Harry Rawson

Sir Harry Rawson, 1902

Sir Harry Holdsworth Rawson (born November 5, 1843 in Liverpool , † November 3, 1910 in London ) was a British admiral and Governor of New South Wales .

He was the second-born son of Surrey Justice of the Peace Christopher Rawson from his marriage to Frances Emily Wright. He was trained at Eastman's Royal Naval Academy and Marlborough College . In 1871 he married Florence Alice Stewart Shaw. He had five children with her.

In 1857 he joined the Royal Navy and fought especially in 1860 in the Second Opium War in China and in 1882 in the occupation of Egypt in the course of the crushing of the Urabi movement .

From 1895 to 1898 he was Commander in Chief of the British naval bases Cape of Good Hope Station and West Africa Station . In this capacity he was one of the British commanders in the 38-minute British-Zanzibari War on August 27, 1896, and in February 1897 was primarily responsible for the “ punitive expedition ” that plundered and pillaged Benin City , the capital of the Kingdom of Benin . The expedition destroyed the previously impressive walls of Benin and stole an enormous number of art treasures and religious artifacts. The expedition was nevertheless praised in British circles as an act of disciplined and coordinated planning:

“ In twenty-nine days, a force of 1200 men from three locations landed on the Benin River, was organized, equipped and set off on the march. Five days later the city of Benin was taken and after twelve days the men embarked again, the ships heated and prepared for further operations. “( Encyclopaedia Britannica , 1911).

On August 27, 1896, he was one of the British commanders in the 38-minute British-Zanzibari War .

On May 25, 1897 he was raised to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath and thus to the knighthood . From then on he carried the suffix "Sir".

From May 27, 1902 to May 27, 1909, he served as Governor of New South Wales . He was the first naval officer since William Bligh to hold the post. During his time as governor there, he founded the Rawson Cup in 1906 , for which the four colleges of the University of Sydney (St John's College, St Andrew's College, Wesley College and St Paul's College) compete in eight sports to this day.

On June 29, 1906 he was elevated to the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath and on November 9, 1909 to the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George .

He died in 1910 of complications from appendicitis .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Harry Rawson at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2. ↑ ^{a b} Knights and Dames: OT-RAY at Leigh Rayment's Peerage

Web links

• Illustrated capsule biography.