Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

Winston Joseph Dugan, 1st Baron Dugan of Victoria, (3 September 1876 – 17 August 1951), known as Sir Winston Dugan between 1934 and 1949, was a British administrator and a career

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 ...

officer. He served as Governor of South Australia from 1934 to 1939, then

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and th ...

until 1949.

Background and education

Dugan was the son of Charles Winston Dugan, of Oxmantown Mall, Birr, County Offaly, Ireland, an inspector of schools. His mother was born Esther Elizabeth Rogers. He attended Lurgan College, Craigavon, Ireland from 1887 to 1889, and

Wimbledon College Wimbledon College is a government-maintained, voluntary-aided, Jesuit Roman Catholic secondary school and sixth form for boys aged 11 to 19 in Wimbledon, London. The college was founded in 1892 "for improvement in living and learning for the g ...

, Wimbledon, London, England. The family name was pronounced as "Duggan". They were originally from County Galway and were a branch of the

Soghain The Soghain were a people of ancient Ireland. The 17th-century scholar Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh identified them as part of a larger group called the Cruithin. Mac Fhirbhisigh stated that the Cruithin included "the Dál Araidhi ál nAraidi t ...

people.

Military career

Dugan was a sergeant in the

Royal Sussex Regiment The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot a ...

, but transferred to the

Lincolnshire Regiment The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. In 1751, it was numbered like most other Army regiments ...

as a second lieutenant on 24 January 1900. He left

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

two months later with a detachment sent to reinforce the 2nd battalion of his regiment in 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 ...

. While in

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 ...

, he was appointed adjutant of his battalion on 28 June 1901, and promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 1 November 1901. For his service in the war, he received the

Queen's South Africa Medal The Queen's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to British and Colonial military personnel, and to civilians employed in an official capacity, who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Altogether twenty-six clasps wer ...

with three clasps. He later fought with distinction in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, where he was wounded and mentioned in despatches six times. His commanded

184th (2nd South Midland) Brigade The 184th (2nd South Midland) Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the British Army raise for service in both the First and the Second World Wars. First World War The brigade was raised as a duplicate of the 145th (1/1st South Midland) ...

on the Western Front in 1916. He was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

(DSO) in 1915 and appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1918. In 1929 he was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) and the following year he was promoted to

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

. From June 1931 to June 1934 he commanded the

56th (London) Infantry Division The 56th (London) Infantry Division was a Territorial Army infantry division of the British Army, which served under several different titles and designations. The division served in the trenches of the Western Front during the First World Wa ...

, Territorial Army.

Governor of South Australia

In 1934, Dugan was appointed Governor of South Australia. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG), retired from the army and moved to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

with his wife. They became an extremely popular and glamorous vice-regal couple. Sir Winston and Lady Dugan were both excellent public speakers, and travelled widely to bring problems to the attention of the ministers of the day. He gave moral and financial support to numerous good causes and needy individuals. Upon the expiration of his term, there was bipartisan parliamentary support for him to serve a second term, but he had already accepted an appointment to be

Governor of Victoria

Sir Winston and Lady Dugan arrived in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

on 17 July 1939. They continued their active role in community affairs, promoting unemployment reduction and making the ballroom of

Government House, Melbourne Government House is the official residence of the governor of Victoria, currently Linda Dessau. It is located in Kings Domain, Melbourne, next to the Royal Botanic Gardens. Government House was opened in 1876, on land that had originally been ...

available for the

Australian Red Cross The Australian Red Cross, formally the Australian Red Cross Society, is a humanitarian aid and community services charity in Australia. Tracing its history back to 1923 and being incorporated by royal charter in 1941, the Australian Red Cro ...

. Dugan had an active role stabilising state politics during the tumultuous 1940s. Upon the disintegration of

Albert Dunstan Sir Albert Arthur Dunstan, KCMG (26 July 1882 – 14 April 1950) was an Australian politician. A member of the Country Party (now National Party), Dunstan was the 33rd premier of Victoria. His term as premier was the second-longest in th ...

's Country Party government in 1943, he installed the

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 ...

leader John Cain as premier. Four days later, Dunstan formed a coalition with the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...

. Following the collapse of that ministry in 1945, Dugan dissolved parliament and called a general election for November, which resulted in the balance of power being held by independents. Dugan commissioned Cain to form the ministry of a minority government. Dugan's term as governor was extended five times. He was also the Administrator of the Commonwealth on two occasions: from 5 September 1944 to 30 January 1945, between the departure of the governor-general, Lord Gowrie, and the arrival of his successor,

Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, (Henry William Frederick Albert; 31 March 1900 – 10 June 1974) was the third son and fourth child of King George V and Queen Mary. He served as Governor-General of Australia from 1945 to 1947, the only memb ...

; and from 19 January to 11 March 1947, between the departure of the Duke of Gloucester and the appointment of his successor,

William McKell Sir William John McKell (26 September 1891 – 11 January 1985) was an Australian politician who served as the 12th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1947 to 1953. He had previously been Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 1947 ...

. He returned to England in February 1949. On 7 July 1949 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Dugan of Victoria, of Lurgan in the County of Armagh.

Personal life

Dugan married Ruby Lilian, daughter of Charles Abbott of Kilcaskan,

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 ...

, in 1912. There were no children from the marriage. He died at

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it me ...

, London, on 17 August 1951, aged 74.

References

External links

Craigavon Historical Society – Lurgan College Register (includes brief biography)
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dugan, Winston Joseph 1876 births 1951 deaths Military personnel from County Offaly Royal Sussex Regiment soldiers Politicians from County Offaly British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army generals of World War I Royal Lincolnshire Regiment officers British Army major generals Governors of South Australia Governors of Victoria (Australia) Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Distinguished Service Order People educated at Lurgan College Barons created by George VI