Home > Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie

In 19081908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). Events January-February January 1 A ball signifying New Year's Day drops in New York City's Times Square for the first time January 8 A train collision occurs in the Park Avenue T Dudley was appointed Governor-General of Australia, and Hore-Ruthven (pronounced Hore-Riven) went with him as military secretary. He left in 1910Events January events January 13 The first live musical radio program. Lee De Forest broadcasts a live performance of Enrico Caruso from the Metropolitan Opera. January 26 ? Seine floods in Paris. February events February 8 The Boy Scouts of America is in and returned to military service in India. During the First World WarWorld War I (also known as the First World War , the Great War the War of the Nations and the "War to End All Wars") was a world conflict occurring from 1914 to 1918. No previous conflict had mobilized so many soldiers, or involved so many in the field of he served in FranceThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. and at GallipoliGallipoli called Gelibolu in modern Turkish, is a town in north-western Turkey. The name derives from the Greek Kallipolis meaning "Beautiful City". It is located on the Gallipoli Peninsula (Gelibolu Yarimadasi), with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Da, where he was severely wounded. He finished the war as a Brigadier-General, and commanded British forces in GermanyThe Federal Republic of Germany ( German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland is one of the world's leading industrialized countries, located in the middle of the European Union. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea, to the east in 1919Events January January 1 Edsel Ford succeeds his father as head of the Ford Motor Company January 5 Spartacist uprising Socialist demonstrations in Berlin turn into attempted communist revolution with Spartacist League in the forefront January 9 Spartacus- 201920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. January 9 Britain announces it will build 100,000 homes for war veterans. January 10 Leagu. He then held various Army staff positions until 1928, when he was appointed Governor of South Australia. He was in London when the third Bodyline Test cricket match in Adelaide caused Anglo-Australian political tension in 1933, and played a significant part in smoothing relations through meetings with the British Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs James Henry Thomas. His term ended in 1934, and he was then promptly appointed Governor of New South Wales, with the title Baron Gowrie.

With such a fine military record, and such extensive vice-regal experience, Gowrie was an obvious choice to succeed Sir Isaac Isaacs when he retired as Governor-General in 1936. In accordance with established practice, the Prime Minister, Joseph Lyons, was offered several alternatives, but Gowrie was the outstanding candidate given that Lyons had no intention of appointing another Australian to the post.

Gowrie was a popular if unobtrusive figure in Australia. The days when Governors-General exercised significant power or even participated in negotiations between the Australian and British governments had now passed. Neverthless, Gowrie set a precedent in 1938 when he toured the Netherlands East Indies at the invitation of the colonial administration. This was the first time a Governor-General had represented Australia abroad.

In April 1939 Lyons died suddenly, the first time this had happened in Australia. Gowrie commissioned Sir Earle Page, the leader of the Country Party, as acting Prime Minister until the United Australia Party could choose a new leader. This was the only circumstance in which the Governor-General still had some personal discretion.

Gowrie's political skills were tested again after the 1940 election, which left the UAP Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, dependent on the votes of two independent members to stay in power. When the UAP dumped Menzies as leader, the independent members voted to put the government out. Gowrie sent for them and demanded that they give him a guarantee that if he commissioned the Labor leader, John Curtin, they would support him and end the instability in government.

In wartime Gowrie saw his duty as supporting the government and the British Empire, and also the troops. In 1943 he undertook a four-week tour of inspection of Allied Defence Forces in northern Australia and New Guinea. Shortly before this, he and Lady Gowrie learned that their son, Patrick, had been killed in Libya the previous year.

Gowrie's term ended in September 1944 and he returned to Britain, where weas created Earl of Gowrie and appointed Deputy Constable and Lieutenant-Governor of Windsor Castle. In 1948 he was elected president of the Marylebone Cricket Club. He died in May 1955 at his home in Gloucestershire.