Sir Francis Alexander Newdigate Newdegate, (31 December 1862 – 2 January 1936) was an English Conservative Party politician. After over twenty years in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

, he served as

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

from 1917 to 1920, and

Governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutiona ...

from 1920 to 1924.

Early life and family

Born in 1862, he was the son of Lieutenant Colonel Francis William Newdigate and his first wife Charlotte Elizabeth Agnes Sophia Woodford, and grandson of

Francis Parker Newdigate Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places *Rural Mu ...

. He was educated at Eton and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

, and was commissioned into the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

in 1883. He married Elizabeth Sophia Lucia Bagot on 13 October 1888. Newdegate inherited estates at Arbury Hall, near Nuneaton and at

Harefield Harefield is a village in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, northwest of Charing Cross near Greater London's boundary with Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the north. The population at the 2011 Census was 7,399. Haref ...

, near

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxb ...

, on the death of his father in 1893, and uncle Sir Edward Newdegate in 1902. He assumed the additional surname "Newdegate", differently spelt, under the terms of the will of a kinsman

Charles Newdigate Newdegate Charles Newdigate Newdegate (14 July 1816 – 9 April 1887) was a British Conservative politician. In Hansard the spelling is Newdegate. Early life He was the only son of Charles Parker Newdigate Newdegate of Harefield Park, Uxbridge, Middle ...

, in September 1902. In 1911 he erected, at Arbury Hall, a monument to the memory of

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...

, whose father had been employed on the Arbury estate.

Career

Newdegate was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Nuneaton from 1892 to 1906, and for Tamworth from 1909 to 1917. He was on 14 February 1917 appointed

Steward of the Manor of Northstead The office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead functions as a procedural device to allow a member of Parliament (MP) to resign from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. As members of the House of Commons are forbidden ...

, a mechanism for resigning from the House of Commons, on his appointment as

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. Newdegate was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1917 upon his appointment as

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

(1917 to 1920). He was appointed

in 1920 where he served until 1924. On retirement he was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1925. The Western Australian town of Newdegate is named after him.

Later life and death

Newdegate was appointed High Steward of the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield in 1925. On his death in 1936 his estates passed to his daughter Lucia, who in 1919, had married John Maurice Fitzroy, father of the 3rd

Viscount Daventry Viscount Daventry, of Daventry in the Northamptonshire, County of Northampton, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 6 May 1943 for Muriel FitzRoy, 1st Viscountess Daventry, Muriel FitzRoy (née Douglas-Pennant), in h ...

Personal life

He was a friend of Sir Alexander Russell Downer, who built a large home and gardens in the Adelaide Hills in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and named it Arbury Park after the Newdigate family home.

References

External links

* * * http://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/47/Griff.htm * http://thepeerage.com/p6293.htm * http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110008b.htm , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Newdegate, Francis 1862 births 1936 deaths Grenadier Guards officers Governors of Tasmania Governors of Western Australia Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People educated at Eton College Politicians from London People from Nuneaton UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst British emigrants to Australia

Early life and family

Career

Later life and death

Personal life

See also

References

External links