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DUFFERIN AND AVA, FREDERICK TEMPLE

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Originally appearing in Volume V08, Page 645 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DUFFERIN AND See also:

AVA, See also:FREDERICK See also:TEMPLE HAMILTONTEMPLE-See also:BLACKWOOD, 1ST See also:MARQUESS of (1826-1902), See also:British diplomatist, son of See also:Price Blackwood, 4th See also:Baron Dufferin, was See also:born at See also:Florence, See also:Italy, on the 21st of See also:June 1826. The Irish Blackwoods were of old Scottish stock,' tracing their descent back to the 14th See also:century. See also:John Blackwood of See also:Bangor (1591-1663), the ancestor of the Irish See also:line, made a See also:fortune and acquired landed See also:property in See also:county Down, and his See also:great-See also:grandson See also:Robert was created a See also:baronet in 1763. See also:Sir Robert's son, Sir John, married the heiress of the Hamiltons, earls of Clanbrassil and viscounts of Clandeboye (" See also:clan of yellow See also:Hugh "), and thus brought into the See also:family a large property in the See also:borough of See also:Killyleagh and See also:barony of Dufferin, county Down. Sir John Blackwood (d. 1799) declined a See also:peerage, and so did his See also:heir See also:James at the See also:time of the See also:Union, but the Irish See also:title of Baroness Dufferin was conferred (1800) on Sir John's widow, and James (d.,1836) succeeded as second baron in 18o8. His See also:brother Hans (d. 1839) became third baron, and by his See also:marriage with See also:Miss Temple (a descendant of the Temples of See also:Stowe) was the See also:father of Price Blackwood, 4th baron. Among other distinguished members of the, family was See also:Admiral, Sir See also:Henry Blackwood, See also:Bart. (1770—1832)—a brother of James and Hans—one of See also:Nelson's captains, who commanded the ".Euryalus " at See also:Trafalgar. Price Blackwood, too, was in the See also:Navy; his marriage in 1825 with See also:Helen Selina See also:Sheridan, a daughter of See also:Thomas Sheridan, and granddaughter of See also:Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the dramatist and politician, was against his parents' wishes, but his See also:young wife's talents and beauty soon won them over. Frederick went to See also:Eton (1839-1843) and See also:Christ See also:Church, See also:Oxford (1845-1847), where he took a pass school and was See also:President of the Union.

His father died in 1841, and the See also:

influence of his mother—one of three unusually accomplished ' One See also:branch of the Blackwood family emigrated to See also:France; the See also:head of this line being See also:Adam Blackwood (d. 1613), jurist, poet and divine, and senator of the presidial See also:court of See also:Poitiers.sisters, the other two being the duchess of See also:Somerset and Alas See also:Norton ,(q.v.)—was very marked on his See also:mental development; she lived till 1867 and is commemorated by the " Helen's See also:Tower " erected by her son in her See also:honour at Clandeboye (the Irish seat of the 'Blackwoods) in 186', and adorned with epigraphical verses written by See also:Tennyson, See also:Browning and others. On leaving Oxford See also:Lord Dufferin busied himself for some little while with the management of his Irish estates. In 1846-1848 he was active in relieving the See also:distress in See also:Ireland due to the See also:famine, and he was always generous and liberal in his relations with his tenants. In .r855 he already advocated See also:compensation for disturbance and for improvements; but while supporting reasonable reform, he demanded See also:justice for the landowners. In later years (1868-1881) he wrote much, in opposition to J. S. See also:Mill, on behalf of Irish landlordism, and, when See also:Gladstone adopted See also:Home See also:Rule, Lord Dufferin, who had been attached throughout his career to the Liberal party, regarded the new policy as fatal both to Ireland and to the See also:United See also:Kingdom, though, being then an See also:ambassador, he took no public See also:part in opposing it. Starting with every See also:personal and social See also:advantage, Lord See also:Duff See also:erin quickly became a favourite both at Court and in See also:London society; and in 1849 he' was made a lord-in-waiting. In See also:political See also:life he followed Lord John See also:Russell, and in 185o was further attached to the party by being created a peer of the United Kingdom as Baron Clandeboye. In 1855 Lord John Russell took him as attache on his See also:special See also:mission to the See also:Vienna See also:Conference. Meanwhile Lord Dufferin was enlarging his experience by See also:foreign travel, and in 1856 he went on a See also:yachting-tour to See also:Iceland, which he described with much See also:humour and graphic See also:power in his successful See also:book, Letters from High Latitudes; this See also:volume made his reputation as a writer, though his only other purely See also:literary publication was his memorial edition (1894) of his See also:mother's Poems and Verses.

