Sir Thomas Buxton, 3rd Baronet

Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, Baronet 3 GCMG ( born January 26, 1837 in London, England; † October 28, 1915 in Cromer ) was a British politician and Governor of South Australia.

Life

Buxton, son of an English Member of Parliament, grew up in London's West Ham. After studying at Trinity College, Cambridge, he succeeded his father as baronet. Until 1889, he also worked for the brewery Truman, Hanbury, Buxton & Co., where he was involved.

Buxton was from 1865-69 Liberal MP in the House of Commons and argued for the universal abolition of slavery. An appointment to the peers he refused in 1880. In 1882 he criticized the imperialist policy of Great Britain in Africa and Asia, but was still director of the Imperial British East Africa Company.

1885 Buxton was appointed Governor of South Australia. This met with the displeasure of the Prime Minister of South Australia, Charles Kingston, since this herself opportunities to the Office had calculated, and he reduced the Governor content to 1,000 pounds. After initial disputes, however, also Kingston reconciled with the governor; he later praised Buxton and his family as he a " pleasant, sociable and sensible " that have ever inhabited the governor's house.

During his tenure, Buxton initially refused to sign a law restricting the immigration of colored people, but eventually bent to the instructions of the Colonial Office. He regularly visited prisons and hostels where the mentally ill were housed, and described the inmates as individuals who also possess a right to life and the realization of their interests. His meeting with the Aborigines were unusual for that time.

For a stay in England in 1899 fell ill Buxton's son life-threatening, and also the condition of his wife who was disabled after a spinal cord disease worsened. Buxton therefore decided to step down as governor, and did not return to Australia. He died on 28 October 1915 in Cromer in a cabin because he had converted his family estate ( Colne House) in a hospital.

Awards

  • Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (1895 )
  • Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (1899 )
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