Henry Barkly

All you want to know about Henry Barkly

4th Governor of British Guiana
Sir Henry Barkly

In office 12 February 1849 – 11 May 1853
Preceded by	Henry Light
Succeeded by	Philip Wodehouse
Governor of Jamaica
In office 1853 – 1856
Preceded by	Charles Edward Grey
Succeeded by	Charles Henry Darling
2nd Governor of Victoria
In office 26 December 1856 – 10 September 1863
Preceded by	Sir Charles Hotham
Succeeded by	Sir Charles Darling
10th Governor of Mauritius
In office 21 August 1863 – 3 June 1870
Preceded by	Sir William Stevenson
Succeeded by	Sir Arthur Hamilton-Gordon
14th Governor of Cape Colony
In office 31 December 1870 – 31 March 1877
Preceded by	Sir Philip Wodehouse
Succeeded by	Sir Henry Frere

Born	24 February 1815(1815-02-24) Highbury, Middlesex, England, UK
Died	20 October 1898 (aged 83) South Kensington, London, England, UK
Resting place	Brompton Cemetery
Nationality	British
Spouse	Elizabeth Helen Timins (1840–1857) Anne Maria Pratt (1860–1898)

Sir Henry Barkly, GCMG, KCB, FRS, FRGS (24 February 1815 – 20 October 1898) was a British politician, colonial governor and patron of the sciences.

1 Early life and education
2 Political career
3 Governorships
4 Honours
5 References

Early life and education

Barkly was born in 1815 at Highbury, Middlesex (now London). He was educated at Bruce Castle in Tottenham, where the school's particular curriculum endowed him with a lifetime interest in science and statistics.^[1]

Upon completing his schooling and studies in commerce, Barkly worked for his father, Aeneas Barkly, a Scottish trader. The Barkly family had several connections with the West Indies: Barkly's mother, Susannah Louisa, née ffrith, was the daughter of a Jamaican planter; his father's company was concerned with trade in the West Indies; and the family owned an estate in British Guiana.^[1]

Political career

On 26 April 1845, Barkly was elected in a by-election as one of two Members of Parliament for the constituency of Leominster in the British House of Commons. As a Peelite, one of the supporters of Prime Minister Robert Peel, Barkly found himself adrift with few political prospects when Peel was overthrown, and he gratefully accepted the governorship of British Guiana when the post was offered by his Liberal opponents in 1848.^[1]

Governorships

Governor of British Guiana

Barkly was sworn in as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of British Guiana on 12 February 1849. His family connections with British Guiana and the West Indies in general served him well as governor of the colony, and prompted Lord Grey, the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, to refer to his "remarkable skill and ability" in addressing the colony's economic issues by widening the franchise of the College of Kiezers and introducing indentured servants from Asia.^[1]

Governor of Jamaica

He then served three years as Governor of Jamaica (1853-1856).

Governor of Victoria

In November 1856 Barkly was appointed governor of Victoria, Australia, arriving in Melbourne on 24 December 1856. He achieved one of his main goals of stable government with the appointment of the James McCulloch ministry. He was noted for his support of philanthropic and intellectual movements. He was a founder and president of the Royal Society of Victoria, 1860-63, and helped to found the National Gallery of Victoria, the Acclimatization Society and the National Observatory.^[2]

Governor of Mauritius and the Cape Colony

In 1863 he was appointed Governor of Mauritius, and in August 1870 he was sent to the Cape of Good Hope as Governor of Cape Colony and as British High Commissioner for Southern Africa. He served in South Africa until 1877. He was involved with the Royal Commission on Colonial Defence in 1879.

He died in Brompton, Kensington, London on 20 October 1898 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery.

Honours

Henry Barkly was knighted KCB on 18 July 1853, just prior to his appointment as Governor of Jamaica. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1864, and of the Royal Geographic Society (FRGS) in 1870. He was made a GCMG on 9 March 1874.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d John Benyon, ‘Barkly, Sir Henry (1815–1898)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 29 Aug 2008.
^ B. A. Knox, 'Barkly, Sir Henry (1815 - 1898)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 3, MUP, 1969, pp 95-96.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Charles Greenaway George Arkwright	Member of Parliament for Leominster with George Arkwright 1845 – 1848	Succeeded by Frederick Peel George Arkwright
Government offices
Preceded by Henry Light	Governor of British Guiana 1849 – 1853	Succeeded by Philip Wodehouse
Preceded by Sir Charles Edward Grey	Governor of Jamaica 1853 – 1856	Succeeded by Edward Wells Bell
Preceded by Sir Charles Hotham	Governor of Victoria 1856 – 1863	Succeeded by Sir Charles Darling
Preceded by Sir William Stevenson	Governor of Mauritius 1863 – 1870	Succeeded by Sir Arthur Hamilton-Gordon
Preceded by Sir Philip Wodehouse	Governor of Cape Colony 1870 – 1877	Succeeded by Henry Bartle Frere

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