Samuel Blackall

Samuel Wensley Blackall

Samuel Wensley Blackall (born May 1, 1809 in Dublin , † January 2, 1871 in Brisbane ) was an Irish military man, politician and the second Governor of Queensland .

Born in Dublin to a poor Irish family, he went to Trinity College, Dublin , when he was 15 but never graduated. In 1827 he joined the 85th (Bucks Volunteers) Regiment of Foot as an ensign and in 1832 became a lieutenant. After five years of service, he sold his patent in 1833 and joined the Longford Militia as a major.

Blackall entered the public eye as High Sheriff of Longford County in 1833 and as High Sheriff of Tyrone County in 1861 . Between these offices he was a member of the House of Commons .

From 1851 to 1857 he served as the deputy governor of Dominica . After some differences with the Colonial Office, he became Governor of Sierra Leone , in 1865 Governor General of the West African Settlements and finally Governor of Queensland from 1868. Blackall's work as Governor of Queensland was marked by a constitutional crisis and a conflict with the Queensland Parliament.

In 1870 his health deteriorated rapidly and he died shortly afterwards on January 2, 1871.

The town of Blackall in Queensland was named after him, as was the Blackall Range and Blackall Terrace in East Brisbane .

literature

• AA Morrison, 'Blackall, Samuel Wensley (1809-1871)' , Australian Dictionary of Biography , Volume 3, Melbourne University Press , 1969, pp. 172-173.

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Beryl Roberts: Stories of the Southside . Aussie Books, Archerfield, Queensland 1991, ISBN 094733601X , p. 114.