Ronald Munro Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar
George Welsh Currie | |
---|---|
Member of Parliament for Ross and Cromarty | |
In office 11 August 1884 – 19 December 1885 | |
Preceded by | Sir Alexander Matheson, Bt |
Succeeded by | Roderick Macdonald |
Personal details | |
Born | Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland | 6 March 1860
Died | 30 March 1934 Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland | (aged 74)
Political party | Liberal |
Spouse |
Helen Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood
(m. 1889) |
Ronald Craufurd Munro Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar,
Munro Ferguson was born in
Background and education
Munro Ferguson was born Ronald Craufurd Ferguson at his family home in the
Educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, he pursued a military career until 1884.[1] Ferguson joined the 1st Fife Light Horse in 1875: a militia regiment of gentlemen. Three years later, he entered RMA Sandhurst. On the officer's course for a year, he was gazetted to the Grenadier Guards with a commission. He served in the army for a short service limited commission, leaving in 1884 on returning from India. Ferguson joined the Oswald of Dunnikier Lodge 468 on 24 December 1888.[1]
Political life, 1884–1914
In 1884, Munro Ferguson was elected to the House of Commons but was defeated at the general election of November 1885 by a Crofter candidate in Ross and Cromarty. One historian had accused him of scheming with the Duke of Argyll to corrupt the electoral process.[2] He was defeated again the following year in Dunbartonshire. But at a by-election in July 1886 he secured the nomination at Leith Burghs, principally on the advice of Lord Rosebery. Gladstone had won two unopposed seats but, on refusing Leith to prevent a suspected Unionist Michael Jacks, it became vacant. In August a by-election was held and Home Rule candidate Munro Ferguson was elected.[3]
Gladstone appointed him private secretary to
He supported the imperial policies of the Conservative government during the Second Boer War, which made him highly unpopular with the radical, anti-war wing of the Liberal Party. Matters came to a head when he was threatened by Grey in a letter on 18 October 1900. The Liberals had lost another general election to the 'Khaki' Conservatives and so Ferguson disgusted by the derision and division "chucked it" in resigning as Scottish whip. A member of the Liberal Imperialist Council, he was disaffected by the bad treatment of his mentor Rosebery. Nonetheless, he was compelled to work with 'Limps', derisively dubbed by republicans, on "lines of speeches" for "the Asquith Committee" which now controlled the party's Imperialist wing now renamed The Liberal League. Grey, Haldane and the rest seized control of the organization and its administration: the preface to which was Rosebery's remarkable volte face over the South African War, leaving his friend forced to admit to Munro Ferguson "should an Asquith Government be formed he might go abroad."[6]
He, therefore, had little hope of Cabinet office in the governments of
Governor-General of Australia, 1914–1920
In February 1914, therefore, Munro Ferguson was happy to accept the post of Governor-General of Australia (he had refused the governorship of South Australia in 1895 and that of Victoria in 1910). He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) prior to his appointment on 18 May 1914.[9] His political background, his connections with the Liberal government in London and his imperialist views made him both better equipped and more inclined to play an activist role in Australian politics than any of his predecessors. At the same time, he had enough sense to confine his activism to behind the scenes influence. He was described as an active Imperial supervisor by the journalist, Keith Murdoch,[10] using his own cipher to signal London.[11]
During the
He developed close friendships with two judges of the
Strickland
Although 'a genial host and brilliant controversialist'Sir Gerald Strickland 'his tactlessness caused some uneasiness'. The new Governor-General found himself in a struggle over precedence. The post of New South Wales Governor was the oldest in Australia and had long been considered the most powerful. But, by law, the royal appointment to Government House held sway. During the First World War, the strain[clarification needed] began to show in the London Liberal government. Ferguson was desperate to keep secrecy, and maintain control over policy access to London. On 3 June 1916, the Colonial Secretary informed Ferguson that a coalition[clarification needed] was pending. Strickland, having snubbed the Government[clarification needed] in Melbourne, went over the Governor-General's head directly to London. Strickland worked up[clarification needed] an ANZAC day annual memorial, which proved very popular – but[clarification needed] which Strickland claimed was a national celebration. On 1 May 1917, Munro Ferguson confessed to Lord Stamfordham that he had under-estimated the deep emotional loyalty[clarification needed] of ordinary Australians.[16] Press belief[clarification needed] that Anzacs were the spearhead elite and shocktroops among dominions gave a status[clarification needed] in the British Empire's armies they sustained throughout the war.[17]
Australian federal election, 1914
It was advantageous that Munro Ferguson was politically experienced because he arrived in Melbourne, then the site of the
On 2 June 1914, barely three weeks after Munro Ferguson had taken office, Cook formally requested a double dissolution. Munro Ferguson had several things to consider. The Parliament elected in 1913 still had two years to run. Cook had not been defeated in the House of Representatives. His sole reason for wanting a dissolution was that he did not control the Senate. This was a situation without precedent in the United Kingdom, where the upper house, the House of Lords, is unelected.[1]
When Munro Ferguson granted Cook a double dissolution, he was furiously denounced by the Labor Party: who maintained that Cook was manipulating the Constitution to gain control of the Senate. Munro Ferguson, influenced by the British House of Lords crisis of 1910, took the view that the lower house should prevail. Paradoxically, it was Cook's Liberal Party who argued that the Governor-General should always take the advice of his Prime Minister, while Labor argued that he should exercise his discretion.
