George Ferguson Bowen

Sir George Bowen, was written between 1860 and 1868

Sir George Ferguson Bowen GCMG (born November 2, 1821 in County Donegal , Ireland , † February 21, 1899 in Brighton , Sussex, England ) was an Irish politician and multiple governor. He was the first governor of the British colonies of Queensland , governor of New Zealand , Victoria , Mauritius and Hong Kong .

Life

George Bowen was born as the eldest son of Rev Edward Bowen in Taughboyne, halfway between Letterkenny and Londonderry in County Donegal, and grew up the eldest of five siblings. His mother was Jane Moore and was from Liverpool . Bowen was educated at the Charterhouse School in Godalming , County Surrey and studied at Trinity College , Oxford , where he received a scholarship in 1840. In 1844 he completed his studies in classical philology with a bachelor's degree . He was appointed a member of the Lincoln's Inn Bar Association in London and studied British law. In 1847 he finished his studies with a Master of Arts (MA) .

In 1847 he assumed the office of President of the Ionian University in Corfu , following the roots of the British Frederick North , who founded the university in 1791 as the Ionian Academy and the first more modern university in Greece . He stayed in office until 1851. From 1851 to 1854 he was a member of Brasenose College , Oxford and gave his support for an election campaign in Gladstone , Queensland in 1852.

From 1854 to 1859 he was Chief Secretary to the Governor of the Republic of the Ionian Islands . During this time he met Countess Diamantina Roma , daughter of Conte Giorgio-Candiano Roma , whom he married on April 26, 1856 in Corfu . Their marriage resulted in six children, the first of which died after just 12 days. In 1855 he was accepted as a Companion in the Order of St. Michael and St. George , followed by his nobility as Knight Commander of the same order a year later, with which he was henceforth allowed to call himself "Sir".

In 1859 Bowen began a career as governor that took him to Queensland, New Zealand, Victoria, Mauritius and to Hong Kong until his retirement in December 1885 (see below). But even after his retirement from the civil service, Bowen did not remain idle. In 1887 he chaired the Royal Commission for the Creation of a New Constitution for the Island of Malta , offered his services to the Imperial Institute, and became active in the school administration of Charterhouse School, where he received his education. As in his time in Corfu, he devoted himself to writing and wrote essays and a book (see under works).

After his wife died in London on November 17, 1893, he married Letitia Florence White on October 17, 1896 in London , with whom he stayed until his death. Bowen died on February 21, 1899 in Brighton of complications from bronchitis and was buried four days later in Kensal Green Cemetery in London.

Queensland Governor (1859–1868)

Bowen was Governor of Queensland from December 10, 1859 to January 4, 1868.

On the day of his arrival in Brisbane on December 10, 1859, Queensland was separated from the colony of New South Wales , proclaimed a separate colony and Bowen installed as its first governor. Bowen was received accordingly benevolently. He was accompanied by Robert Herbert , who was his Colonial Secretary during the first hours of the new colony and who became the first Prime Minister of Queensland from 1860 to 1866 . Both were linked by a friendship that also led to great agreement in politics. This enabled Bowen to act less autocratically and more through and through the political institutions, to delegate responsibility and thus to implement his ideas accordingly. On April 16, 1860 he was raised to the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George.

The most urgently needed laws during his tenure were to regulate land ownership and distribution, encourage immigration and develop the education system. Bowen followed the warnings from the Colonial Office in London not to take sides in the land conflict between agriculture and livestock , but sympathized with the squatters ( ranchers ). He tried to meet the urgent need for farmers and agricultural workers through immigration from India , China , Malaysia and Polynesia . He assumed that the people from these areas could withstand the climatic conditions of the colony. His successes were only moderate. When the conditions on German immigration ships were denounced in 1865, immigration came to a standstill. He supported the formation of the two-tier school system with primary school and secondary school and advocated state scholarships for students who wanted to attend universities in Australia or England . In an effort to increase the number of state schools over church schools, he eventually came under pressure from the Roman Catholic Church .

