Agent-General

An Agent-General is the representative in the United Kingdom of the government of a Canadian Province or an Australian State and, historically, also of a British colony in Jamaica, Nigeria, Canada, South Africa, Australia or New Zealand and subsequently, of a Nigerian Region. Australia and Canada's federal governments were represented by High Commissions, as are all Commonwealth national governments today.

Starting in 1886 Canadian provinces and the federal government also appointed agents general to Paris. The first, Hector Fabre, was dispatched by the province of Quebec but was asked by the federal government to represent all of Canada. He and his successor, Philippe Roy, continued to represent both Quebec City and Ottawa in France until 1912 when the federal government asked Roy to resign his Quebec position to avoid conflicts of interest.

Following a military coup in Nigeria in 1966, the federal system was abolished, and the posts of the Agent-General of Nigerian Regions in London were subsumed in the Nigerian High Commission.

By the 1990s, some Australian state governments regarded the office of their Agent-General in London as a costly anachronism, even for promoting tourism and investment, and have since been closed and subsumed into the Australian High Commission, see List of High Commissioners of Australia to the United Kingdom. The majority of Australian States continue to have Agents General in London, but operate from Australia House rather than maintain separate premises.

Many Canadian provinces similarly are no longer represented by an Agent-General, although Quebec has a Government Office (Délégation Générale du Québec à Londres) in London and Ontario has a representative who works out of the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC.^[1]

List of Agents-General for New South Wales

The New South Wales Office in London was one of several overseas offices established to represent the states' interests in London. The London Office was established after the appointment of the first Agent-General on 1 May 1787. After 1932, the Agent-General's Office was abolished and replaced by the New South Wales Government Offices, London. The Agent-General's Office was re-established in 1937.

In September 1992, the position of NSW Agent-General in London was abolished by the Fahey government.^[2] It was replaced by the NSW Government Trade and Investment Office, London, which had no diplomatic function, but focussed on the promotion of investment and trade in the UK and Europe.^[3]

List of Agents-General for Queensland

• Hon. John Douglas 1869–1870
• Archibald Archer (1870–1872)
• Richard Daintree 1872–1876
• Arthur Macalister 1876–1881
• Thomas Archer 1881–1884, 1888–1890
• James Francis Garrick 1884–1888, 1890–1895
• William Hemmant 1885 (acting)
• Sir Henry Wylie Norman 1896
• Hon. Sir Horace Tozer 1898–1909
• Thomas Bilbe Robinson 1910–1919
• John McEwan Hunter 1919–1922
• John Arthur Fihelly 1922–1924
• John Saunders Huxham 1924–1929
• Edward Henry Macartney 1929–1931
• Leonard Henry Pike 1931–51
• Sir David Muir 1951–64
• William Alan Thompson Summerville 1964–1970
• Hon. Sir Peter Roylance Delamothe 1971–1973
• N C Sweeney (Acting) 1973 – 1974
• Hon. Sir Wallace Rae 1974 -1980
• G. W. Swan (Acting) August 1980 – March 1981
• John H Andrews April 1981 – September 1984
• John F S Brown September 1984 – March 1988
• Hon D T McVeigh April 1988 – January 1991
• Ray T Anderson June 1991 – September 1995
• Dermot A McManus February 1996 – October 2000
• Ray Kelly (Acting) October 2000 – April 2001
• John Dawson April 2001 – September 2007
• Ross Buchanan (Acting) October 2007 – April 2008
• Andrew Hugh Craig April 2008 –

List of Agents-General for South Australia

• Gregory Seale Walters 1856–1865
• Francis Dutton 1865–1877
• Arthur Blyth 1877–1891
• John Cox Bray 1892–1894
• Thomas Playford II 1894–1898
• Sir John Cockburn 1898–1901
• Henry Allerdale Grainger 1901–1905
• John Jenkins 1905–1908
• Andrew Kirkpatrick 1909–1914
• Sir Frederick William Young 1915–1918
• Sir Edward Lucas 1918–1925
• John Price 1925–1928
• Sir Henry Barwell 1928–1933
• Lionel Hill 1933–1934
• Sir Charles McCann 1934–1951
• Alfred Greenham (in 1959?)
• Malcolm Pearce 1961–1966
• Geoff Walls 1985?–1998
• Maurice de Rohan 1998–2006
• Bill Muirhead 2007–present

List of Agents-General for Tasmania

• Hon. Adye Douglas (later Sir, Kt) 1886–1887
• Sir Arthur Blyth (acting) 1887–1888
• James Arndell Youl CMG (later Sir, KCMG) (acting) 1888
• Hon. Edward Braddon (later Right Hon Sir, PC KCMG) 1888–1893
• Sir Robert Herbert 1893–1896
• Sir Andrew Clarke (acting) 1896
• Sir Westby Perceval 1896–1898
• Sir Andrew Clarke (acting) 1898–1899
• Hon. Sir Philip Oakley Fysh, KCMG 1899–1901
• Sir Andrew Clarke (acting) 1901
• Hon. Alfred Dobson, CMG 1901–1908
• Sir John McCall, KCMG, Kt 1909–1919
• Alfred Henry Ashbolt (later Sir, Kt) 1919–1924
• Lieut-Colonel R. Eccles Snowden (later Sir, Kt) 1924–1930
• Darcy W. Addison, CMG, ISO, MVO 1930–1931
• Herbert W. Ely, ISO (acting) 1931–1937
• Hon. Sir Claude Ernest Weymouth James, Kt 1937–1950
• Sir Eric E. von Bibra, Kt, OBE 1950–1958
• Hon. Sir Alfred J White, Kt 1959–1971
• Royce R. Neville 1971–1978
• Hon. William A. Neilson, AC 1978–1981

