Sir Arthur Lawley [1] (1860-1932), governor, was born on 12 November 1860 in London, fourth son of Beilby Richard Lawley, 2nd Baron Wenlock, and his wife, Lady Elizabeth, née Grosvenor. Educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge (he did not graduate), he was captain in the 10th (The Prince of Wales's Own Royal) Regiment before becoming the Duke of Westminster's private secretary in 1892. He had married Annie Allen Cunard on 12 October 1885. In 1896-99 he was deputy, then administrator in Matabeleland; he was decorated for his advice to the northern district columns early in the South African War. In 1901 Lawley was appointed KCMG and commissioned as governor of Western Australia.
He travelled to Australia with the Duke and Duchess of York on board the Ophir and, after arriving at Albany and presenting his credentials in Perth, sailed on 3 May to Melbourne where he represented Western Australia at the opening of the Federal parliament. In Perth on 21 May he received Premier George Throssell's resignation, the first of a series of political crises to occur during his stewardship: between May 1901 and July 1902 Lawley asked seven times for an administration to be formed.
Three contenders, Frederick Illingworth, Frederick Piesse and (Sir) Walter Kingsmill failed; George Leake and Alfred Morgans succeeded, but soon collapsed. Refusing dissolutions to both Leake and Morgans, Lawley argued that because of Federal and State elections early in 1901, the legislature was still fresh from the constituency. When Leake, who had gathered support for a second term, died in June 1902, the governor summoned (Sir) Walter James from the cross-bench.
Acadian heritage connections: Arthur is 21 degrees from Beyoncé Knowles, 20 degrees from Jean Béliveau, 14 degrees from Madonna Ciccone, 19 degrees from Rhéal Cormier, 14 degrees from Joseph Drouin, 19 degrees from Jack Kerouac, 17 degrees from Anne Langstroth, 20 degrees from Matt LeBlanc, 17 degrees from Roméo LeBlanc, 19 degrees from Azilda Marchand, 17 degrees from Mary Travers and 20 degrees from Clarence White on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.
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Categories: Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment | Mount Lawley, Western Australia | Western Australia, Governors from 1901 | Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George | Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire | Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India | Knights of Justice of the Order of St John