Politically sidelined Bowen from 1866, when he stood in a financial crisis against his treasurer and later against the Prime Minister Arthur Macalister . When Macalister lost his majorities in 1887, the confidence of the political class in Bowen was also disturbed. Bowen was finally removed from the Colonial Office and left Queensland on January 4, 1868 to succeed Governor George Edward Gray of New Zealand.

Bowen's wife, Diamantina Roma , was extremely popular in Queensland. She has been described as warm and passionate about her charitable work. With her support, several hospitals in Queensland were established. In her honor, a Lady Bowen Trust was founded in Brisbane in 2006 .

Governor of New Zealand (1868–1873)

Bowen was Governor of New Zealand from February 5, 1868 to March 19, 1873 . Bowen's assumption of office in New Zealand was not exactly a success, as he insensitively made the people of Wellington wait a day before going ashore. The public reaction was accordingly. Malice and criticism, picked up and adopted by the Australian press, was also presented to him in New Zealand. In addition, Bowen disliked some leading politicians, most notably Prime Minister Julius Vogel . People didn't warm to him, the nickname Pickle Polly haunted him from Queensland and in New Zealand he was called Humbug because people assumed he said things he didn't mean.

Bowen also made friends with his liberal stance on conflicts between Māori and Pākehā . Bowen was convinced that the peaceful coexistence between Māori and the European settlers would be the only sure solution to protect the colony and further successful settlement of New Zealand. He believed that European colonization of New Zealand would assimilate the Maori and be more effective than war, a view that New Zealand historian Gavin McLean called an "amateur student of history" view. Bowens seemed to have succumbed to pressure from the Colonial Office, which wanted to withdraw British troops from New Zealand and left the conflict resolution to Bowens, the government and the British settlers.

Bowens tried many ways to get the goodwill of the Māori, including the release of all political prisoners and the recommendation of a general amnesty. This went too far for the political actors in the Colonial Office in London and led to his replacement. When George Bowens left New Zealand on March 19, 1873, he had gained popular support. But when Bowen was due to return to replace the resigned Governor Arthur Hamilton-Gordon in 1882 , Prime Minister John Hall approached the Colonial Office to please not send him.

Sir George Bowen, around 1875

Governor of Victoria (1873–1879)

Bowen was Governor of Victoria from July 30, 1873 to February 22, 1879. In Victoria, a political crisis similar to that for which he was replaced in Queensland was repeated for Bowen. In the rivalries between the two houses ( lower house / upper house ) and between various political factions and in the disputes over the reform of the Legislative Council (Legislative Council), the issues of security, land taxation and parliamentary payments, he first sought advice from the Colonial Office when the The situation threatened to escalate. According to the council, he took the side of the Prime Minister and his ministers and thus against the majority of the Legislative Council . Funds were only released when the council gave its support. This paralyzed the government. When a law on the use of funds was blocked by the council, it dismissed all civil servants in overreaction and exaggerated when it later claimed to have bailed out the banks and the Melbourne Stock Exchange .

Not politically successful, Bowen, with the support of his wife, was socially active and successful, traveled a lot, supported all kinds of associations and was known for his hospitality. In August 1878, Bowen was recalled as governor of Victoria with effect from April 29, 1879.

Governor of Mauritius (1879–1880)

Bowen was Governor of Victoria from April 4, 1879 to December 9, 1880. Little is known about Bowen's tenure as governor of Mauritius. In the literature, his term of office is preferably given from 1879 to 1882. However, Sir Frederick Napier Broome was governor of Mauritius from 1880 to 1883 before moving to Western Australia. Bowen's term of office was only twenty months.

Governor of Hong Kong (1883–1885)

Bowen was the governor of Hong Kong from March 30, 1883 to December 21, 1885.

Bowen took office during a period when Hong Kong was in economic recession and there was a great need for reform. So it is not surprising that in his 27-month term of office he passed 55 ordinances, an unusually high number of resolutions for the time. The Executive and Legislative Councils were reformed, the health system was renewed, the finances were put in order, a savings bank was established, trams, piers and docks were renewed and spending on the defense of Hong Kong increased. Although crime declined during his tenure, Bowen was unable to reverse the influence of the Triad Society (Chinese Mafia), it actually increased. The Sino-French War (1884–1885) led to a flourishing arms trade in Hong Kong and the strike in the docks when French warships docked in 1884. Bowen ended the strike, like two others during this period, with the use of his soldiers.

