John Poynder Dickson-Poynder, 1st Baron Islington (31 October 1866 – 6 December 1936), born John Poynder Dickson and known as Sir John Poynder Dickson-Poynder from 1884 to 1910, was a British politician. He was

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

between 1910 and 1912.

Early life

The son of

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

John Bourmaster Dickson and Sarah Matilda Dickson (née Poynder), he was born on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

and educated at

Twyford School Twyford School is a co-educational, private, preparatory boarding and day school, located in the village of Twyford, Hampshire, England. History Twyford states itself to be the oldest preparatory school in the United Kingdom. It moved to its ...

, Harrow and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

. In 1884 he succeeded his uncle as sixth

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, and on succeeding to his maternal uncle's property he assumed by royal licence the additional surname of Poynder in 1888. The Poynder estates in Wiltshire included Hilmarton near Calne, and Hartham near Corsham, where Dickson-Poynder carried out alterations c. 1888. He married Anne Beauclerk Dundas (c.1869-1958) the daughter of James Dundas of Dundas and granddaughter of Baron Napier of Magdala. They had one daughter, Joan, who was later Joan, Lady Altrincham who organised nursing in Africa.

Member of Parliament

He was appointed

High Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) high sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Go ...

in 1890. Elected

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Member of Parliament for the

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town in north-west Wiltshire, England. It lies north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, west of London and is near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon, ...

constituency in 1892, he joined the Liberals in 1905. He was a member of

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

from 1898 to 1904. In late 1902 he visited

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

and attended the 1903

Delhi Durbar The Delhi Durbar ( lit. "Court of Delhi") was an Indian imperial-style mass assembly organized by Britain at Coronation Park, Delhi, India, to mark the succession of an Emperor or Empress of India. Also known as the Imperial Durbar, it was he ...

Military career

Dickson-Poynder was first commissioned into the

volunteer Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency ...

battalion of 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 line infantry, of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of England ...

, but transferred to the

Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry (RWY) was a Yeomanry regiment of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom established in 1794. It was disbanded as an independent Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Territorial Army unit in 1967, a time when t ...

where he was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on 7 December 1898. He volunteered for active service in the

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

, and was commissioned a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the 1st Battalion (Wiltshire Company)

Imperial Yeomanry The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer mounted force of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Created on 2 January 1900, the force was initially recruited from the middle classes and traditional yeomanry sources, but s ...

on 7 February 1900, leaving

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

on the SS ''Cymric'' in early March 1900. Appointed a

quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land army, armies, a quartermaster is an officer who supervises military logistics, logistics and requisitions, manages stores or barracks, and distri ...

during the voyage (dated 10 March 1900), he was back as a regular lieutenant in the Wiltshire company of the 1st battalion the following month. He later served on the Staff as aide-de-camp to Lord Methuen, for which he was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

(DSO) on 29 November 1900. Following his resignation from the Imperial Yeomanry, he was on 5 February 1901 granted the rank of honorary lieutenant of the Army. The following year, he was promoted to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry on 31 May 1902.

Governor of New Zealand

In 1910 Dickson was appointed

, a post he held for two years, and on 27 April that same year, was created Baron Islington, of

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

in the

County A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

of London. He was the last Governor of New Zealand to hold the title before it was changed to

Governor-General of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand () is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and lives in the United Kingdom, he, on the Advice ...

during the term of his successor. He was made a KCMG and

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

in 1911, and in 1912 was appointed President of the Royal Commission on the Public Services of India, on which he served with Lord Ronaldshay, Herbert Fisher, Mr Justice Abdur Rahim, and others.

Later career

Earlier on he was appointed for the Royal Commission on London Traffic in 1904, and worked on trade relations between

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

in 1909. A few years later he became

Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies The Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies was a junior Ministerial post in the United Kingdom government, subordinate to the Secretary of State for the Colonies and, from 1948, also to a Minister of State. Under-Secretaries of State for the Col ...

, and in 1915 he became Under-Secretary of State for India. He also chaired the

Imperial Institute The Commonwealth Education Trust was a registered charity established in 2007 as the successor trust to the Commonwealth Institute. The trust focuses on primary and secondary education and the training of teachers and invests on educational pr ...

for eight years, and was in charge of the National Savings Committee from 1920 until 1926, when he was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(GBE), having become 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, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

(GCMG) thirteen years before.

Death

Lord Islington died on 6 December 1936 aged 70 at Hyde Park Gardens, London, and was buried at Hilmarton, Wiltshire, his

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

y and

cy becoming extinct at his death. Lady Islington subsequently rented

Dyrham Park Dyrham Park () is a baroque English country house in an ancient deer park near the village of Dyrham in South Gloucestershire, England. The house, with the attached orangery and stable block, is a Grade I listed building, while the park is Gr ...

in Gloucestershire, where she ran a nursery during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Arms

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Islington, John Dickson-Poynder, 1st Baron 1866 births 1936 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Royal Scots officers People educated at Twyford School British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Dickson-Poynder, John Dickson-Poynder, John Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Peers created by Edward VII Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Governors-general of New Zealand High sheriffs of Wiltshire Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Dickson-Poynder, John Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Dickson-Poynder, John Dickson-Poynder, John Dickson-Poynder, John Dickson-Poynder, John UK MPs who were granted peerages Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry officers