In part due to the urging of King Edward VII, a longtime acquaintance, Dudley was appointed Governor-General of Australia in 1908. His extravagance and pomposity made him unpopular among the general public, and his attempts to interfere in political matters rankled both prime ministers he worked with (Andrew Fisher and Alfred Deakin). Deakin regarded him as doing "nothing really important, nothing thoroughly, nothing consistently [...] very ineffective and not very popular". He was recalled to England after less than three years in office.
Dudley took command of the Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars in 1913. He had first joined the army as a young man, and during the Second Boer War served with the Imperial Yeomanry. In World War I, Dudley commanded the Hussars for the initial stages of the Gallipoli campaign, but he returned to England before its conclusion. He was later attached to the headquarters staff of the 40th Division, and retired with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Dudley had seven children with his first wife, and was succeeded in the earldom by his oldest son William.
Background and education
Dudley was born in London, the son of William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley, and Georgina, daughter of Sir Thomas Moncrieff, 7th Baronet. He was educated at Eton. His father died in 1885 and he inherited nearly 30,000 acres (120 km2) of mineral deposits in Staffordshire and Worcestershire, two hundred coal and iron mines, several iron works (including the Round Oak Steelworks) and a substantial fortune, as well as the Earldom. He visited Australia in 1886–87 as part of a yachting cruise. Dudley became part of the social circle of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), who attended his wedding to Rachel Gurney in 1891. He was appointed a deputy lieutenant for Worcestershire in 1893[1] and from 1895 to 1896 he was Mayor of Dudley.
Early military service
Dudley joined the Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars as a supernumerary lieutenant on 18 April 1885[2] and was promoted to captain on 2 June 1888[3] and major on 23 September 1893.[4] After the outbreak of the Second Boer War, he was seconded for service as a Deputy Assistant Adjutant General for the Imperial Yeomanry in early 1900,[5][6] and left for South Africa in the SS Scot in late January that year.[7] He was present at operations in the Orange Free State in February to May 1900. Some of the actions he was involved with were at Poplar Grove, Driefontein, Vet River, and Zand River. From May to June 1900 he was present at operations in the Transvaal. Some of the actions he was involved with were Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Diamond Hill. He then return to the United Kingdom, and in July to November 1900 he was involved with the suppression of the Irish troubles in Belfast.
He was transferred from the Imperial Yeomanry to the Territorial Force on the latter's formation on 1 April 1908,[8] and was seconded for service with the Colonial Office on 9 April that year,[9] when he was posted to Australia.
Political career
Dudley as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and ex officio Grand Master of the Order of St Patrick
As a Conservative, Dudley could not have expected preferment from the Liberal government which came to office in 1905, but King Edward VII pressed the Prime Minister, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, to offer Dudley the post of Governor-General of Australia. Campbell-Bannerman agreed, since there was apparently no suitable Liberal candidate available. Dudley was appointed on 9 May 1908[15] and arrived in Sydney on 9 September. He soon established a reputation for pomp, ceremony and extravagance which was unwelcome to many Australians, particularly the Labor Party and the radical press such as The Bulletin. Not long after his arrival, he found himself swearing in a Labor cabinet under Andrew Fisher, so the Labor Party's disapproval of his vice-regal style became an important issue.
The new Governor-General soon found himself involved in another controversy. It was part of Labor policy to establish an independent Australian navy. The Liberal opposition, on the other hand, supported the campaign for Australia to raise money to build ships for the Royal Navy: the so-called Dreadnought campaign. So when Dudley made a speech in support of the Dreadnought campaign, he was straying into party politics, leading to a tense relationship with Fisher. In 1909 Fisher's minority government resigned, and Dudley refused him an early election. The Liberals returned to office under Alfred Deakin, solving Dudley's immediate problems. But although Fisher was careful not to criticise Dudley in public, the Governor-General had acquired a reputation as "anti-Labor," which made him unpopular with half the Australian electorate.
In April 1910 Labor won a sweeping election victory and Fisher returned to power. Relations between Governor-General and Prime Minister were soon once again frosty. Dudley's insistence on maintaining two very expensive Government Houses, in Sydney and Melbourne, on travelling around the country in vice-regal pomp, and on chartering a steam yacht to circumnavigate the continent, infuriated Fisher, a frugal Scottish socialist. By October Dudley had recognised the impossibility of his position and asked to be recalled. He left Australia on 31 July 1911, unmarked by any official ceremony. Alfred Deakin wrote of him:
His ambition was high but his interests were short-lived … He did nothing really important, nothing thoroughly, nothing consistently … He remained … a very ineffective and not very popular figurehead.
Later military service
On 20 January 1912 Lord Dudley rejoined the establishment of the Worcestershire Hussars,[16] and on 10 November 1913 he was promoted to succeed Sir Henry Foley Grey as lieutenant-colonel commanding the regiment.[17] By this time he was convinced that there was going to be another war in Europe and formed a permanent staff of instructors to train the regiment in musketry. When war was declared in 1914, the Worcestershires formed part of the 1st South Midland Mounted Brigade, under the commander of Brigadier E. A. Wiggin. The brigade was ordered to Egypt and was based in Chatby Camp, near Alexandria, by April 1915. The brigade didn't see any action until they were ordered to prepare to fight as infantry in August. It was at this time that the men were sent to Suvla Bay, and took part in the Battle of Scimitar Hill on 21 August. The regiment were in support of the Anzacs in their attempt to break through the Turkish defenses. This attack failed miserably, and they were evacuated in January 1916. Lord Dudley had already left the regiment on 22 August 1915, when he was seconded[18] and posted to East Mudros as Commandant,[19] where he remained until 23 November.[20] In 1916, Lord Dudley was attached to the headquarters staff of the 40th Infantry Division. He was transferred to the Territorial Force Reserve as a lieutenant-colonel on 23 July 1916[21] and relinquished his commission on 30 September 1921.[22]
Yachting
On inheriting his Earldom he embarked in 1885–1886 on a round the world cruise in the 374 ton Steam Yacht Marchesa, built by Lobnitz, this voyage including meeting the Emperor of Brazil, and had a stop at Sydney to refit.[23]
In 1892 he bought the 5-rater Dacia - one of the first Charles E Nicholson designs, from Hercules Langrishe. He then commissioned Vigorna, also from Camper and Nicholsons which was less successful. His next yacht Inyoni was more successful.
During his time as Viceroy of Ireland he was a member of the Dublin Bay and Lough Erne sailing clubs, as well as the Royal Yacht Squadron.[24]
Lady Dudley took an interest in medical welfare. In Ireland, in 1903, she set up the Lady Dudley Nurses scheme to serve isolated rural communities in counties Connemara, Mayo, Donegal, and Kerry.[25] In Australia, in 1911, she set up a similar scheme. She was interested in gardening, and in January 1903 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society.[26]
On the outbreak of World War I Lady Dudley established the Australian Voluntary Hospital from doctors and nurse in London. She drowned on 26 June 1920, aged 51, while on a visit to Connemara.[27]
Lord Dudley remarried, on 30 April 1924, actress Gertie Millar, daughter of John Millar.
Lord Dudley died of cancer in London on 29 June 1932 at age 65 and was succeeded by his eldest son, William. Gertie, Countess of Dudley, died in April 1952. The English actresses Georgina Ward and Rachel Ward were his granddaughter and great-granddaughter respectively.
Honours and awards
Grand Master of The Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick, invested as Grand Master on 16 August 1902, on the day he was installed as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,[13] and handed over the insignia when he resigned in December 1905. He was never appointed a knight of the order.
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