William Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket

William Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket

William Lee Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket , GCMG , KCVO , KBE (born December 19, 1864 in Dublin , Ireland , † January 24, 1920 in London ) was a British diplomat and administrative officer. From 1904 to 1910, Plunket was Governor of New Zealand .

Origin and education

He was born in Dublin, attended Harrow School and studied at Trinity College Dublin . His parents were William Plunket, 4th Baron Plunket , who was Archbishop of Dublin from 1884 to 1897 , and his wife Anne, daughter of Benjamin Guinness .

Life

Plunket entered the diplomatic service and was sent as an attaché to the British embassy in Rome in 1889 . In 1892 he moved to the embassy in Constantinople as an attaché . In 1894 he retired from the diplomatic service and married Victoria Alexandrina , the youngest daughter of the 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava . The wedding took place at the British consulate and church on Rue d'Aguessau in Paris . The couple had three sons and five daughters. Victoria was the namesake of the Plunket Society , a New Zealand organization dedicated to promoting the health and well-being of mothers and children.

In 1897 he inherited his father as the 5th Baron Plunket . In 1900 he became private secretary to Lord Cadogan , at that time Lord Lieutenant of Ireland . He held the same post with his successor, Lord Dudley .

Governor of New Zealand

On June 20, 1904, Plunket became governor of New Zealand. The Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives happened to be his cousin Arthur Guinness . He held this office under the monarchs Edward VII and George V until June 8, 1910.

On September 26, 1907, Plunket announced in the House of Representatives the resolution to transfer the New Zealand colony to the Dominion . His successor in office was John Dickson-Poynder, 1st Baron Islington . His last official assignment in connection with New Zealand was in 1911, when he carried the standard of the Dominion for the coronation of King George V.

Plunket was a Freemason . During his tenure as governor, he was the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand. He died on January 24, 1920 at the age of 55 at 40 Elvaston Place , London and was buried in London's Putney Vale Cemetery .

Awards

• 1900 - Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
• 1903 - Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
• 1905 - Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
• 1910 - Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
• 1918 - Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire

William Plunket is the namesake for Plunket Point , a rock spur in the Transantarctic Mountains .

literature

• Bernard John Foster: PLUNKET, Sir William Lee Plunket, Fifth Baron, GCVO, GCMG, KBE, KGST.J., BA In: Alexander Hare McLintock (Ed.): An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . Wellington 1966 ( online [accessed February 25, 2018]).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Foster: PLUNKET, Sir William Lee Plunket, ... In: An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . 1966 (English).
2. ↑ Our history. Plunket Society, accessed February 25, 2018 .  
3. ↑ Lord Plunket, GCMG, KCVO. The Governor-General, accessed February 25, 2018 .  
4. ↑ Vice Regal Grand Masters - Who and Why? Kent Henderson, archived from the original on April 9, 2013 ; accessed on February 25, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).  
5. ^ The London Gazette : No. 30576 (Supplement), p. 3284 , March 12, 1918.

predecessor	Office	successor
Uchter Knox, 5th Earl of Ranfurly	Governor of New Zealand 1904–1910	John Dickson-Poynder, 1st Baron Islington
William Plunket, 4th Baron Plunket	Baron Plunket 1897-1920	Terence Plunket, 6th Baron Plunket