OUR NEW GOVERNOR

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9249, 31 December 1888, Page 5

OUR NEW GOVERNOR

A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. WHY HE WAS APPOINTED. HIS TASTES, TRAINING, AND INTENTIONS. INTERESTING PERSONAL: NOTES. AUCKLAND HIS PORT OF ARRIVAL. i AN OYEELAND RIDE TO WELLINGTON. [PROSIt OFF. OWN CORRESPONDENT.] London, November 16. The Right Hon. Sir William Hillier Onslow, fourth Earl of Onslow, Viscount Cranley, Baron Onslow and Baron Cranley in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, and a baronet of England, of Clandon Park, Guildford, Surrey, and 7, Richmond Terrace, Whitehall, who will succeed Sir William Jervois as Governor of New Zealand, was bom in 1553, being the only son of his parents, Mir. G. A. Onslow and Mary Harriet Anne, daughter of Lieutenant - General Loftus. His father was a grandson of the second Earl of Onslow, ana the third lord dying without heirs in 1870, the present peer, who is the grand-nephew of his predecessor in the title, succeeded to the earldom, with ; its accompanying titles and estates. In 1575, being then twenty-two years of age. he married the Honourable Florence Couiston, daughter of a mighty hunter, Alan, Lord Gardiner. By this marriage there is | a son Viscount Cranley, a bright boy | of about thirteen years of age, and two I daughters—Ladies Gwendolm and Dorothy. The present; peer is a descendant of three ; Speakers of the House of Commons, one of whom—Mr. Speaker Arthur Onslow— pied the chair for three-and-thirty years. ! The Onslows of Onslow were originally i Shropshire squires and country gentlemen | until the days of good Queen Bess, when Richard Onslow found his way to Court, and j prospered there so exceedingly that he married a young lady possessed in her own right of j extensive estates in the County of Surrey, and became Recorder of London, Solicitor-General and Speaker of the House of Commons. His j descendants acquired the property of Clandon, on the Surrey Downs, which has been the seat of the family ever since, and where they inhabit a roomy, red brick palace, which was built in the time of the Georges by an Italian architect. HIS POLITICAL CAREER. The fourth Earl of Onslow may therefore | be said to spring from a race of politicians, and, indeed, or diplomatists too, for the famous Speaker Richard Onslow, of Commonwealth days, steered his craft amid the troublous waters of those times so skilfully as to preserve the favour of the Cavaliers while lie espoused the cause of the Roundheads, and alter having unsuccessfully sought to persuade the Protector to assume the royal office, when he died, prudently interested himself in procuring the return of Charles H. to the throne. _ The present holder of the title is himself a politician of no small ability and experience. He commenced his political career in the orthodox fashion with ambitious young lords, that is. he was a lord-in-waiting to Her Majesty. His first appointment to this post was in ISSO, a few months before the downfall of the Beaconsfield Government. During the Gladstone Administration he took comparatively little active part in politics, but spent most of his time in looking after his estate, of which he is a model landlord, and " roughing it" in America, accompanied by Lady Onslow, who shared all her husband's toils and hardships. When the present Government came into office in 1&6, however, he was reappointed to the post of a lord-in-waiting, but was soon transferred to a sphere more suited to his abilities by being made Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, his chief being Sir Henry Holland (the present Lord Knutsford). Those who were present at the Colonial Conference of last year will remember Lord Onslow's assiduous attendances at the meetings, and will doubtless preserve a recollection of the hospitality they enjoyed at the hands of himself and the Countess "at Clandon Park. At a subsequent date, when the course of events necessitated a re-arrangement of the Ministerial cards. Lord Onslow resigned the Colonial Under-Secre-tary ship for the Under-Secretaryship of the Board of Trade, an office which he now holds, and, during working hours, is to be found in a, comfortable room at the top of the building occupied by the department of the Board of Trade in Whitehall Gardens.

