William Lee Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket GCMG GCVO KBE KStJ (19 December 1864 – 24 January 1920) was a British diplomat and administrator. He was Governor of New Zealand from 1904 to 1910.
The Lord Plunket | |
|---|---|
 The 5th Baron Plunket | |
| 14th Governor of New Zealand | |
| In office 20 June 1904 – 8 June 1910 | |
| Monarchs | Edward VII George V |
| Prime Minister | Richard Seddon William Hall-Jones Joseph Ward |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Ranfurly |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Islington |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 19 December 1864 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 24 January 1920 (aged 55) London, United Kingdom |
| Spouse | Lady Victoria Plunket (née Temple-Blackwood) |
| Relations | William, 4th Lord Plunket (father) |
Early life
editBorn in Dublin, he was educated at Harrow and Trinity College Dublin. His parents were William, 4th Lord Plunket, the archbishop of Dublin in 1884–97, and his wife Anne, the daughter of Sir Benjamin Guinness.[1]
He entered the Diplomatic Service and was sent to Rome in 1889 as an attaché to the British Embassy there. In 1892, he was appointed in the same position to the embassy in Constantinople, and finally retired two years later.
Career
editHaving succeeded his father as fifth Baron Plunket in 1897, Plunket three years later became private secretary to Lord Cadogan, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at the time, and fulfilled the same role for his successor Lord Dudley, when he was appointed to the position in August 1902.[2] He was appointed CVO and KCVO in 1900 and 1903 respectively, and in 1904 he became Governor of New Zealand as well as a KCMG the following year. By chance, the Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives at the time was his second cousin Arthur Guinness. He held this post until 1910, when he was advanced to GCMG.[3] In 1907 he presented the Plunket Shield, which is still contested each year by the major cricket teams in New Zealand.[4][5] He was later appointed KBE in 1918.
Freemasonry
editHe was a Freemason. During his term as Governor of New Zealand (1906–1909), he was also Grand Master of New Zealand's Grand Lodge.[6]
Death
editLord Plunket died on 24 January 1920 aged 55 at 40 Elvaston Place, London, and was buried in the city's Putney Vale Cemetery.[1]
Family
editPlunket married, in 1894, Lady Victoria Alexandrina Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, youngest daughter of the 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, by whom he was to have eight children.[1][7] Victoria gave her name to the Plunket Society, a New Zealand society promoting the health and well-being of mothers and children[8] and was a patron of the Mothercraft Training Society.[9]
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References
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- ^ a b c A. H. McLintock, ed. (1966). "PLUNKET, Sir William Lee Plunket, Fifth Baron, GCVO, GCMG, KBE, KGStJ, BA". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage/Te Manatū Taonga. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
- ^ "Court Circular". The Times. No. 36875. London. 17 September 1902. p. 8.
- ^ "Lord Plunket, GCMG, KCVO". The Governor-General. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
- ^ "Obituaries in 1920". ESPN Cricinfo. 2 December 2005. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "Plunket Shield". New Zealand Cricket. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
- ^ Profile Archived 9 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine, kenthenderson.com.au; accessed 22 March 2016.
- ^ His family at "thepeerage.com"
- ^ "Our history". Plunket Society. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
- ^ Oppenheimer, Melanie (2005). "'Hidden under many bushels': LADY VICTORIA PLUNKET AND THE NEW ZEALAND SOCIETY FOR THE HEALTH OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN" (PDF). New Zealand Journal of History. 39 (1). Retrieved 9 March 2021.
- ^ Burke's Peerage. 1850.