Sir William Wellington Cairns, KCMG (3 March 1828 - 9 June 1888) was a British colonial administrator. He was the Governor of Queensland and the Governor of Trinidad.
Sir William Wellington Cairns | |
---|---|
Governor of Trinidad | |
In office 2 May 1874 – 27 May 1874 | |
Monarch | Queen Victoria |
Preceded by | James Robert Longden |
Succeeded by | Henry Turner Irving |
4th Governor of Queensland | |
In office 23 January 1875 – 14 March 1877 | |
Monarch | Queen Victoria |
Preceded by | George Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby |
Succeeded by | Sir Arthur Edward Kennedy |
Personal details | |
Born | County Down, Ireland, UK | 3 March 1828
Died | 9 July 1888 60) London, England, UK | (aged
Nationality | British |
Cairns was born in Belfast, Ireland on 3 March 1828 (as indicated on his grave stone). His parents were William Cairns, a property owner at Cultra, County Down and was a captain in the 14th Regiment, and his second marriage Matilda Beggs, daughter of Francis Beggs of the Grange, Malahide.[1]
He served in various senior colonial civil service posts in the British Empire including Trinidad,[2][3] moving due to health issues,[4] before being appointed Governor of Queensland in January 1875. He held the post for two years before becoming the Administrator of South Australia in 1877.[5] Cairns was given a CMG in 1874, followed by a knighthood in 1877.[6]
Later reflections of his contributions to colonial public life were not considered highly:
- Of all the pestilent "returned colonists" who misrepresent things Australian in London perhaps not one is equal as a nuisance to a retired Australian Governor.[7]
He subsequently returned to England where he died in London on 7 July 1888,[1][8][9] unmarried.[10] He is buried in a modest grave against the east wall of Brompton Cemetery near the north-east corner with Anna Maria Cairns, his sister.[11]
The city of Cairns in Queensland was named after him in 1876.[12][13][14]
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