Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Most Honourable  The Marquess of Willingdon  GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, GBE, PC
13th Governor General of Canada
In office August 5, 1926 – April 4, 1931
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	William Lyon Mackenzie King, R. B. Bennett
Preceded by	Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy
Succeeded by	Vere Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough
Born	September 12, 1866(1866-09-12)
Died	July 12, 1941 (aged 74)
Spouse	Marie Adelaide Freeman-Thomas
Profession	Politician

32nd Viceroy of India
In office April 18, 1931 – April 18, 1936
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Ramsay MacDonald, Stanley Baldwin
Preceded by	E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax
Succeeded by	Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow

Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, GBE, PC (12 September 1866 – 12 August 1941) was a British Liberal politician who served as Governor General of Canada and Viceroy of India.

He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, and was Member of Parliament for Hastings and for Bodmin from 1900 to 1910.

He was raised to the peerage as a Baron in 1910, and promoted to Viscount in 1924, Earl in 1931 and Marquess in 1936.

He donated the Willingdon Cup to the Royal Canadian Golf Association in 1927, for Canadian interprovincial amateur golf competition. The cup has been contested annually since that year.

The Willingdon Club in Bombay was established with membership open to both Indians and British after he was denied entry, although he was Viceroy, with Indian friends to the Royal Bombay Yacht Club. The Willingdon Club continues to flourish today. He and his wife are buried in the nave of Westminster Abbey.

[edit] Trivia

He was a good friend of Roland Gwynne, who was Mayor of Eastbourne from 1929 to 1931 and lover of the suspected serial killer John Bodkin Adams.^[1]

He was the last non-royal to be created a marquess.

[edit] References

1. ^ Cullen, Pamela V., "A Stranger in Blood: The Case Files on Dr John Bodkin Adams", London, Elliott & Thompson, 2006, ISBN 1-904027-19-9

[edit] External links

• Governor General of Canada biography

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by William Lucas-Shadwell	Member of Parliament for Hastings 1900–1906	Succeeded by William Harvey du Cros
Preceded by Thomas Charles Reginald Agar-Robartes	Member of Parliament for Bodmin 1906–1910	Succeeded by Cecil Alfred Grenfell
Political offices
Preceded by The Lord Colebrooke	Lord-in-Waiting 1911–1913	Succeeded by The Lord Ashby St Ledgers
Government offices
Preceded by Sir George Clarke	Governor of Bombay 1913–1918	Succeeded by Sir George Ambrose Lloyd
Preceded by The Lord Pentland	Governor of Madras 1919–1924	Succeeded by The Viscount Goschen
Preceded by The Viscount Byng of Vimy	Governor General of Canada 1926–1931	Succeeded by The Earl of Bessborough
Preceded by The Lord Irwin	Viceroy of India 1931–1936	Succeeded by The Marquess of Linlithgow
Preceded by The Marquess of Reading	Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports 1936–1941	Succeeded by Winston Churchill
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by New Creation	Marquess of Willingdon	Succeeded by Inigo Freeman-Thomas

v • d • e Governors General of Canada since Confederation (1867–present) Monck · Lisgar · Dufferin · Lorne · Lansdowne · Stanley · Aberdeen · Minto · Grey · Connaught · Devonshire · Byng · Willingdon · Bessborough · Tweedsmuir · Athlone · Alexander · Massey · Vanier · Michener · Léger · Schreyer · Sauvé · Hnatyshyn · LeBlanc · Clarkson · Jean

v • d • e Viceroys of India East India Trading Company (1773-1858) Warren Hastings (1774-1785) · Sir John MacPherson (1785-1786) · Marquess Cornwallis (1786-1793) · Baron Teignmouth (1793-1798) · Sir Alured Clarke (1798) · Marquess Wellesley (1798-1805) · Marquess Cornwallis (1805) · Sir George Hilario Barlow (1805-1807) · Earl of Minto (1807-1813) · Marquess of Hastings (1813-1823) · John Adam (1823) · Earl Amherst (1823-1828) · William Butterworth Bayley (1828) · Lord William Bentinck (1828-1835) · Sir Charles Metcalfe (1835-1836) · Earl of Auckland (1836-1842) · Earl of Ellenborough (1842-1844) · William Wilberforce Bird (1844) · Viscount Hardinge (1844-1848) · Marquess of Dalhousie (1848-1856) · Viscount Canning (1856-1858) British Government1 (1858-1947) Earl Canning (1858-1862) · Earl of Elgin and Kincardine (1862-1863) · Baron Napier of Magdala (1863) · Sir William Denison (1863-1864) · Baron Lawrence (1864-1869) · Earl of Mayo (1869-1872) · Sir John Strachey (1872) · Lord Napier (1872) · Earl of Northbrook (1872-1876) · Earl of Lytton (1876-1880) · Marquess of Ripon (1880-1884) · Marquess of Dufferin and Ava (1884-1888) · Marquess of Lansdowne (1888-1894) · Earl of Elgin and Kincardine (1894-1899) · Baron Curzon of Kedleston (1899-1905) · Earl of Minto (1905-1910) · Baron Hardinge of Penshurst (1910-1916) · Viscount Chelmsford (1916-1921) · Marquess of Reading (1921-1926) · Baron Irwin (1926-1931) · Marquess of Willingdon (1931-1936) · Marquess of Linlithgow (1936-1943) · Viscount Wavell (1943-1947) · Viscount Mountbatten of Burma (1947) After Indian  independence2 Viscount Mountbatten of Burma (1947-1948) · Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari (1948-1950) After Pakistani  independence3 Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1947-1948) · Khawaja Nazimuddin (1948-1951) · Ghulam Muhammad (1951-1955) · Iskander Mirza (1955-1956) 1 Following the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny. 2 As representatives of George VI in his rôle as King of India (1947-1950). 3 As representatives of George VI and then Elizabeth II in their rôles as King and Queen of Pakistan, respectively.