Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington
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| Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington |
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| In office 9 April 1896 – 19 December 1901 |
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| Preceded by | Sir Henry Wylie Norman |
| Succeeded by | Sir Herbert Chermside |
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| Born | July 29, 1860 London, England, UK |
| Died | September 16, 1940 (aged 80) Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse | Mary Houghton Hozier |
Charles Wallace Alexander Napier Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, GCMG, GCIE (July 29, 1860 – September 16, 1940) was a British politician and colonial administrator who was Governor of Queensland from 1896 to 1901, and Governor of Bombay from 1903 to 1907.
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[edit] Early life
Born in London, England, he was the only son of Alexander Baillie-Cochrane, the 1st Baron Lamington. Charles was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1883. In 1885, he became assistant private secretary to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Lord Salisbury.[1]
[edit] Political career
Cochrane-Baillie was narrowly defeated in the 1885 election for the borough constituency of St Pancras North, but he won the subsequent election in July 1886, taking his seat in the British House of Commons for the Conservative Party.[1]
Upon the death of his father in 1890, he was made the 2nd Baron Lamington and was elevated to the House of Lords.
On 13 June 1895, he married Mary Houghton Hozier at St Michael's Church, Pimlico; they had two children, a son and a daughter.
In 1890, the British government sent Lord Lamington to travel between Tonkin in Vietnam and Siam, with a view to annexing the Sipsongpanna region of China in an attempt to limit French colonisation of the area.[2]
[edit] Governorships
In October 1895, Lord Lamington was selected to replace Sir Henry Norman as Governor of Queensland, and he was sworn in on 9 April 1896. He was a very politically conservative governor, and expressed a concern that the Federation of Australia which took place during his tenure would lead to unrestrained socialism. He also worked with the first Premier of Queensland, Sir Samuel Griffith, to ensure that the role of vice-regal governors was not diminished after Federation.[1]
Apart from six months leave in England when he was knighted GCMG, Lord Lamington served as governor for five years until 19 December 1901. In 1903 he was made GCIE, and appointed as Governor of Bombay, where the royal prerogative he exercised was far more powerful than it had been in Australia.[1]
[edit] Later life
In 1919, Lord Lamington served as commissioner of the British Relief Unit in Syria, prior to its allocation as a French mandate.[1]
He returned to his family home, Lamington House, in Lanarkshire, Scotland, where he died on 16 December 1940, aged 80.
[edit] Legacy
Lord Lamington is best known in Australia for allegedly giving his name to the lamington, a popular Australian cake consisting of a cube of sponge cake dipped in chocolate icing and sprinkled with desiccated coconut. The stories of the creation of the lamington vary widely, although in most versions Lamington's chef devises the cake either by accident or due to a shortage of ingredients. Lamington is also reported to have referred to the cakes as "those bloody poofy woolly biscuits".[3]
The Lamington Plateau and National Park in Queensland, Mount Lamington (a volcano in Papua New Guinea), and Lamington Road in Mumbai were also named after him.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e R. B. Joyce, 'Lamington, second Baron (1860 - 1940)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 9, Melbourne University Press, 1983, pp 653-654.
- ^ Lord Lamington in Sipsongpanna (1891), Yunnan Explorer.
- ^ Shrimpton, James: Australia: The tale of Baron Lamington and an improvised cake, New Zealand Herald, 6 October 2007.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thomas Henry Bolton |
Member of Parliament for St Pancras North 1886–1890 |
Succeeded by Thomas Henry Bolton |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by Sir Henry Norman |
Governor of Queensland 1896–1901 |
Succeeded by Sir Herbert Chermside |
| Preceded by The Lord Northcote |
Governor of Bombay 1903–1907 |
Succeeded by Sir George Clarke |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by Alexander Baillie-Cochrane |
Baron Lamington 1860–1940 |
Succeeded by Victor Cochrane-Baillie |
