William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Rt Hon.
The Viscount De L'Isle,
VC, KG, GCMG, GCVO, PC
In office
3 August 1961 – 7 May 1965
Preceded by The Viscount Dunrossil
Succeeded by The Lord Casey
Born 23 May 1909
Died 5 April 1991

William Philip Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle, VC, KG, GCMG, GCVO, PC (23 May 1909–5 April 1991), 15th Governor-General of Australia, was the last British Governor-General. He was the son of the 5th Baron De L'Isle and Dudley, and came from one of England's oldest and most distinguished families. He was educated at Eton and Cambridge and became a chartered accountant. In 1929 he joined the Grenadier Guards Reserve of Officers. He was a son-in-law of Field Marshal Lord Gort.

During World War II Sidney served in France and Italy. He led a handful of men in the defence of the Anzio beachhead, for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. Sidney led a successful attack which drove German troops out of a gully. Later he led another counter-attack and dashed forward, engaging the Germans with his tommy gun at point-blank range, forcing a withdrawal. When the attack was renewed, Sidney and one guardsman were wounded and another killed, but he would not consent to have his wounds dressed until the Germans had been beaten off and the battalion's position was consolidated. During this time, although extremely weak from loss of blood he continued to encourage and inspire his men.

In later life, when asked where he had been shot, he would jocularly respond that he was shot in Italy. This was to conceal the fact that he had, in fact, been shot in the buttocks.

Contents

[edit] Political Life

Enlarge

In 1944 he was elected unopposed to the House of Commons as Conservative MP for Chelsea. His father died in 1945 and he succeeded as 6th Baron De L'Isle and Dudley. In 1951 he was appointed Secretary of State for Air under Winston Churchill and held that office until 1955. During this time he visited Australia, travelling to Woomera to examine weapons research and meeting the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies. In 1956 he was created Viscount De L'Isle.

[edit] Governor-General

In 1961 Menzies appointed him Governor-General of Australia following the sudden death of Lord Dunrossil. He performed his ceremonial duties with dignity and travelled widely around Australia. There were no political or constitutional controversies during his term, since the Menzies Liberal government was firmly in power.

[edit] Retirement

By the time of De L'Isle's retirement in 1965, public opinion was strongly in favour of an Australian Governor-General, although this was not a reflection on his performance in the role. His continuing interest in Australia was shown by several visits after his retirement, the last for Australia's bicentenary in 1988, when he presented a bronze statue which now stands in the grounds of Government House in Canberra.

De L'Isle held firmly conservative views and was involved in the foundation of what is now the Freedom Association. He died in Kent on 5 April 1991.

Political offices
Preceded by:
Arthur Henderson		 Secretary of State for Air
1951–1955		 Succeeded by:
Nigel Birch
Government Offices
Preceded by:
The Viscount Dunrossil		 Governor-General of Australia
1961–1965		 Succeeded by:
The Lord Casey
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by:
New Creation		 Viscount De L'Isle Succeeded by:
Philip Sidney
Preceded by:
William Sidney		 Baron De L'Isle and Dudley

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Governors-General of Australia
Hopetoun | Tennyson | Northcote | Dudley | Denman | Munro-Ferguson | Forster | Stonehaven | Isaacs | Gowrie | Gloucester | McKell | Slim | Dunrossil | De L'Isle | Casey | Hasluck | Kerr | Cowen | Stephen | Hayden | Deane | Hollingworth | Jeffery
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../w/i/l/William_Sidney%2C_1st_Viscount_De_L%27Isle_8780.html"