In the middle of the campaign for the 1914 election, news arrived of the outbreak of the First World War. This caused an acute crisis in Australian government. Parliament had been dissolved and the government was in caretaker mode. Furthermore, Australia in 1914 did not have the right to independent participation in international affairs, and so its politicians were completely inexperienced in such.
In these circumstances, Munro Ferguson was the only man with both the constitutional authority and the confidence to act. It was he who convened the Cabinet, implemented the mobilisation plan and communicated with the Cabinet in London. Cook's manoeuvring backfired when Labor won the September election and Andrew Fisher was returned to office.[1]
Australia at war
The Inspector-General
Munro-Ferguson was an enthusiastic supporter of Australian soldiers. He indicated to Colonial Secretary
Against the advice, he warned New Zealand against German cruiser Emden.
In October 1915, Fisher resigned and was succeeded as Prime Minister by Hughes. Munro Ferguson recognised Hughes's qualities as a war leader and supported him privately and publicly, in a way that stretched constitutional propriety. Hughes was convinced that only the introduction of conscription would allow Australia to maintain its commitment to the war effort and Munro Ferguson gave him every encouragement. Hughes' answer was to call-up 50,000 more men – but without planning ahead. Hughes refused to call a debate in the Federal parliament.[24]
Munro Ferguson regarded the defeat of the conscription
When Hughes was expelled from the Labor Party after the
When David Lloyd George became Prime Minister in Britain, Hughes communicated directly with him (sometimes in Welsh), causing Munro Ferguson to complain that he was being denied his proper role as the medium of communication between London and Melbourne. Despite Munro Ferguson's vigorous assertion of his rights as Governor-General, he could not in the long run halt the decline in the influence of the office.
Once Australia gained the right to independent participation in international affairs, which it did in 1918, Munro Ferguson's days of influence were over.[1]
Alone among the Dominion forces, the Defence Force Act 1903 (Cth) reserved the power to confirm a death sentence passed by Australian courts-martial not to the commander-in-chief of the theatre, but to the Governor-General of Australia. Munro Ferguson refused to confirm the sentence on any of the 113 Australian soldiers condemned by courts-martial.[26]
Post-war
After the war, trade was restored with Britain, but protectionist and isolationists Conservative policies threatened the Liberal Imperialist vision of unity.
On his return home, he was raised to the peerage as Viscount Novar, of Raith in the County of Fife and of Novar in the County of Ross[28] on 6 December, named for Novar House, Raith which was the ancestral seat of the Ferguson family. The Liberal PM Lloyd George appointed Novar to be vice-President of the Committee of Council of Education. He was a close political friend of Sir Edward Grey, and took an active part in the business of the Lords. As Vice-President of the Council on Education he was responsible for oversight in 1922.
Later career
On the collapse of the Coalition he was adopted by another Scot, Bonar Law, who made Novar Secretary of State for Scotland. Following an official ceremony, he received the Freedom of Edinburgh in 1923; he took an interest in the history and traditions of his homeland. After the brief interlude of the Labour government he left the Scottish office, and was appointed as Chairman of the Political Honours Committee. Whereas in Scotland he became a Member of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and Construction. He remained a Liberal under the new leadership, and was invited to the Board of Trust of National Liberals of Scotland. Taking on directorships he was Chairman of the North British and Mercantile Insurance Company. He was a Director of the Rail Passengers Insurance Company, and of the Union Bank of Scotland: executive posts he held until his death.[29] Novar was granted further honours when he was appointed a Knight of the Thistle (KT) in 1926.[1]
Personal life and death
Lord Novar married Lady Helen Hermione (1863 – 9 April 1941), daughter of Lord Dufferin, in 1889. The union was childless.[30] They lived at 18 Portman Square, when in London. He was a member of the Athenaeum and Reform Clubs.
Lady Novar's work for the
Lord Novar died at his home on 30 March 1934, aged 74, the title Viscount Novar dying with him as he left no issue. The titles Baron of Novar and Baron of Muirton became dormant. His papers are an extremely important source for historians of Australian politics and Australia's role in the First World War.[1] He was a close friend of Sir Cecil Spring Rice, with whom he corresponded for many years.[31] Lady Novar died in 1941.[32]
Legacy
- Novar Gardens, South Australia were named in 1921 in honour of Viscount Novar.[33]
- A Sydney Harbour ferry, Lady Ferguson (built 1914), was named after Lady Novar, as a continuation of a naming convention whereby ferries were named after wives of Governors-General of Australia and Governors of NSW.
