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{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
|name = The Lord Northcote
|honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCMG|GCIE|CB|PC}}
|image=Lord Northcote.jpg
|order = 3rd
|office = Governor-General of Australia
|term_start = 21 January 1904
|term_end = 9 September 1908
|monarch = [[Edward VII]]
|primeminister = [[Alfred Deakin]] [[Chris Watson]] [[George Reid (Australian politician)|George Reid]]
|predecessor=[[Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson|Lord Tennyson]]
|successor=[[William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley|Lord Dudley]]
|order1=
|office1= [[List of Governors of Bombay|Governor of Bombay]]
|term_start1=17 February 1900
|term_end1=5 September 1903
|monarch1 = [[Queen Victoria|Victoria]] [[Edward VII]]
|governor_general1=[[George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston|Lord Curzon of Kedleston]]
|predecessor1=[[William Mansfield, 1st Viscount Sandhurst|William Mansfield]]
|successor1=[[James Monteath]]
|office2 = Member of [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] for [[Exeter (UK Parliament constituency)|Exeter]]
|term_start2 = 1 April 1880
|term_end2 = 19 December 1899
|alongside2= [[Edward Johnson (British politician)|Edward Johnson]] (1880–1885)
|predecessor2 = [[John George Johnson]]
|successor2 = [[Edgar Vincent, 1st Viscount D'Abernon|Edgar Vincent]]
|birth_date={{birth date|1846|11|18|df=y}}
|birth_place=[[London]], England
|death_date={{death date and age|1911|9|29|1846|11|18|df=y}}
|death_place=[[Ashford, Kent|Ashford]], [[Kent]], England
|spouse={{Marriage|Alice Stephen|1873}}
| education = [[Eton College]]
| alma_mater = [[Merton College, Oxford]]
}}
'''Henry Stafford Northcote, 1st Baron Northcote''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCMG|GCIE|CB|PC}} (18 November 1846 – 29 September 1911) was a British [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] politician who served as the third [[governor-general of Australia]], in office from 1904 to 1908. He was previously the [[governor of Bombay]] from 1900 to 1903, as well as a government minister under [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|Lord Salisbury]].

Northcote was the son of [[Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh]]. He was educated at [[Eton College|Eton]] and [[Merton College, Oxford]], and then worked for the [[Foreign Office]] and as private secretary to his father. Northcote was elected to the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] in 1880, and served as [[Financial Secretary to the War Office]] (1885–86) and [[Surveyor-General of the Ordnance]] (1886–88) during Lord Salisbury's first and second terms as prime minister. Northcote was made Governor of Bombay in 1900, at which point he was raised to the peerage; he had previously been created a [[baronet]] in 1887. He became Governor-General of Australia in 1904, and brought much needed stability to the post – his two predecessors had both resigned after less than two years in office. Northcote played a relatively active role in politics, due to the unstable three-party system then in place. He served for almost five years, resigning in 1908 following a falling out with Prime Minister [[Alfred Deakin]].

==Background and education==
Northcote was born in [[London]], the second son of the prominent [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] politician [[Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh|Sir Stafford Northcote]], later first [[Earl of Iddesleigh]], by his wife Cecilia Frances, daughter of Thomas Farrer and sister of [[Thomas Farrer, 1st Baron Farrer]]. He was educated at [[Eton College|Eton]] and [[Merton College, Oxford]] (B.A. 1869; M.A. 1873), and then joined the Foreign Office as a diplomat.<ref name="thepeerage.com">[http://thepeerage.com/p24020.htm#i240198 thepeerage.com Henry Stafford Northcote, 1st and last Baron Northcote]</ref>

==Diplomatic and political career==
===Early career===
Northcote was secretary to the British delegation negotiating the [[Alabama Claims]] between 1871 and 1873. From 1877 to 1880 he was private secretary to his father, then [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]. In 1880 he was elected to the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] as MP for [[Exeter (UK Parliament constituency)|Exeter]], a seat he held until 1899. He served under [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|Lord Salisbury]] as [[Financial Secretary to the War Office]] between 1885 and 1886 and as [[Surveyor-General of the Ordnance]] between 1886 and 1888, when that office was abolished.<ref name="thepeerage.com"/> He was appointed a [[Order of the Bath|Companion of the Order of the Bath]] (CB) in 1880<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=24837 |date=23 April 1880 |page=2657 }}</ref> and created a '''Baronet''', of Seamore Place in the Parish of St George, Hanover Square, in the County of Middlesex, in 1887.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=25761 |date=25 November 1887 |page=6374 }}</ref> On his resignation after 20 years as MP, in January 1900 he was presented with the [[Freedom of the City]] of [[Exeter]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Court circular |date=17 January 1900 |page=7 |issue=36041}}</ref>