List of Agents-General for Victoria

• Hugh Culling Eardley Childers 1857–1858
• Charles Pasley 1864–1867 (acting)
• George Frederic Verdon 1867 – 1872
• Hugh Culling Eardley Childers 1872 – 1873
• James McCulloch 1873 (acting from January to April)
• Archibald Michie 1873–1879
• Charles Pasley 1880–1882 (acting)
• Robert Murray Smith 1882–1886
• Graham Berry 1886–1891
• James Munro 1892 – 1893
• Duncan Gillies 1893–1897
• Andrew Clarke 1897–1902 (and for Tasmania)
• John William Taverner 1903–1913
• Peter McBride^[4] 1913–1922
• John McWhae 1922–1924
• George Fairbairn 1924–1927
• Walter Leitch 1929–1933
• Richard Linton 1933–1936
• Murray William James Bourchier 1936–1937
• Albert Louis Bussau 1938–1944
• Norman Angus Martin 1945–1950
• John Henry Lienhop 1950–1956
• William Watt Leggatt 1956– 1964
• Sir Horace Petty 1964–1969
• Ian Haig 1983–1985
• Kenneth Andrew Finnin 1985–1988
• Ian Haig 1988–1989
• Alan Brown 1996–2000
• Peter Hansen 2000–2004
• David Buckingham 2004–2009
• Sally Capp 2009–2012
• Geoffrey Conaghan 2013–present

List of Agents-General for Western Australia

1910 Advertisement from WA Agent General

• Hon. Septimus Burt KC 1891–92 (Acting)
• Hon. Sir Malcolm Fraser 1892–1898
• Hon. Sir Edward Wittenoom 1898–1901
• Hon. Sir Henry Lefroy 1901–1904
• Hon. Sir Walter James 1904–1907
• Hon. Sir Cornthwaite Rason 1907–1911
• Hon. Sir Newton Moore 1911–1917
• Hon. Sir James Connolly 1917–1923
• Hon. Sir Hal Colebatch 1923–1927
• Hon. William Angwin 1927–1933
• Hon. Sir Hal Colebatch 1933–1939
• Hon. Michael Troy 1939–1947
• Hon. William Kitson 1947–1952
• Hon. James Dimmitt 1953–1957
• Hon. Ernest Hoar 1957–1965
• Hon. Gerald Wild 1965–1971
• Hon. William Bovell 1971–1974
• Jim Richards 1975–1978
• Les Slade 1978–1982
• Ron Douglas 1982–1986
• Hon. Ron Davies 1986–1990
• David Fischer 1990–1992
• Gary Stokes 1992–1994
• Bill Hassell 1994–1996
• Hon. Clive Griffiths 1997–2001
• Robert Fisher 2001–2005
• Noel Ashcroft 2005–2008
• Dr. Kerry Sanderson 2008–2012
• Kevin Skipworth 2012–2015
• John Atkins 2015 onwards

List of Agents-General for Natal

The Colony of Natal sent separate Agents-general until the Union of South Africa in 1910

• Sir Walter Peace 1890s – 1910?

List of Agents-General for Nigeria

The last Nigerian Agent-Generals in London were:

• Northern Region: Baba Gana
• Eastern Region: A. Ekukinam-Bassey
• Western Region:
• Mid-West Region:

List of Agents for Jamaica

source: Historic Jamaica ^[5]

• 1664–1666: Sir James Modyford
• 1682-?: Sir Charles Lyttelton
• William Beeston
• 1688: Ralph Knight
• Gilbert Heathcote
• 1693–1704: Bartholomew Gracedieu
• 1714: P. Marsh
• 1725: Alexander Stephenson
• 1725–1726: Edward Charlton
• 1728–1733: Charles de la Foy
• 1733: John Gregory
• 1733–1757: John Sharpe
• 1757–1762: Lovell Stanhope (MP for Winchester)
• 1764–1795: Stephen Fuller
• 1795–1803: Robert Sewell
• 1803–1812: Edmund Pusey Lyon
• 1812–1831: George Hibbert
• 1831–1845: William Burge
• 1845 Office abolished

List of Agents-General for Canada

to the United Kingdom

• Edward Jenkins

to France

• Hector Fabre (1886–)
• Philippe Roy (−1912)

List of Agents-General for Alberta

• John Alexander Reid (Great War)
• Herbert Greenfield (1927–1931)
• Mary LeMessurier (1986–1992)
• R. A . McMullen (cira 1966)^[6]

List of Agents-General for New Brunswick

• Frederick W. Sumner

List of Agents-General for Ontario

to the United Kingdom

• Thomas Leonard Wells (1985–1992)
• Robert Nixon (1992–1994)

to France

• Adrienne Clarkson (1983–1988)

List of Agents-General for Prince Edward Island

• Harrison Watson (1902 -?)^[7]

List of Agents-General for New Zealand

• Hon. Isaac Featherston (1871–1875)^[8]
• Sir Julius Vogel (1876–1880)
• Francis Dillon Bell (1880–1891)
• Westby Perceval (1891–1895) ^[9]
• William Pember Reeves (1895–1905)

After 1905 the position of Agent-General was replaced by that of High Commissioner, see List of High Commissioners of New Zealand to the United Kingdom.

Other uses

• Agent-General of the French Clergy

Notes

References

• Australian Dictionary of Biography

External links

• Australian High Commission Website
• Quebec Government Office in London
• Victorian Government Agent-General
• New Zealand Agent-General (an 1897 article)