William Lee Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket (19 December 1864 – 24 January 1920) was a British diplomat and administrator. He was Governor of New Zealand from 1904 to 1910.

Early life

Born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, he was educated at Harrow and

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. His parents were William, 4th Lord Plunket, the archbishop of Dublin in 1884–97, and his wife

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

, the daughter of Sir Benjamin Guinness. He entered the Diplomatic Service and was sent to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1889 as an attaché to the British Embassy there. In 1892, he was appointed in the same position to the embassy in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, and finally retired two years later.

Career

Having succeeded his father as fifth

Baron Plunket Baron Plunket, of Newtown in the County of Cork, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1827 for the prominent Ireland, Irish lawyer and Whig Party (UK), Whig politician William Plunket, 1st Baron Plunket, William Pl ...

in 1897, Plunket three years later became private secretary to Lord Cadogan,

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingdo ...

at the time, and fulfilled the same role for his successor Lord Dudley, when he was appointed to the position in August 1902. He was appointed CVO and KCVO in 1900 and 1903 respectively, and in 1904 he became

Governor of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand ( mi, te kāwana tianara o Aotearoa) is the viceregal representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and l ...

as well as a

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

the following year. By chance, the

Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

at the time was his second cousin Arthur Guinness. He held this post until 1910, when he was advanced to GCMG. In 1907 he presented the

Plunket Shield New Zealand has had a domestic first-class cricket championship since the 1906–07 season. Since the 2009–10 season it has been known by its original name of the Plunket Shield. History The Plunket Shield competition was instigated in Octob ...

, which is still contested each year by the major cricket teams in New Zealand. He was later appointed KBE in 1918.

Freemasonry

He was a Freemason. During his term as Governor of New Zealand (1906-1909), he was also Grand Master of New Zealand's Grand Lodge.

Death

Lord Plunket died on 24 January 1920 aged 55 at 40

Elvaston Place Elvaston Place is a street in South Kensington, London. Elvaston Place runs west to east from Gloucester Road to Queen's Gate. The Embassy of Gabon, London is at number 27. The High Commission of Mauritius, London is at number 32/33. The Embassy ...

, London, and was buried in the city's

Putney Vale Cemetery Putney Vale Cemetery and Crematorium in southwest London is located in Putney Vale, surrounded by Putney Heath and Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park. It is located within of parkland. The cemetery was opened in 1891 and the crematorium in 1938. ...

Family

Plunket married, in 1894, Lady

Victoria Alexandrina Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood Victoria Alexandrina Muriel May, Lady Plunket (17 May 1873 – 11 February 1968) was a nursing association founder and vicereine. Early life Lady Victoria Alexandrina Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood was born in Ottawa, Canada, on 17 May 1873. She was ...

, youngest daughter of the 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, by whom he was to have eight children. Victoria gave her name to the

Plunket Society The Royal New Zealand Plunket Trust provides a range of free services aimed at improving the development, health and wellbeing of children under the age of five within New Zealand, where it is commonly known simply as Plunket. Its mission is "t ...

, a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

society promoting the health and well-being of mothers and children and was a patron of the

Mothercraft Training Society The Mothercraft Training Society was an organization in the United Kingdom which trained expectant and new mothers, nurses, midwives, and health visitors in 'mothercraft', with the aim of bringing down infant mortality. Briefly known as the Babi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plunket, William Plunket, 5th Baron Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Plunket, William Lee Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Eldest sons of British hereditary barons Plunket, William Lee Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket, William Lee Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket, William Lee Plunket, 5th Baron People educated at Harrow School New Zealand Freemasons Plunket, William Lee Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket, William Lee Plunket, 5th Baron