Harry Ord

Major General The Honourable
Sir Harry Ord
GCMG CB
Major General The Honourable Sir Harry Ord GCMG CB
	In his official attire as Governor of Western Australia
10th Governor of Western Australia
	In office; 12 November 1877 – 9 April 1880
Preceded by	Sir William Robinson
Succeeded by	Sir William Robinson
8th Governor of the Straits Settlements
	In office; 16 March 1867 – 4 November 1873
Monarch	Queen Victoria
Colonial Secretary	Ronald MacPherson; James W.W. Birch
Preceded by	Sir William Orfeur Cavenagh
Succeeded by	Sir Andrew Clarke
Governor of Bermuda
	In office; 1861–1864
Preceded by	Freeman Murray
Succeeded by	William Munroe
Personal details
Born	17 June 1819; North Cray, Kent, England
Died	20 August 1885 (aged 66); Homburg, Germany
Cause of death	Heart attack
Resting place	Fornham St Martin
Spouse	Julia Graham (m. 1846)
Relations	Craven Ord (paternal grandfather)
Children	3
Parents	Henry Gough Ord (father); Louisa Latham (mother);
Occupation	Colonial administrator

Sir Harry St. George Ord GCMG CB (17 June 1819 – 20 August 1885) was a British colonial administrator who served as Governor of Bermuda between 1861 and 1864, Governor of the Straits Settlements between 1867 and 1873, and Governor of Western Australia between 1877 and 1880.

Education and career

Ord was the son of Henry Gough Ord and grandson of Craven Ord (1756–1832) of Greenstead Hall, Essex, a prominent antiquarian. He was educated at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, (1835–1837). He served in the Royal Engineers, (1837–1856), principally in the West Indies, West Africa, and the Anglo-French expedition to the Baltic (1854), during the Crimean War.

Ord later held many important colonial posts, including:

Commissioner of the Gold Coast (1855–1856)
Commissioner at the Courts of Paris and The Hague (1856–1857)
Governor of Dominica (1857–1861)
Governor of Bermuda (1861–1864)
Special Commissioner to West Africa (1864–1867)
Governor of the Straits Settlements (1867–1873)
Governor of Western Australia (1877–1880)

Governor of Straits Settlements

The official picture of Sir Harry Ord as the Governor of the Straits Settlements

Sir Harry Ord, whom the second Colonial Office appointed in 1867 as the Governor of the Straits Settlements, was at first given no instructions regarding the Colony's relations with the Malay States. He was unpopular in the Straits Settlements, but was an ambitious and energetic man, who was ready to do what he could to restore order and promote trade in the Peninsula. Conditions in Malaya at that time were extremely unsettled. The quarrels of the Malays were intensified by feuds between competing groups of Chinese miners, and the links of the Chinese with the British settlements threatened to involve these too in the trouble. After some experience of negotiating with Malays and Siamese, Ord worked out a policy under which he proposed to share the supervision of the Peninsula between Britain and Siam. This policy was disapproved by the Colonial Office, and Ord was directed to abstain from all interference in the affairs of the Malay States.

Life

Ord married Julia Graham of Exmouth daughter of Admiral James Carpenterin on 28 June 1846 by whom he had three sons.^[1] Sir Harry Ord died on 20 August 1885 from heart attack and was buried in the churchyard of St. Martin's parish church in Fornham St. Martin, Suffolk, England. The village institute in Fornham was built in Ord's memory with funds donated by the Abu Bakar of Johor.^[2]

The Ord River in the Kimberley region of Western Australia was named in his honour, as was Ord Street, Fremantle.

Awards

K.C.M.G., 1877^[3]
G.C.M.G., 1881^[4]

References

^ "1878–1880 Major-General Sir Harry St George Ord RE KCMG CB". Government House of Western Australia.
^ Parkinson, C. Northcote (1960). British Intervention in Malaya 1867-1877. Singapore: University of Malaya Press. p. 105.
^ "No. 24464". The London Gazette. 30 May 1877. p. 3442.
^ "No. 24976". The London Gazette. 24 May 1881. p. 2675.

Sources

Colonial Office List, various list, DNB
One Hundred Years of Singapore (1819)
C.D. Cowan, Nineteenth Century Malaya: The Origins of British Political Control, (1961)

External links

The Petition of Chung Keng Quee & 44 Others to Sir Harry Ord seeking government protection.

Government offices
Preceded by Freeman Murray	Governor of Bermuda 1861–1864	Succeeded by William Munroe
Preceded by Sir William Orfeur Cavenagh	Governor of Straits Settlements 1867–1873	Succeeded by Sir Andrew Clarke
Preceded by Sir William Robinson	Governor of Western Australia 1877–1880	Succeeded by Sir William Robinson

[wagovhse-1] "1878–1880 Major-General Sir Harry St George Ord RE KCMG CB". Government House of Western Australia.

[intervention-2] Parkinson, C. Northcote (1960). British Intervention in Malaya 1867-1877. Singapore: University of Malaya Press. p. 105.

[3] "No. 24464". The London Gazette. 30 May 1877. p. 3442.

[4] "No. 24976". The London Gazette. 24 May 1881. p. 2675.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Governors of Western Australia
Before Federation	Stirling Hutt Clarke Irwin Fitzgerald Kennedy Hampton Pine Weld Robinson Ord Robinson Broome Robinson Smith
After Federation	Lawley Bedford Strickland Barron Ellison-Macartney Newdegate Campion Mitchell Gairdner Kendrew Edwards Kyle Trowbridge Reid Burt Jeffery J. Sanderson Michael McCusker K. Sanderson Beazley Dawson

Governors of Singapore (1819–1959)
(with italics * for the Acting)
Resident of Singapore (1819–1826)	William Farquhar Dr. John Crawfurd
Governors of the Straits Settlements (under British India) (1826–1867)	Robert Fullerton Robert Ibbetson Kenneth Murchison Sir Samuel George Bonham William John Butterworth Edmund Augustus Blundell
Governors of the Straits Settlements (under Colonial Office) (1867–1942)	Sir Orfeur Cavenagh Sir Harry St. George Ord Sir Andrew Clarke Sir William Jervois Sir Archibald Edward Harbord Anson * Sir William Cleaver Francis Robinson Sir Archibald Edward Harbord Anson * Sir Frederick Aloysius Weld Sir Cecil Clementi Smith William Edward Maxwell * Sir Charles Bullen Hugh Mitchell Sir James Alexander Swettenham * Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham Sir John Anderson Sir Arthur Henderson Young Sir Laurence Nunns Guillemard Sir Hugh Charles Clifford Sir John Scott * Sir Cecil Clementi Sir Andrew Caldecott * Sir Thomas Shenton Whitelegge Thomas
Japanese Mayor of Syonan (1942–1945)	Shigeo Odate Kanichi Naito
British Military Administration of the Straits Settlements (1945–1946)	Lord Louis Mountbatten Sir Thomas Shenton Whitelegge Thomas
Governors of the Crown Colony of Singapore (1946–1959)	Sir Franklin Charles Gimson Wilfred Lawson Blythe * Sir John Fearns Nicoll William Allmond Codrington Goode * Sir Robert Brown Black Sir William Allmond Codrington Goode

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