From September 3, 1883 to October 24, 1883, Bowen traveled to Beijing and from September 15, 1884 to December 1, 1884 and from June 24, 1885 to August 28, 1885 to Japan. Unfortunately, nothing is known about the purpose of his trip. At the end of his tenure, rumors of a British-Russian war led to an increase in military spending and a further strengthening of Hong Kong. But Bowen, now 64 years old and in poor health, applied for his retirement and was replaced as governor by William Henry Marsh as his representative.

Politically

Bowens was political perspective that of a British Liberal - Conservative . In Queensland he was opposed to those whom he called extremely "ultra-democratic" and to those who were too autocratic for him. He tried to stay away from local interest groups, supported the formation of political groups and encouraged initiative. The fact that he sometimes overreacted in crisis situations earned him a lot of criticism and made him no friends in Australia, New Zealand or the Colonial Office in London. Bowen was very interested in social life and travel, which led him to write a few books during his time in Corfu. Back in London, he wrote two political books and some papers.

Works

• Ithaca in 1850 , James Ridgway, London, 1851. (also translated into Greek in 1859 )
• Mount Athos, Thessaly and Epirus - A Dairy of Journey from Constantinople to Corfu , Rivington, London, 1852.
• Handbook for Travelers in Greece , Murray, London, 1854.
• The Federation of the British Empire , Unwin Brothers, London, 1886.
• Thirty Years of Colonial Government , Longmans, Green, and Co., London, 1889.

Honor

The Bowen Falls on the South Island in New Zealand and the genus Bowenia from the cycads are named after him .

literature

• Gavin McLean: The Governors . Otago University Press, Dunedin NZ 2006, ISBN 1-877372-25-0 .
• Roger Bilbroug Joyce: Bowen, Sir George Ferguson (1821-1899) . In: Australian Dictionary of Biography. Volume 3, Melbourne University Press, 1969, pp. 203-207, Online Edition: adbonline.anu.edu.au (accessed on May 14, 2010)

Web links

• WPN Tyler : Bowen, George Ferguson . In: Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , September 1, 2010, accessed August 21, 2012 . 

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Cooper Thompson: Men of the Time - A Dictionary of Contemporaries , 11th Edition. G. Routledge & Sons, London 1884, p.155.
2. ^ University History . Ionia University , archived from the original on August 3, 2015 ; accessed on January 22, 2016 (English, original website no longer available).  
3. ^ ^{A b} Bowen, Sir George Ferguson, GCMG - Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand (accessed May 15, 2010)
4. ^ Queensland - worldstatesmen.org (accessed May 15, 2010)
5. ↑ About the Trust - The legacy of Lady Diamantina Roma Bowen . Lady Bowen Trust , archived from the original on February 24, 2011 ; accessed on August 12, 2014 (English, original website no longer available).  
6. ^ New Zealand - worldstatesmen.org (accessed May 15, 2010)
7. ^ Gavin McLean: The Governors . Otago University Press, Dunedin NZ 2006, p. 77.
8. ^ Governors of Victoria . Governor of Victoria , archived from the original on August 14, 2012 ; accessed on January 22, 2016 (English, original website no longer available).  
9. ↑ Mauritius - worldstatesmen.org (accessed May 15, 2010)
10. ↑ Broome, Sir Frederick Napier (1842–1896) Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online edition (accessed May 16, 2010)
11. ↑ Hong Kong - worldstatesmen.org (accessed May 15, 2010)
12. ^ ^{A b} Ernest John Eitel: Supplementary Notes on the History of Hongkong, 1882 to 1890 . In: The China Review , Vol. XXn No. 2 (1895), pp. 532-543

predecessor	Office	successor
George Edward Gray	Governor of New Zealand 1868–1873	James Fergusson, 6th Baronet
Frederick Napier Broome	Governor of Mauritius 1879–1880	Frederick Napier Broome
John Pope Hennessy	Governor of Hong Kong 1883–1885	George William Des Voeux