In 186o Lord John Russell sent him as British representative on a See also:

joint See also:commission of the See also:powers appointed to inquire into the affairs of the See also:Lebanon (See also:Syria), where the massacres of See also:Christian See also:Maronites by the Mussulman See also:Druses had resulted in the landing of a See also:French force and the possibility of a French occupation. Lord Dufferin was associated with French, See also:Russian, Prussian and See also:Turkish colleagues, and his difficult See also:diplomatic position was made none the less delicate by his conscientious endeavour to be just to all parties. Even if he had not satisfied himself that the Mahommedans were by no means wholly to blame, the question of See also:punishment was in any See also:case complicated by the problem of future See also:administration. His own proposal to put the whole Syrian See also:province under a responsible See also:governor, appointed by the See also:sultan for a See also:term of years, with unfettered See also:jurisdiction, was rejected; but at last it was agreed to See also:place a Christian governor, subordinate to the See also:Porte, over the Lebanon See also:district, and to set up See also:local administrative See also:councils. In May 1861 the French forces departed, and Lord Dufferin was thanked for his services by the See also:government. In 1862 he married Hariot, daughter of See also:Captain A. Rowan See also:Hamilton, of Killyleagh See also:Castle, Down. He held successively the posts of under-secretary for See also:India (1864-1866) and under-secretary for See also:war (1866) in Lord See also:Palmerston's and See also:Earl Russell's ministries; and he was See also:chancellor of the duchy of See also:Lancaster, outside the See also:cabinet, under Mr Gladstone (1868-1872). In 1871 he was created earl of Dufferin. In 1872 he was appointed governor-See also:general of See also:Canada. There his tact and personal See also:charm and genial hospitality were invaluable. He had already become known as a powerful and graceful orator, and a See also:man of culture and political distinction; and his abilities were brilliantly displayed in dealing with the problems of the newly united provinces of the See also:Canadian Dominion.

At a time when a weak or unattractive governor-general might easily have damaged the imperial connexion,he admittedly strengthened and consolidated it. Lord Dufferin See also:

left Canada in 1878, and in '879, rather to the annoyance of his old party See also:leader, he accepted from the conservative See also:prime See also:minister, Lord See also:Beaconsfield, the See also:appointment of ambassador to See also:Russia. At St See also:Petersburg he did useful diplomatic See also:work for a couple of years, and then, in 1881, was transferred to See also:Constantinople as ambassador to See also:Turkey. He was soon involved in the negotiations connected with the situation in See also:Egypt caused by Arabi's revolt and the intervention of Great See also:Britain. It was Lord Dufferin's task to arrange matters at Constantinople, so that no See also:international See also:friction should be created by any inconvenient assertion by the sultan of his position as suzerain, while it was also necessary to avoid offending either the sultan or the other powers by any See also:appearance of ignoring their rights. He was considerably helped by Turkish ineptitude, and by the accomplished fact of British military successes in Egypt, but his own See also:diplomacy was responsible for securing the necessary freedom of See also:action for the British government. From See also:October 1882 to May 1883 he was himself in Egypt as British See also:commissioner to See also:report on a See also:scheme of reorganization; and his recommendations—drawn up in a. somewhat elaborate See also:State paper—formed the basis of the subsequent reforms. In 1884 he was appointed See also:viceroy of India, succeeding Lord See also:Ripon, whose zeal on behalf of the natives had created a See also:good See also:deal of antagonism among the officials and the Anglo-See also:Indian community. Lord Dufferin, though agreeing in the See also:main with Lord Ripon's policy, was excellently fitted for the task of restoring confidence without producing any undesirable reaction, and in domestic affairs his viceroyalty was a See also:period of substantial progress, in the reform of the evils of See also:land See also:tenure and in other directions. He was responsible also for initiating See also:stable relations with See also:Afghanistan, and settling the crisis with Russia arising out of the See also:Panjdeh incident (1885), which led to the delimitation of the See also:north-See also:west frontier (1887). The' most striking event of his administration was, however, the See also:annexation of See also:Burma, resulting from the Burmese War of 1885; and this procured him, on his resignation, the title of marquess of Dufferin and Ava (1888). His viceroyalty was also memorable for See also:Lady Dufferin's work, and the starting of a fund called by her name, for providing better medical treatment for native See also:women.

