Thomas Buxton, 3rd Baronet

Thomas Fowell Buxton, around 1880

Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, 3rd Baronet GCMG (born January 26, 1837 in London , England , † October 28, 1915 in Cromer ) was a British politician and Governor of South Australia .

Life

Buxton, the eldest son of British MP Sir Edward Buxton, 2nd Baronet, grew up in West Ham, London . After studying at Trinity College , Cambridge , he succeeded his father in 1858 as Baronet , of Belfield in the County of Dorset and of Runton in the County of Norfolk. Until 1889 he also worked for the Truman, Hanbury, Buxton & Co. brewery, in which he was involved.

Buxton was a Liberal MP in the House of Commons from 1865 to 1869 and advocated the worldwide abolition of slavery . He refused an appointment as a peer in 1880. From 1882 he criticized the imperialist policies of Great Britain in Africa and Asia, but nevertheless became director of the Imperial British East Africa Company .

In 1895 Buxton was named governor of South Australia. This met with the displeasure of the Prime Minister of South Australia, Charles Kingston , as he had figured out his own chances for the office, and he reduced the governor's salary to £ 1,000 . After initial disputes, however, Kingston also reconciled with the governor; he later praised Buxton and his family as one of the "most pleasant, sociable and sensible" people who have ever lived in the governor's house.

During his tenure, Buxton initially refused to sign a law restricting the immigration of black people, but eventually bowed to instructions from the Colonial Office . He regularly visited prisons and homes in which the mentally ill were housed, and referred to their inmates as individuals who also had a right to life and the pursuit of their interests. His meetings with the Aborigines were also unusual for the time.

During a stay in England in 1899, Buxton's son became life-threatening, and the condition of his wife, who was disabled after a spinal cord disease, also deteriorated. Buxton therefore decided to resign as governor and did not return to Australia. He died in a hut in Cromer on October 28, 1915 after he had converted his family home ( Colne House ) into a military hospital .

Awards

• Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (1895)
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (1899)

Literature and web links

• PA Howell: Buxton, Sir Thomas Fowell . In: Douglas Pike (Ed.): Australian Dictionary of Biography . Melbourne University Press, Carlton (Victoria) 1966–2012 (English).
• Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, 3rd Bt. On thepeerage.com

predecessor	Office	successor
Edward Buxton	Baronet, of Belfield and Runton 1858-1915	Thomas Buxton