Earl Beauchamp (William Lygon), KCMG
[Courtesy
of Government House,
Historic Houses Trust]
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- Twentieth governor
of New South Wales.
- Twenty seven
years of age when appointed to govern New South Wales. He "scarcely
knew where the colony was and certainly nothing about it… The
offer was very nearly forthwith refused, so ridiculous did it appear
to me."
- Neither powerful
nor purely ornamental. Exercised limited rights and influence in an
increasingly radical and nationalist environment.
- After he had
left Australia, Beauchamp admitted that the Governor’s duties
do not take much time’. He became involved in activities such
as tracing missing children, selecting a doctor for Fiji and arranging
London University external examinations. He arranged the participation
of New South Wales contingents in the South African War and in China
following the Boxer Uprising.
- Although disappointed
with colonial politicians and bureaucracy, Beauchamp admired the absence
of bribery in New South Wales's government.
- After Federation,
the Governor’s status and salary were reduced. There was, at
this time, a campaign to have the Governor-General appointed a Governor
of New South Wales as well. In October, 1900, Beauchamp went on leave
on half pay to leave Government House free as a temporary residence
for the first Governor-general He did not return.
- His commission
as governor "in and over the State of New South Wales and its
Dependencies in the Commonwealth of Australia" was proclaimed
on 1 January, 1901 though he was not present.
- He died in New
York in 1938.
- Cameron Hazlehurst,
'BEAUCHAMP, W. L, Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 7, ed.
Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, pp 235-236
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