Thomas Denman, 3rd Baron Denman

Thomas Denman, 3rd Baron Denman

Thomas Denman, 3rd Baron Denman , GCMG , KCVO , PC (born November 16, 1874 in London , United Kingdom , † June 24, 1954 in Hove , Sussex , United Kingdom ) was a British Liberal Party politician and fifth Governor General of Australia .

Early life

Denman was born in London in 1874 to Thomas Denman, a legal clerk. His great-grandfather Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman , had been Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales . Denman himself was trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and aspired to a military career. In 1894 Thomas Denman unexpectedly inherited the title of Baron Denman from his great-uncle, giving him the opportunity to take his seat in the House of Lords the following year after his 21st birthday . Until his marriage to Gertrude Pearson, the daughter of the wealthy industrialist Weetman Pearson , in 1903 Denman lived in poor circumstances.

After marriage, Denman was able to fully devote his time to politics, and he served in the liberal administrations of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and Herbert Henry Asquith as Lord-in-Waiting (Deputy Parliamentary Secretary in the House of Lords) from 1905 until 1907 and as Captain of the Honorable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms ( Whip in the House of Lords) from 1907 to 1911. In 1907 he was admitted to the Privy Council .

Governor General

In 1911 Denman was appointed Governor General of Australia . In July of that year, the Denmans arrived in Sydney . At that point they found a well-established Labor government under Prime Minister Andrew Fisher . Like most Liberal Governors General, Baron Denman maintained good relations with the respective Labor Prime Ministers. In addition, his generous use of his father-in-law's money made him popular with the public. In October 1912 Denman was "expelled" from Government House in Sydney by the new Prime Minister of New South Wales , James McGowen . On March 12, 1913, Baron Denman inaugurated the new Australian capital and Lady Denman previously announced her name, Canberra .

In the opinion of Denman, however, he had less real political influence than his predecessors on the post of governor-general. After Australia reached political maturity along with the other Dominions , the Australian Prime Minister regularly negotiated directly with his British counterpart, bypassing the Governor General and the Colonial Minister. The establishment of an Australian High Commissioner in London once again meant that the governor general's diplomatic role continued to lose importance.

In the elections in June 1913, the Labor government was unexpectedly defeated by the Liberal Party of Australia by Joseph Cook , but it retained the upper hand in the Senate and blocked, as far as possible, all decisions by Cook's government there. At the beginning of 1914 it was clear that a crisis was developing. Denman's health was seriously affected and was burdened by the fact that his wife suffered from the long absence from home. He was therefore unable to resolve the crisis and resigned from office in May of the same year.

In recognition of Denman's patronage over the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (1911–1914), the leader, the Australian polar explorer Douglas Mawson , named the Denman Glacier in Queen Marie Land in East Antarctica after him.

Late years

After the outbreak of World War I , Denman commanded a Yeomanry regiment in 1914 and 1915 . He never returned to politics. Denman died in Hove , Sussex on June 24, 1954 , 22 days after his wife. His title passed to his son Thomas .

Web links

• Chris Cunneen: Thomas Denman, 3rd Baron Denman . In: Douglas Pike (Ed.): Australian Dictionary of Biography . Melbourne University Press, Carlton (Victoria) 1966–2012 (English).

predecessor	Office	successor
Thomas Aitchison-Denman	Baron Denman 1894-1954	Thomas Denman