Arms
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References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Ronald Munro Ferguson". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Archived from the original on 26 July 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
eldest son of Colonel Robert Munro-Ferguson, M.P., for Kirkcaldy, Scotland, and his wife, Emma, daughter of J. H. Mandeville, was born on 6 March 1860. He was educated principally at home, and at the age of 15 joined the Fife light horse. He subsequently studied at Sandhurst, and in 1880 became a lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards...
- ^ Ian Fraser Grigor, "Highland Resistance: The Radical Tradition in the Scottish North",
- ^ Jenkins, R, (1995) "Gladstone", Macmillan, 557 and 557n.
- ^ Rosebery even provided marriage advice: Letter Rosebery to Ferguson on 5 August 1889, Rosebery NLS 10017.
- ^ Ferguson to Rosebery on 1 April 1887; and Rosebery to Ferguson on 5 April 1887, Rosebery NLS 10017.
- ^ Rosebery to MF, May 1901; Koss, p. 61
- ^ Letter to Rosebery, 15 May 1906; Koss, p. 82
- ^ Letter to Loreburn, 21 December 1907; Koss, pp. 87–8
- ^ E M Andrews, "The Anzac Illusion", (Cambridge University Press, 1993), 66–9.
- ^ Novar Papers, ANL 696/1351-2
- ^ C.G.T.Steward, Cunmeen, "King's Men", 140-1
- ^ Letter to Andrew Bonar Law, Novar Papers, ANL, AA 7823/1 14/18/349.
- ^ Cunmeen, "King's Men", 124-6, 130
- ^ Cunmeen, "King's Men", 110-11.
- ^ Donald Markwell, "Griffith, Barton and the early governor-generals [sic]: aspects of Australia's constitutional development", Public Law Review, 1999.
- ^ a b Munro Ferguson to Lord Stamfordham, ANL MS 696/281. The Anzac Illusion, 91
- ^ Ferguson to Lord Stamfordham, 28 August 1918, Novar Papers, 696/321-2.
- ^ Munro-Ferguson to Bonar Law, 6 Oct 1915, Novar Papers, ANL 696/2658-13; Bonar Law to Munro-Ferguson, 24 May 1915
- ^ Bonar Law Papers, 25 Sept 1915, box 51, folder 3, sheet 21, 51/3/21; and also CO 676/53, 59, 63.
- ^ ANL (Australian National Library), 8 Nov 1915, Letter to Bonar Law, MS 696/3328.3482
- ^ 8 Nov 1915, Munro-Ferguson to Bonar Law (ANL MS 696/3328)
- ^ Novar Papers ANL 696/95837-5, 9675, 9702, 12, 70, 74, 263–4, 297, 428–9
- ^ 1 June 1915, Bonar Law Papers, box 50, folder 1, item 3.
- ^ Novar Papers, ANL MS 696/42-3, 398, 780.
- ^ Munro-Ferguson to Bonar Law, 8 Nov 1915, Novar Papers, ANL, 696/767
- ^ Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine[dead link]
- ^ Ferguson, 1 May 1919, Novar Papers, ANL 696/2194-2022.
- ^ "No. 32159". The London Gazette. 10 December 1920. p. 12190.
- ^ The Times, Obit., 31 March 1934; The Complete Peerage, XIII (1940) eds., Doubleday and de Walden, (1901), vol. 38, London
- ^ Peter Stanley, Bad Characters: Sex, Crime, Mutiny, Murder and the Australian Imperial Force, (Sydney Pier 9, 2010)
- ^ "Sir Cecil Spring Rice » 12 Oct 1929 »". The Spectator Archive. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8.
- ^ Novar Gardens Archived 21 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, West Torrens City Council, Adelaide, South Australia
- ^ Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage And Companionage. 1923. p. 703, NOVAR, VISCOUNT. (Munro-Ferguson). Retrieved 28 June 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Bibliography
- Andrews, E. M. (1993). The Anzac Illusion: Anglo-Australian Relations during World War One. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521419147.
- Jenkins, Roy (1964). Asquith : portrait of a man and an era. London.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ISBN 9780713908978.
- Donald Markwell (1999). "Griffith, Barton and the early governor-generals [sic]: aspects of Australia's constitutional development". Public Law Review.
- McKinstry, Leo (2010). Rosebery : statesman in turmoil. London: John Murray. ISBN 9780719565861.
- Torrance, David (2006). The Scottish Secretaries. Edinburgh: Birlinn. ISBN 9781841584768.
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Ronald Munro Ferguson
- Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine[dead link] Profile, westernfrontassociation.com
- Profile, adb.anu.edu.au