In 1888 he was made ambassador at See also:

Rome, and in 1892 he was promoted to be ambassador in See also:Paris, a See also:post which he retained till 1896, when he retired from the public service. Lord Dufferin was one of the most admired public servants of his time. A man of great natural gifts, he had a special See also:talent for diplomacy, though he. has no claim to a place in the first See also:rank of statesmen. He was remarkable for tact and amiability; and had a florid and rather elaborately literary See also:style of See also:oratory,. which also characterized his despatches and reports. For purposes of ceremony his courtliness, dignity and charm of manner were invaluable, and both in public and in private life he was a conspicuous " great See also:gentleman." His last years, spent mainly at his Irish home, were clouded by the See also:death of his eldest son, the earl of Ava, at See also:Ladysmith 'in the See also:Boer War (1900), and by business troubles. He was so See also:ill-advised as to become chairman in 1897 of the " London and Globe See also:Finance See also:Corporation," a See also:financial See also:company which most good See also:judges in the See also:city of London thought to be too much in the hands of its managing director, Mr See also:Whitaker See also:Wright, whose methods had been a good deal criticized. At last there came a See also:complete See also:crash, and an exposure before the liquidator, which ultimately led to Mr Whitaker Wright's trial for See also:fraud in 1904, and his See also:suicide within the precincts of the court on being found guilty. Lord Dufferin did not live to see this final See also:catastrophe. The affairs of the company were still under investigation in See also:bankruptcy when, on the 12th of See also:February 1902, he died. He had been in failing See also:health for two or three years, but, having once become chairman of the " London and Globe," he had insisted upon See also:standing by his colleagues when difficulties arose. Incautious as he had been in accepting the position, no reflections were See also:felt to be possible on Lord Dufferin's personal honour; he was a serious loser by the failure, and he had followed his predecessor in the chairmanship, Lord See also:Loch, in confiding too wholly in the masterful See also:personality of Mr Wright. He was succeeded in the title by his second son See also:Terence (b.

1866). The See also:

official Life of Lord Dufferin, by Sir See also:Alfred See also:Lyall, appeared in 1905. There are two Canadian histories of his Canadian adminis-tration, one by See also:George See also:Stewart (1878), the other by W. Leggo (1878). Lady Dufferin brought out Our Viceregal Life in India in 1889, and My Canadian See also:Journal in 1891. See also the articles on INDIA: See also:HIStory; CANADA: History; and EGYPT: History. (H. CH.) DUFF-See also:GORDON, LUCIE (1821-1869),. See also:English woman of letters, daughter of John and Sarah See also:Austin (q.v.), was born on the 24th of June 1821. Her See also:chief playfellows as a See also:child were her See also:cousin, Henry See also:Reeve,. and John See also:Stuart Mill, who livednext See also:door in See also:Queen Square, London. In 1834 the Austins went to See also:Boulogne, and at table d'h8te Lucie found herself next to Heinrich See also:Heine.. The poet and the little girl became fast See also:friends, and years afterwards she contributed to Lord See also:Houghton's Monographs Personal and Social a touching See also:account of a renewal of their friendship when Heine See also:lay. dying in Paris.

Her parents went to See also:

Malta in 1836, and Lucie Austin was left in See also:England at school, but her unconventional See also:education made the restrictions of a girls? school exceedingly irksome. She showed her See also:independence of See also:character by joining the English Church, though this step was certain to cause See also:pain to her parents, who were Unitarians, and• to many of her friends. She married in 184o Sir See also:Alexander Duff-Gordon (1811-1872). With her mother's beauty she had inherited her social gifts, and she gathered See also:round her a brilliant circle of friends. George See also:Meredith has. analysed and described her extraordinary success as a hostess, and the. See also:process by which she reduced too ardent admirers to "happy crust-munching devotees." " In England, in her See also:day," he says, " while health was with her, there was one See also:house where men and. women See also:con-versed. When that house perforce was closed, a See also:light had gone out in our See also:country." After her father's death, she See also:fell into weak health and was obliged- to seek sunnier climes. She went in 186o to the Cape of Good See also:Hope, and later to Egypt, where she died on the 14th of See also:July 1869. She had translated among other See also:works See also:Ancient Grecian See also:Mythology (1839) from the See also:German of See also:Niebuhr; See also:Mary Schweidler; The See also:Amber See also:Witch (1844) from the German of Wilhelm Meinhold; and Stella and Vanessa (185o) from the French of A. F. L. de See also:Wailly. Her Letters from the Cape (1862-1863) appeared in 1865; and in 1865 her Letters from Egypt, edited by her mother, attracted much See also:attention. Last Letters from Egypt (1875) contained a memoir by her daughter, Mrs See also:Janet See also:Ross.

Lady Duff-Gordon won the See also:

hearts of her Arab dependents and neighbours. She doctored their' sick, taught their See also:children, and sympathized. with their sorrows. The Letters from Egypt were not originally published in a complete See also:form. A See also:fuller edition than had before been possible, with an introduction by George Meredith, was edited in 1902 by Mrs Janet Ross. See also Mrs Ross's Three Generations of Englishwomen (1886).

End of Article: DUFFERIN AND AVA, FREDERICK TEMPLE

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