REASON OF HIS APPOINTMENT. It is perhaps unnecessary to say that New Zealand is the first colony to which Lord Onslow has been appointed Governor; and he is as yet without knowledge of colonial matters, save such as he acquired during his period of service at the Colonial Office. He does not contemplate entering into the career of a colonial Governor as a profession, but will value his stay in New Zealand mainly by. reason of the opportunities it will afford for the acquisition of knowledge and experience which will be of great use and benefit when, as his friends confidently predict, he will assume a more direct share in the control of the affairs of the Empire. His acceptance of the appointment is due to the urgent pressure of the Marquis of Salisbury and Lord Knutsford. Both the Prime Minister and the Colonial Secretary are strongly of opinion that it would be better in the interests of the Empire at large that a practical acquaintance with colonial administration should not, as is the case at present, be confined to a few, who look upon the career of a colonial Governor as a profession, and who, when they withdraw from the same, retire from public life altogether, and take little further interest in politics. They are inclined to extend Lord Rosebery's dictum that no one ought to take part in the government of the Empire who has not made himself practically acquainted with the extent of the territories of the same, and to endeavour so to arrange that those who, from their abilities and rank, may reasonably look forward to a distinguished political career at home, shall enjoy opportunities of learning something more of the inner life of the Englands abroad than can possibly be acquired even by the severest course of globe-trotting. With this view, which is shared by their Cabinet colleagues, their Lordships are inclining to favour the appointment of clever, wealthy young peers to tne more important of the Colonial Governorships, in preference to the ordinary professional Colonial Governor. In this way they think that the mother country and the colonies will mutually be kept in better touch with one another. A colony, instead of being administered by a Governor who has jus t been transferred from some other distant quarter of the Empire, will enjoy the services of a young man fresh from the homo country, bringing with him all the newest ideas and fashions, while, on his return, Imperial politics will receive back into their midst one whose views have been enlarged and Ms sympathies broadened by contact with our colonial fellow-subjects. THE COLONIES AND ENGLAND. Lord Onslow does not conceal the fact that these considerations have powerfully influenced .his acceptance of the New Zealand Governorship. He is desirous of studying oolonial institutions under the best auspices, and of forming, by practical observation, an estimate of the surest means for drawing tighter the bonds between Great and Greater Britain. Although a believer in Imperial federation he has not actively identified himself with the league of that name, believing that the movement in the direction of closer union must be a gradual one, and that the colonies should not be in any way forced in this regard. He is an admirer of the maimer in which Australasia has come forward to take her share in the responsibilities of the Empire, and doesmot agree with those who tend to the opinion that Australasia is somewhat too prone to look to tho mother countrya convenient euphemism for the British taxpayer— aid in every little trouble. He "also holds that Australasia should have a determining voice in determining questions relating to the Pacific.

HIS LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND. As a Governor, it will be Lord Onslow's aim to avoid anything like ostentatious display at Government House. He will live amongst the citizens of New Zealand just like one of themselves, and while maintaining the hospitality of a Governor, will not add to the expenses of . his fellow-husbands by launching out into a series of extravagant entertainments, such as would necessitate the_ continual purchase of new dresses for their wives. His tastes -are simple ; he is, like the typical English gentleman, at once a keen politician and an ardent sportsman, though he takes little interest in racing matters. The snorts he affects are the healthy old-fashioned pursuits of hunting and shoting, and he is anxious to ascertain what are the resources of his new home in these respects. He is a crack shot, and a hard rider—two qualities w" "• will eminently conduce to his popular in the colony— talks about riding from Auckland to Wellington if there is anything like a road. It may safely be predicted that there are few parts of the colony which he will not personally inspect. Wherever a horse can go the new Governor is likely to go also, In one ]- icular branch of sport, however, Lot. Onslow is a little anxious. The regulation which imposes a quarantine upon dogs he declares hits him a terrible blow, for lie is not only very fond of dogfu

but is a great breeder of them, and contemplated taking a goodly number out with him. lie has telegraphed his wishes in this respect t° Win. Jervois, and hopes that the latter will be able to use his goo-.i offices -with the Government to the end that the stringency 01 the existing regulations may be somewhat relaxed. The noble earl is also a litile concerned about his servants. He intends to take all the : servants he will require to the colony with him, but; is uncertain whether he will be able, to keen them when they get out, and become alive to the possibilities o: a new country. Sir James Fergussoc, however,- has been able to afford him some crumbs of comfort by telling him that he took all his servants out with him and brought them back again. ■ He has not at present selected his staff.

DATE OF DEPARTURE.

The new Governor is likely to sail for. the colony at the beginning of next year, and will go by way of Australia in either a P. and 0. or an Orient liner. If he selects the former service he will probably embark either on the Britannia on Januarv 25 or the v ictoria on February 22, but the "later date is the more likely one. New Zealanders will naturally ask. Why does not Lord Onslow patronise the splendid service of New Zealand liners J The answer is, that his lordship, like many fine horsemen, is but an indifferent sailor, and feels anything but at home on the bosom of the briny deep-

When the stormy winds do blow, When the tempest rages Ion? and loud, And the stormy winds do blow.

He owns to not caring to face the voyage round the Cape, but prefers the route by wav of the Canal and the Indian Ocean, where all is likely to be smooth sailing. It is his intention to spend some little time in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney, and from the latter place he proposes to "take the steamer for Auckland. As I have said, he would prefer to ride from Auckland to Wellinzton, sending his servants and baggage round by sea.

PERSONAL APPEARANCE. In personal appearance the Earl of Onslow is tall, straight and slender, with cleanly-cut aquiline features, and auburn hair, moustache, and whiskers. His manners are polished, genial, and devoid of affectation. Altogether he impresses one with the idea that he is a clever, able man of the world, who, while willing to yield to the views of others, yet possesses ample strength of character to enforce his own way when necessary : who is gifted with tact and savoir fain ; who will not display any awkward corners in his dealings with his fellow-men; and who, above all, is animated with a high sense of the responsibilities attaching to the new post he is about to till.