William Cairns

William Cairns, about 1877

Tomb of William Cairns and his wife Anna Maria, Brompton Cemetery, London

Sir William Wellington Cairns , KCMG (born March 3, 1828 in Belfast , Northern Ireland , † July 7, 1888 in London ) was a British administrator from Ireland . He held several offices in the colonial administration of the British Empire , including a seven-month post as governor of the British colony of Trinidad in 1874, before becoming governor of Queensland on January 23, 1875 . He held this post for two years and then became Acting Governor of South Australia .

In 1874 he was appointed Companion (CMG) and in 1877 Knight Commander (KCMG) of the Order of St Michael and St George . He returned to England and died in London on July 7, 1888. His tomb is in Brompton Cemetery in south-west London.

The town of Cairns in Queensland was named after him.

Web links

• RB Joyce: Cairns, Sir William Wellington (1828-1888) . In: Douglas Pike (Ed.): Australian Dictionary of Biography . Melbourne University Press, Carlton (Victoria) 1966–2012 (English).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ dates of life and place of birth according to the inscription on the tomb; The Australian Dictionary of Biography records the dates of birth incompletely and gives the father's property in Cultra, County Down. The tomb inscription as well as British newspapers such as the Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper of July 15, 1888 and the Pall Mall Gazette of July 10, 1888 name July 7, 1888 as the date of death, the Australian Dictionary July 9.
2. ↑ John Wrathall Bull: Early Experiences of Life in South Australia and to extended colonial history. Chapter 14 . Retrieved October 21, 2017 (English).