===Governor of Bombay===
Northcote was appointed [[Governor of Bombay]] in November 1899, through the influence of his father-in-law, [[Lord Mount Stephen]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27141 |date=5 December 1899 |page=8182 }}</ref> He visited [[Queen Victoria]] at [[Osborne House|Osborne]] and kissed hands upon his appointment in early January 1900,<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Court Circular|date=15 January 1900|page=6 |issue=36039| }}</ref> and was raised to the peerage as '''Baron Northcote''', of the City and County of the City of Exeter, on 22 January 1900.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27156 |date=23 January 1900 |page=427 }}</ref> Lord and Lady Northcote left [[London]] in late January,<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Court Circular |date=1 February 1900 |page=9 |issue=36054 }}</ref> and arrived in [[Bombay]] the following month,<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Court Circular|date=17 February 1900 |page=11 |issue=36068}}</ref> where he took up the position of Governor on 17 February 1900 and was appointed a Knight Grand Commander of the [[Order of the Indian Empire]] (GCIE) on the same day.<ref name=LG27165>{{London Gazette |issue=27165 |date=16 February 1900 |page=1075 }}</ref>

===Governor-General of Australia===

[[File:Lord Northcote Vanity Fair 3 March 1904.jpg|left|thumb|Northcote caricatured by [[Leslie Ward|Spy]] for [[Vanity Fair (British magazine)|Vanity Fair]], 1904]]

Northcote was still Governor of Bombay when the Colonial Secretary, [[Joseph Chamberlain]], offered him the post of [[Governor-General of Australia]] in 1903.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4983868 ''The Advertiser'', 10 August 1903, p. 4]</ref> The first two Governors-General, [[John Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow|Lord Hopetoun]] and [[Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson|Lord Tennyson]], had served shortened terms and had had difficult relations with Australian ministers. Both the British and Australian governments wanted stability and continuity, and Northcote was appointed for a five-year term. His lifelong experience in politics and his time in Bombay made him a suitable appointment. He was neither as imperious as Hopetoun nor as stuffy as Tennyson, and he made a good impression with both politicians and the public.

This was just as well, because Northcote was the first Australian Governor-General to have to deal with political instability. In doing this, he sought the advice of the Chief Justice of the newly created [[High Court of Australia]], Sir [[Samuel Griffith]].<ref>[[Donald Markwell]], "Griffith, Barton and the early governor-generals: aspects of Australia's constitutional development", ''Public Law Review'', 1999.</ref> In April 1904 the Prime Minister, [[Alfred Deakin]], resigned, and was succeeded in quick succession by the [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]] leader [[Chris Watson]], the [[Free Trade Party|Free Trade]] leader [[George Reid (Australian politician)|George Reid]] and then Deakin again. Both Watson and Reid asked Northcote to dissolve Parliament before their resignations, and in both cases he refused. At this time no-one doubted that the Governor-General had a discretion in these cases. It is a measure of Northcote's standing that all these leaders respected his decisions.

Like his predecessors, Northcote saw himself as a diplomatic representative of the British government as well a vice-regal representative. He was actively involved in negotiations between the British and Australian governments over contentious trade and shipping issues, although his role diminished after 1906 when the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] came to power in Britain, cutting off much of his influence in [[London]].

