Arthur Charles Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Baron Stanmore (26 November 1829 – 30 January 1912) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

politician and colonial administrator. He had extensive contact with Prime Minister

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

Career

Gordon was born at Argyll House,''1891 England Census'' his family's townhouse in London, in 1829. He was the youngest son of

George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen (28 January 178414 December 1860), styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a British statesman, diplomat and landowner, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite politician and specialist in f ...

and his second wife, Harriet Douglas. His mother was the widow of Viscount Hamilton. Gordon was educated privately and then at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, where he was President of the

Cambridge Union Society The Cambridge Union Society, also known as the Cambridge Union, is a historic Debate, debating and free speech society in Cambridge, England, and the largest society in the University of Cambridge. The society was founded in 1815 making it the ...

in 1849. After graduating in 1851, he worked as Assistant Private Secretary to the

British Prime Minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern pri ...

(his father) between 1852 and 1855, and was a Member of Parliament (MP) for

Beverley Beverley is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is located north-west of Hull city centre. At the 2021 census the built-up area of the town had a population of 30,930, and the smaller civil parish had ...

from 1854 to 1857. In 1875, the Fiji Islands were created a separate Colony, and Sir Arthur Gordon was appointed the first

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

and Commander-in-Chief of Fiji, until 1880. In connection with this he also received the appointment of Consul-General, and High Commissioner of the Western Pacific, but that gave little additional power. He held a number of colonial governorships: * Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick, 1861–1866, securing

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

's assent to

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation () was the process by which three British North American provinces—the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were united into one federation, called the Name of Canada#Adoption of Dominion, Dominion of Ca ...

* Governor of

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

, 1866–1870. * 11th Governor of Mauritius, 21 February 1871 – 18 August 1874 *

Governor of Fiji Fiji was a British Crown colony from 1874 to 1970, and an independent dominion in the Commonwealth from 1970 to 1987. During this period, the head of state was the British monarch, but in practice the functions of the crown were normally exercis ...

from 1875 to 1880. *

High Commissioner for the Western Pacific The high commissioner for the Western Pacific was the chief executive officer of the British Western Pacific Territories, a United Kingdom, British British Empire, colonial entity, which existed from 1877 until 1976. Numerous colonial possessions ...

1877–1880 *

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 ...

, 29 November 1880 – 24 June 1882 * Governor of

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, 1883–1890. He was appointed a Knight Commander 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 ...

(KCMG) in 1871, and a Knight Grand Cross of the same Order in 1878. He was created Baron Stanmore, of Great Stanmore, in the

County of Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the Thames in the south, the Lea to the east and the Colne to the west. A line of hi ...

on 21 August 1893. In 1897, Lord Stanmore became the chairman of the Pacific Islands Company Ltd ('PIC'). Formed by

John T. Arundel John T. Arundel (1 September 1841 – 30 November 1919) was an English entrepreneur who was instrumental in the development of the mining of phosphate rock on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Banaba (Ocean Island). Williams & Macdonald (1985) ...

, PIC was based in London with its trading activities in the Pacific that involved mining

phosphate rock Phosphorite, phosphate rock or rock phosphate is a non- detrital sedimentary rock that contains high amounts of phosphate minerals. The phosphate content of phosphorite (or grade of phosphate rock) varies greatly, from 4% to 20% phosphorus pentox ...

Banaba BanabaThe correct spelling and etymology in Gilbertese should be ''Bwanaba'' but the Constitution of Kiribati writes Banaba. Because of the spelling in English or French, the name was very often written Paanapa or Paanopa, as it was in 1901 A ...

(then known as Ocean Island) and

Nauru Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru, formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies within the Micronesia subregion of Oceania, with its nearest neighbour being Banaba (part of ...

. John T. Arundel and Lord Stanmore were responsible for financing the new opportunities and negotiating with the German company that controlled the licences to mine in Nauru. In 1902, the interests of PIC were merged with Jaluit Gesellschaft of Hamburg, to form the Pacific Phosphate Company, ('PPC') to engage in

phosphate mining in Banaba and Nauru The economy of Banaba and Nauru has been almost wholly dependent on phosphate, which has led to environmental disaster on these islands, with 80% of the islands' surface having been strip-mined. The phosphate deposits were virtually exhausted ...

. Gordon's ethnographic collection from Fiji, which was assembled during his Governorship, was donated to the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

in 1878. He was appointed a member of the

Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts The Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (widely known as the Historical Manuscripts Commission, and abbreviated as the HMC to distinguish it from the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England), was a United Kingdom Royal Co ...

in March 1900.

Works

* (Volume 51, Issue 4 of new series, American Philosophical Society Volume 51, Part 4 of Transactions Series Volume 51, Part 4 of Transactions of the American Philosophical Society new ser v. 51, no. 4)(Original from the University of California)

Personal life and death

On 20 September 1865, Arthur Hamilton-Gordon, wed Rachel Emily Shaw Lefevre in London. The couple had a daughter and a son. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire in 1861. Arthur Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Baron Stanmore died on 30 January 1912 in Chelsea, London.

References

External links

*
Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanmore, Arthur Hamilton Gordon, 1st Baron 1829 births 1912 deaths Governors of British Trinidad Governors of Fiji Governors-general of New Zealand Presidents of the Cambridge Union Governors of the Colony of New Brunswick

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

Knights of Justice of the Order of St John Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Children of prime ministers of the United Kingdom Hamilton-Gordon, Arthur Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs who were granted peerages High commissioners for the Western Pacific Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria

Career

Works

Personal life and death

See also

References

External links