Ronald Munro-Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar

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Ronald Munro-Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar

Ronald Craufurd Munro-Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar , KT , GCMG , PC (born March 6, 1860 in Fife , Great Britain , † March 30, 1934 ibid) was a British politician and the sixth Governor General of Australia .

Youth and education

Ronald Munro-Ferguson was born in his family home in Kirkcaldy , Fife , Scotland. He was the son of a wealthy member of the House of Commons . Munro-Ferguson was trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and pursued a military career until 1884, when he himself was elected to the House of Commons. He became private secretary to Lord Rosebery , a leading liberal , and in 1889 married Lady Helen Blackwood, daughter of the 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava , Governor General and Viceroy of India .

Political career

Like Rosebery, Munro-Ferguson was a liberal imperialist. He supported the imperial policy of the conservative government and thus also the Second Boer War , which made him unpopular with the radical, anti-war wing of the Liberal Party. Despite his political talent, he had little hope of a seat in the cabinet of Henry Campbell-Bannerman or Herbert Henry Asquith .

Governor General of Australia

For this reason, in February 1914, he was happy about the offer to become Governor General in Australia (he had previously turned down the post as Governor of Victoria in 1910 and as Governor of South Australia in 1895 ). Prior to his appointment as Governor General, he received the title of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George .

When Munro-Ferguson arrived in Melbourne, he was facing a political crisis in Australia. The liberal government of Joseph Cook had a narrow one-seat majority in the Australian House of Representatives , but the Australian Labor Party had a Senate majority with which they regularly obstructed government decisions.

On June 2, 1914, less than three weeks after Munro-Ferguson's arrival, Prime Minister Cook formally submitted a motion for the House and Senate to be dissolved twice. Now Munro-Ferguson had to weigh his decision. On the one hand, the liberal government elected in 1913 had another two years ahead of it, and on the other hand, its decisions were regularly blocked by the Senate. A similar situation had never existed before in the United Kingdom (with the lower and upper houses). When Munro-Ferguson finally agreed to Cook's request, he was faced with serious allegations by the Labor Party, which accused incumbent Prime Minister Cook of manipulating the constitution to gain control of the Senate.

During the subsequent election campaign, the First World War broke out. This plunged Australia into an even sharper crisis as the Senate and House of Representatives were dissolved. Thus the governor general was the only person with the ability to act and contacted the British government. In September 1914, Andrew Fisher was re-elected Prime Minister, which was also a result of Cook's controversial government dissolution. In October 1915, Billy Hughes followed Fisher as Premier after his resignation. Both Hughes and Munro-Ferguson were advocates for Australia to enter the war in support of the United Kingdom.

Like Hughes, Munro-Ferguson saw the failed referendums to introduce universal conscription in Australia in October 1916 and December 1917 as a national disaster. After David Lloyd George became British Prime Minister, Hughes only negotiated directly with him without using the Governor General as a stopover. With the foreign policy independence of Australia in 1918 Munro-Ferguson completely lost his political influence in Australia.

Return to Great Britain

In May 1919 Munro-Ferguson made a resignation in London, but was forced to remain in office until the Prince of Wales ended his stay in Australia . In October 1920, he finally resigned after six years. On his return he was raised to the hereditary nobility with the title Viscount Novar , of Raith in County Fife and of Novar in County Ross .

In 1922 he was named Secretary for Scotland in Andrew Bonar Law's Conservative government . He held this office until 1924. Two years later he was finally appointed Knight of the Order of the Thistle . Since 1925 he was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh .

death

Munro-Ferguson died in his Fife home in 1934 . His title of nobility expired with him, as he left no descendants.

Web links u. swell

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. (PDF) Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed December 4, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Munro-Ferguson, Ronald, 1st Viscount Novar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Munro-Ferguson, Ronald
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Governor General of Australia
DATE OF BIRTH March 6, 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH Fife , Scotland
DATE OF DEATH March 30, 1934
Place of death Fife , Scotland