George Gipps

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George Gipps, 1847. Drawn by William Nicholas.

Sir George Gipps (* 1791 in Ringwould in Kent in England , † February 28, 1847 in Canterbury ) was governor of the colony of New South Wales in Australia for eight years from February 24, 1838 to July 12, 1846 . His governorship was in the early days of New South Wales and Australia, which is why New Zealand - at that time part of New South Wales - was co-administered by him for a long time.

The European settlers of the time were not satisfied with his government, although the responsible British colonial bureau considered Gipps to be a capable administrator.

Education and career

Gipps was born in 1791 to the clergyman George Gipps . He attended The King's School in Canterbury and received training at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich . In 1809 he joined the Royal Engineers and was used in the Napoleonic Wars in the Iberian Peninsula and elsewhere in Europe, except the Battle of Waterloo , as he was at that time in Ostend , Belgium , where he was Prepared for construction of fortifications. In 1824 he joined the colonial army and served on the West Indies .

In 1830 he married Elizabeth Ramsay, daughter of Major-General George Ramsay. He and his wife had a son, Reginald Ramsay Gipps, who later became a general in the British Army . In 1834 Gipps became private secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty , Lord Auckland , and a year later he was sent to Canada as a commissioner to investigate the grievances there, along with Earl of Gosford and Sir Charles Gray, 2nd Earl Gray . When he returned to England in April 1837, he was knighted and raised to the rank of major . From October 5, 1837 he was appointed governor of New South Wales ; he arrived in Sydney on February 23, 1838 .

Governor of New South Wales

To conquer Australia, the European settlers needed the protective umbrella of a responsible government as well as a limited conquest by the colonialists. Gipps was also very concerned about the educational opportunities in the colony, as well as about the failure to observe criminal law. To Charles La Trobe , the governor of the colony of Victoria, Gipps had personal and good working relationships.

Schools in the colony

In 1844, more than half of the children had no opportunity to go to school, either in public or private schools. There was a great deal of controversy over denominational schools that gave rise to sectarianism and were so inefficient in establishing public schools that the government could support them. The decisive alternative to this problem ultimately came from the Church of England .

Land grab

One of Gipps' main concerns was to limit the extent of land occupation by European settlers. This policy formed part of his basic stance and his official policy was, derived from the common sense, that the settlers should not spread further and further over the Aboriginal land . The consequences of the land occupation of tribal areas of the Aborigines by the European settlers found their expression in the Myall Creek Massacre and the Waterloo Creek Massacre , as a result of which 100 to 300 Aborigines were massacred in 1838. These events were despicable to Governor Gipps, which is why seven European men were convicted and hanged for their part in the Myall Creek massacre.

Gipps was powerless against the vigilante justice of Aborigines by the white settlers. In April 1844, he issued a regulation against unlimited land acquisition, imposing a license fee of £ 10 per year for every 20 square miles on landowners, and he raised a further individual license per cattle breeding station. He also set an upper limit of 500 cattle and 7000 sheep for each cattle breeding station. These regulations sparked a storm of protests from the occupiers and this led to the formation of the Pastoral Association of New South Wales to oppose these regulations.

The state supervision of the regulations on the widely scattered settlements caused further difficulties because huge distances had to be overcome, traveling was difficult and there was no will to be present on site. The administrative time in Sydney was too busy for him.

First Governor of New Zealand

In 1839 Gipps changed its conception and issued land rights. He served as captain-general and governor-in-chief over the entire territory of New South Wales. The new borders of his territory also included New Zealand, insofar as land was under the sovereignty of New Zealand. William Hobson was appointed Deputy Governor in 1839 and sailed for New Zealand in January 1840.

The Sydney traders engaged in great speculation about New Zealand, the land of the Māori . As a result of this finding, Gipps proclaimed one day after Hobson's arrival in New Zealand that no legal title can be acquired in New Zealand that is not approved and granted by the Crown. This is undoubtedly the regulation in Article II of the Treaty of Waitangi as part of Hobson's task, the securing British sovereignty over New Zealand by the negotiation of a Treaty between Māori and the Crown (German: Securing British sovereignty over New Zealand in negotiations over a State Treaty between Māori and Crown).

Pending binding regulations, the New South Wales Legislative Council had suspended all New Zealand rights and the Gipps regulations that applied to New South Wales were carried over to New Zealand. Smaller regulations and financial support were still possible. Gipps hired a consultant and set up a small military branch to control Hobson. Most of the time Hobson did the day-to-day business while Gipps held privileges of power. This task ended in May 1841 when New Zealand became a crown colony with its own rights.

Funding the colony

The deportation of the Aborigines ended in 1843, to the disappointment of the great landowners, especially those who saw in them cheap labor. Gipps favored free migration, which was financed by the government. There was a three-year drought during his tenure that resulted in famine for the settlers. The value of the land fell, leading to further degradation of its governorship by major landowners and other interested parties.

Return to England

Because he was exceptionally conscientious and always acted fairly, his health was compromised by overwork and constant abuse by the settlers. His appointment as governor was extended by the responsible colonial administrations for a further two years after six years because of his reputation, but Gipps did not wait for his successor Charles Augustus FitzRoy when he left Australia in July 1846. He reached England in November and died in Canterbury of a heart attack on February 28, 1847.

Legacy

The Gippsland was named in his honor by his friend, the explorer Paweł Edmund Strzelecki .

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Gipps, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gipps, Sir George (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Governor of New South Wales (1838–1846)
DATE OF BIRTH 1791
PLACE OF BIRTH Ringwould , Kent , England , United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH February 28, 1847
Place of death Canterbury