bruce's party was defeated at the October election, and Bruce also lost his own seat. The Labor leader, James Scullin, took office in January 1930. Stonehaven's relations with Scullin were correct but not friendly, since his political sympathies lay elsewhere. It was probably fortunate for him that his term expired before the crises of the Scullin government began.[1][2] Stonehaven left Australia on 2 October 1930, at which point his successor had not been determined; Lord Somers, the Governor of Victoria, took over as Administrator of the Commonwealth until a permanent successor, Sir Isaac Isaacs, took office in January 1931.[13]
Freemasonry
Stonehaven was a freemason. During his term as Governor-General (1925–1930), he was also Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New South Wales.[14]
Later life
On his return to Britain, he was appointed Chairman of the
Family
Stonehaven married Lady Ethel Sydney Keith-Falconer, daughter of the 9th Earl of Kintore, in 1905. The couple had two sons and three daughters. Lord Stonehaven died of hypertensive cardiac disease at Ury House, Stonehaven, Scotland, in August 1941, aged 67, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Ian. The Viscountess Stonehaven succeeded her elder brother as eleventh Countess of Kintore in 1966. She died in September 1974, one day after her 100th birthday.[3]
Arms
|
References
- ^ a b c d Serle, Percival. "Baird, Sir John Lawrence, Viscount Stonehaven (1874–1941)". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Project Gutenberg Australia. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
- ^ ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Burke's Peerage 2003, page 2196
- ^ "No. 27500". The London Gazette. 2 December 1902. p. 8366.
- ^ "No. 27156". The London Gazette. 23 January 1900. p. 438.
- ^ "No. 28338". The London Gazette. 11 February 1910. p. 1037.
- ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Rochester to Ryedale". Archived from the original on 19 December 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b "No. 32763". The London Gazette. 3 November 1922. p. 7777.
- ^ "No. 32763". The London Gazette. 3 November 1922. p. 7778.
- ^ "No. 32775". The London Gazette. 8 December 1922. p. 8712.
- ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Arundel to Ayrshire South". Archived from the original on 16 October 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "No. 33057". The London Gazette. 16 June 1925. p. 4023.
- ^ Christopher Cunneen, Kings' Men: Australia's Governors-General from Hopetoun to Isaacs, 1983, George Allen & Unwin, p.172.
- ^ "KentHenderson". Archived from the original on 9 April 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
- ^ "No. 34526". The London Gazette. 28 June 1938. p. 4169.
- ^ Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, And Companionage. 1936. p. 917, STONEHAVEN, BARON. (Baird.). Retrieved 28 June 2022.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Viscount Stonehaven
- Baird family tree[usurped]
- "John Lawrence Baird, 1st Viscount Stonehaven - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
 |  | ||