In 1907 Northcote and Deakin had a falling out when the Governor-General, on instructions from London, declined to give his [[royal assent]] to a bill restricting appeals from the Australian courts to the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council |Privy Council]] in London. Deakin, although a loyal [[British Empire|Imperialist]], believed that Australian parliaments should be sovereign in Australia, and bluntly told Northcote so. This prompted Northcote to announce in February 1908 that he wished to resign, a year early. He left Australia in September. He had been made a Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of St Michael and St George]] in 1904<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27674 |date=6 May 1904 |page=2923 }}</ref> and in 1909 he was sworn of the [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|Privy Council of the United Kingdom]].<ref name="thepeerage.com"/>

==Personal life==
[[File:Alice, Lady Northcote.jpg|thumb|right|Alice, Lady Northcote]]
Lord Northcote married Alice, adopted daughter of [[George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen]], in 1873. There were no children from the marriage. Lady Northcote was created a Companion of the [[Order of the Crown of India]] (CI) when her husband became Governor of Bombay in 1900<ref name=LG27165/> and a Dame Commander of the [[Order of the British Empire]] (DBE) in 1919.

He was a Provincial Grand Master for Devon in the [[Masonic lodge|Masonic]] [[United Grand Lodge of England]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Court Circular |date=24 November 1902 |page=6 |issue=36933}}</ref>

Northcote's health declined after his return to Britain from Australia and he died on 29 September 1911, aged 64. The barony became extinct on his death.
Lady Northcote died in June 1934.<ref name="thepeerage.com"/>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
*{{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=Henry Stafford|Last=Northcote|shortlink=0-dict-biogN-O.html#northcote1}}
*[[Donald Markwell]]. "Griffith, Barton and the early governor-generals: aspects of Australia's constitutional development", ''Public Law Review'', 1999.
{{Commons category|Henry Northcote, 1st Baron Northcote}}

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{{succession box
| title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Exeter (UK Parliament constituency)|Exeter]]
| with = [[Edward Johnson (MP)|Edward Johnson]] '''(1880–1885) (representation reduced to one member 1885)
| years = [[1880 United Kingdom general election|1880]]–[[1899 Exeter by-election|1899]]
| before = [[Arthur Mills (MP)|Arthur Mills]] [[John George Johnson]]
| after = [[Edgar Vincent, 1st Viscount D'Abernon|Edgar Vincent]]}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before= [[Charles Stuart-Wortley, 1st Baron Stuart of Wortley|Charles Stuart-Wortley]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chairman of the [[National Union of Conservative and Constitutional Associations|National Union of Conservative Constitutional Associations]]|years=1893}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Sir James Rankin, 1st Baronet|James Rankin]]}}

{{s-off}}
{{succession box | before=[[Arthur Hayter, 1st Baron Haversham|Sir Arthur Hayter, Bt]] | title=[[Financial Secretary to the War Office]] | years=1885–1886 | after=[[Herbert Gladstone, 1st Viscount Gladstone|Herbert Gladstone]]}}
{{s-mil}}
{{succession box | before=[[William Woodall (UK politician)|William Woodall]] | title=[[Surveyor-General of the Ordnance]] | years=1886–1887 | after=Post abolished}}
{{s-gov}}
{{succession box | before=[[William Mansfield, 1st Viscount Sandhurst|The Viscount Sandhurst]] | title=[[List of Governors of Bombay|Governor of Bombay]] | years=1900–1903 | after=[[Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington|The Lord Lamington]]}}
{{succession box | before=[[Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson|The Lord Tennyson]] | title=[[Governor-General of Australia]] | years=1904–1908 | after=[[William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley|The Earl of Dudley]]}}
{{s-reg|uk}}
{{s-new | creation }}
{{s-ttl
| title = [[Baron Northcote]]
| years = 1899–1911}}
{{s-non | reason = Extinct}}
{{s-reg|uk-bt}}
{{s-new|Creation}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Baronet]] '''(of Seamore Place)''' | years=1887–1911}}
{{s-non|reason=Extinct}}
{{s-end}}

{{Governors-General of Australia}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Northcote, Henry Northcote, 1st Baron}}
[[Category:1846 births]]
[[Category:1911 deaths]]
[[Category:Politicians from London]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:Alumni of Merton College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Governors-General of Australia]]
[[Category:Governors of Bombay]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Younger sons of earls]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1880–1885]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1885–1886]]
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[[Category:UK MPs 1892–1895]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1895–1900]]
[[Category:UK MPs who were granted peerages]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting]]
[[Category:Members of the Bombay Legislative Council]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Exeter]]
[[Category:Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria]]

Henry Northcote, 1st Baron Northcote - Revision history

>Trappist the monk: Cite newspaper The Times: replace/delete deprecated parameters;