Sir Hamilton John Goold-Adams, (27 June 1858, in

Jamesbrook Jamesbrook () is a townland in the civil parish of Garranekinnefeake, in the historical Barony of Imokilly, in County Cork, Ireland. As of the 2011 census, the townland of Jamesbrook had a population of 39 people. Historically the townland was ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

– 12 April 1920) was an Irish soldier and colonial administrator, who served as

Governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor performs constitutional and ceremonial func ...

from 1915 to 1920.

Early life

Born in the

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

, Ireland, fourth son of Richard Wallis Goold-Adams (1802–73) and Mary Sarah Goold-Adams (d. 1899), daughter of Sir William Wrixon-Becher, 1st Baronet.

Military career

Hamilton Goold-Adams was a cadet in the training ship HMS ''Conway'' until he decided to join the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and was commissioned in the

Royal Scots The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of Scotland. The regime ...

Regiment, serving principally in southern Africa, where he achieved the rank of captain in 1885 and major in 1895, leading many expeditions into the interior. During the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

he served first as Resident Commissioner in Bechuanaland, Afterwards as commander of the Town Guard during the latter half of the

Siege of Mafeking The siege of Mafeking was a 217-day siege battle for the town of Mafeking (now called Mafikeng) in South Africa during the Second Boer War from October 1899 to May 1900. The siege received considerable attention as Lord Edward Cecil, the son of ...

where he was twice Mentioned in Despatches.

Colonial administrator and governor

Goold-Adams was appointed Deputy Commissioner of the

Orange River Colony The Orange River Colony was the British colony created after Britain first occupied (1900) and then annexed (1902) the independent Orange Free State in the Second Boer War. The colony ceased to exist in 1910, when it was absorbed into the Unio ...

under the Administrator Sir Alfred Milner (later Lord Milner) in January 1901. Following the end of hostilities in May 1902, the colony formally received a new constitution on 23 June, and Goold-Adams was appointed

Lieutenant-Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a " second-in-com ...

, serving as such until 1907, when he became governor. Goold-Adams was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1902, and was advanced to

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

in 1907. Goold-Adams returned to England in 1911, where he married a Canadian named Elsie Riordon on 4 July. Later that year he was appointed British High Commissioner to

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

. In 1914 he was made

, and arrived in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

just before the election of Queensland's first majority

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

government, under Premier

T. J. Ryan Thomas Joseph Ryan (1 July 1876 – 1 August 1921) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Queensland from 1915 to 1919, as leader of the state Labor Party. He resigned to enter federal politics, sitting in the House of Represe ...

. He occasionally disapproved of Labor's policies and majority appointments to the Legislative Council of Queensland. Returning to England after his retirement, Goold-Adams contracted

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity ( pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...

on board ship, and died in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in 1920.

Personal life

Upon his return from South Africa on 4 July 1911, he married Elsie Riordan of Montreal, Canada; they had two children.

References

*D. J. Murphy
'Goold-Adams, Sir Hamilton John (1858–1920)'
'' Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 9, Melbourne University Press, 1983, p. 50. *Elizabeth Main: ''Man of Mafeking: The Bechuanaland Years of Sir Hamilton Goold-Adams, 1884–1901'', Botswana Society (Botswana), 1996. {{DEFAULTSORT:Goold-Adams, Hamilton 1858 births 1920 deaths Governors of Queensland Royal Scots officers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Bath People from County Cork British colonial army officers British military personnel of the Second Boer War Respiratory disease deaths in South Africa High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Cyprus Commissioners of the Bechuanaland Protectorate Presidents of the Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science