Charles Wallace Alexander Napier Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, (29 July 1860 – 16 September 1940), was a British politician and colonial administrator who served as

Governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in the state of Queensland. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, governor-general at the national level, the governor Governors of ...

from 1896 to 1901, and

Governor of Bombay Until the 18th century, Bombay consisted of seven islands separated by shallow sea. These seven islands were part of a larger archipelago in the Arabian sea, off the western coast of India. The date of city's founding is unclear—historians tr ...

from 1903 to 1907.

Early life

Born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, he was the only son of Alexander Baillie-Cochrane, 1st Baron Lamington. Charles was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

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 ...

, where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1883. In 1885, he became assistant private secretary to the

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

Lord Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903), known as Lord Salisbury, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United ...

.R. B. Joyce
'Lamington, second Baron (1860–1940)'
''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', Volume 9,

Melbourne University Press Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) is the book publishing arm of the University of Melbourne. The press is currently a member of the Association of University Presses. History MUP was founded in 1922 as Melbourne University Press to sell text ...

, 1983, pp. 653–654.

Political career

Cochrane-Baillie was narrowly defeated in the 1885 election for the

borough constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constituen ...

of St Pancras North, but he won the subsequent election in July 1886, taking his seat in the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

for the Conservative Party. Upon the death of his father in 1890, he succeeded as the 2nd Baron Lamington. On 13 June 1895, he married Mary Houghton Hozier at St Michael's Church,

Pimlico Pimlico () is a district in Central London, in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Lon ...

; they had two children, a son and a daughter. In 1890, the British government sent Lord Lamington to travel between

Tonkin Tonkin, also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain '' Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, including both the ...

in Vietnam and

Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, with a view to annexing at least the

Xishuangbanna Xishuangbanna, sometimes shortened to Banna, is one of the eight autonomous prefectures of Yunnan Province. The autonomous prefecture for Dai people is in the extreme south of Yunnan province, China, bordering both Myanmar and Laos. Xishuangbanna ...

district and possibly the whole

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

province of China in an attempt to limit French colonisation of the area.

Governorships

Cochrane-Baillie was in the Royal Company of Archers, as King's body guard for Scotland. In October 1895, Lord Lamington was selected to replace Sir Henry Norman as

. His tenure as Governor was from 9 April 1896 to 19 December 1901. He was a very politically

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 ...

governor, and expressed a concern that the

Federation of Australia The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), and Wester ...

which took place during his tenure would lead to unrestrained

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

. He also worked with the first

Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is appointed ...

Sir Samuel Griffith Sir Samuel Walker Griffith (21 June 1845 – 9 August 1920) was an Australian judge and politician who served as the inaugural Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 1903 to 1919. He also served a term as Chief Justice of Queensland and t ...

, to ensure that the role of state governors was not diminished after Federation. Apart from six months leave in England when he was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George, Lord Lamington served as governor for five years until 19 December 1901. In 1903 he was made a Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire, and appointed as

(until his resignation in July 1907),"Obituary", ''The Times'' (London), 18 September 1940, p. 7. where the royal prerogative he exercised was far more powerful than it had been in Australia. He is also noted as being sympathetic, after having met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

Later life

Lord Lamington was appointed

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 ...

of the Lanarkshire Yeomanry on 26 March 1902. In Spring 1919, he served as Commissioner of the British Relief Unit in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, prior to its allocation as a French mandate. On 13 March 1940, he was one of four victims of a shooting at the Caxton Hall in London by Indian nationalist Udham Singh. Former lieutenant-governor of India, Michael O'Dwyer was killed instantly. O'Dwyer's predecessor in the role, Louis Dane, suffered a broken arm. Cochrane-Baillie and Lawrence Dundas, the former secretary of state for India, were slightly injured. Lord Lamington died at his family home, Lamington House, in

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

, Scotland, on 16 September 1940, aged 80.

Other roles and ranks (undated)

* President of the East India Association * President of the National Indian Association * President of the Middle East Association * President of the Indigent Moslems Burial Fund * President of the British Red Crescent Society * President of 'other organisations concerned with Eastern welfare and culture' * President of the Persia Society (forerunner of the Iran Society) (--1912--) * Vice President of the Royal Central Asian Society * Vice-President of the Royal Geographical Society of London * Chairman of the Committee of the Royal Normal College and Academy of Music for the Blind (--1913--) Post Office London, 1914, vol. 4 (Trades and Professional Directory), p. 1900 (pdf p. 528). * A Vice-President of the Trinity College of Music, London (--1913--) * Lieutenant-Colonel of the 6th Battalion, The Scottish Rifles (Cameronians) * Captain of the Royal Company of Archers (King's Bodyguard for Scotland) * Lieutenant-Colonel of the Lanarkshire Yeomanry

Personal life

Lord Lamington married Mary Houghton Hozier, the youngest daughter of William Hozier, 1st Baron Newlands, on 13 June 1895. They had two children, a son Victor Alexander Brisbane William Cochrane-Baillie (1896–1951, godson of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

and in 1940 became the 3rd Baron Lamington) and a daughter Grisell Annabella Gem Cochrane-Baillie (1898–1985). Lady Lamington's diary, her 'little pamphlet of memories', held by the State Library of Queensland, paints a detailed portrait of their life as public figures in the colonies.

Legacy

Lord Lamington is best known in Australia for allegedly giving his name to the

lamington A lamington is an Australian cake made from squares of butter cake or sponge cake coated in an outer layer of chocolate sauce and rolled in desiccated coconut. The thin mixture is absorbed into the outside of the sponge cake and left to set, ...

, a popular Australian cake consisting of a cube of

sponge cake Sponge cake is a light cake made with egg whites, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during ...

dipped in a thin chocolate icing and rolled in desiccated

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

. The stories of the creation of the lamington vary widely, although in most versions Lamington's chef Armand Galland at Queensland's Government House devises the cake either by accident or due to a shortage of ingredients. Lamington is also reported to have referred to the cakes as "those bloody poofy woolly biscuits". In May 2009,

Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation and also known as AusPost, is an Australian Government-State-owned enterprise, owned corporation that provides postal services throughout Australia. Australia Post's head office is loca ...

commemorated Lord and Lady Lamington on a postage stamp as part of a series celebrating Australian deserts. The Lamington Plateau and National Park in Queensland, Lamington Bridge in

Maryborough, Queensland Maryborough ( ) is a city and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Maryborough had a population of 15,287 people. Geography Maryborough is located on the Mar ...

, Mount Lamington (a volcano in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

), and Lamington Road in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Lamington High School in Hubli were also named after him. The Lady Lamington Hospital for Women and Lady Lamington Nurses Home are now part of Royal Brisbane Hospital Nurses' Homes.

References

Note and source

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lamington, Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron 1860 births 1940 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs who inherited peerages Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Governors of Queensland Governors of Bombay Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Deputy lieutenants of Glasgow Lanarkshire Yeomanry officers Members of the Bombay Legislative Council

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

Fellows of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society British colonial governors and administrators in Oceania British shooting survivors