DinahFlo5043561 at 01:24, 19 March 2025

2025-03-19T01:24:12Z

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{{short description|Indian politician}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{More citations needed|date=February 2013}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=January 2017}}}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Sir Philip Wodehouse
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCSI|KCB}}
| image = Philip Edmond Wodehouse - Cape Governor 5.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Governor Sir Philip Wodehouse
| birth_name = Philip Edmond Wodehouse
| birth_date = {{birth date|1811|2|27|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Sennowe Hall|Sennowe Lodge]], Norfolk, England<ref name=odnb>{{Cite ODNB|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/29813 |title=Wodehouse, Sir Philip Edmond |editor1-last=Matthew |editor1-first=H. C. G. |editor2-last=Harrison |editor2-first=B. |date=28 May 2015}}</ref>
| death_date = {{death date and age|1887|10|25|1811|2|27|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Queen Anne's Mansions]], [[Westminster]], Middlesex, England<ref name=odnb/>
| nationality =
| other_names =
| occupation = Civil servant, colonial governor
| known_for =
}}
'''Sir Philip Edmond Wodehouse''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|commas=on|GCSI|KCB}} (27 February 1811 – 25 October 1887), was a [[British Empire|British colonial]] administrator.

==Background==
Wodehouse was the eldest child of [[Edmond Wodehouse (1784–1855)|Edmond Wodehouse]] and his [[cousin marriage|wife and first cousin]] Lucy Wodehouse. His paternal grandfather Thomas Wodehouse and maternal grandfather Reverend Philip Wodehouse were both younger sons of [[Sir Armine Wodehouse, 5th Baronet]], whose eldest son [[John Wodehouse, 1st Baron Wodehouse]], was the ancestor of the [[Earl of Kimberley|earls of Kimberley]].

==Career==
Wodehouse entered the [[Ceylon]] Civil Service at an early age, and later served as superintendent of [[British Honduras]] from 1851 to 1854. He then served as [[Governor of British Guiana]] from 1854 to 1861, where his unpopular measures (such as imposing a [[head tax]]) generated enormous riots that even saw him and his retinue attacked and pelted.{{sfn|Carlyle|1901}}

[[File:Governor Philip Wodehouse and staff - Squib cartoon - 1869.jpg|thumb|Governor Wodehouse depicted in a local Cape newspaper with his chiefs of staff.]]
In 1861, he was appointed [[Governor of the Cape Colony]] and British [[High Commissioner for Southern Africa]], taking over from Sir [[George Grey]] who had been recalled for disobeying imperial orders.

His High Commission in Southern Africa was initially dominated by the dispute between the neighbouring states of [[Basutoland]] and the [[Orange Free State]] but, via his arbitration, he managed to bring Basutoland under British control.{{sfn|Chesson|1871|pp=8–47}}

His High Commission was also overshadowed, throughout its duration, by a growing movement in the Cape for a degree of independence under a system of "[[responsible government]]". The local [[Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope|Cape Parliament]] was elected by a [[Cape Qualified Franchise|system of multi-racial franchise]], but had no executive power. The movement for "responsible government" (a democratically accountable executive) had immense local popularity, fueled by what was perceived to be the ineptitude of British imperial rule. Autocratic and unpopular, Wodehouse fought this growing independence movement throughout his governorship, even attempting to dismantle the Cape Parliament and bring the Cape back under his direct rule as a [[crown colony]]. Increasingly despotic, he, in turn, faced increasingly fierce opposition, led by local leader [[John Molteno]], until he was recalled in 1870, amid great local celebration.{{sfn|Malherbe|1971|p=}}

He was then [[Governor of Bombay]] from 1872 to 1877, when he retired from public life. He was made a [[Order of the Bath|CB]] in 1860, a KCB in 1862 and a [[Order of the Star of India|GCSI]] in 1876.

==Personal life==
[[File:Philip Edmond Wodehouse, Kensal Green Cemetery 01.JPG|thumb|Monument, Kensal Green Cemetery]]
[[File:Philip Edmond Wodehouse, Kensal Green Cemetery 02.JPG|thumb|Monument detail, Kensal Green Cemetery]]

Wodehouse married Katherine Mary Templer, daughter of [[Francis Templer]], in 1833. They had one child, [[Edmond Wodehouse (Bath MP)|Edmond Wodehouse]], who became [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Bath (UK Parliament constituency)|Bath]]. Wodehouse died in October 1887, at the age of 76. He is buried in [[Kensal Green Cemetery]].

==Legacy==
Wodehouse Peak, a prominent highpoint in [[Golden Gate Highlands National Park]] is named after Philip Wodehouse, supposedly due to his suggestion that the border between the Boers and Basotho should follow the Rooiberge range.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Golden Gate Highlands National Park - A Brief History |author= |work=sanparks.org |date=n.d. |access-date=16 January 2019 |url= https://www.sanparks.org/parks/golden_gate/tourism/history.php |quote=}}</ref> This suggestion, however, dates from 1845 when Sir [[Peregrine Maitland]] governed the Cape, well before the 1861 governorship of Wodehouse. Wodehouse presided over the Convention of Aliwal-North which formally established the boundaries of [[Lesotho|Basotholand]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/south-africa-1806-1899/basotho-wars-1858-1868 |title=Basotho Wars 1858 - 1868 |website=Sahistory.org.za |date=2009-06-10 |access-date=2017-01-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011134523/http://www.sahistory.org.za/south-africa-1806-1899/basotho-wars-1858-1868 |archive-date=11 October 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
*{{Cite DNBSupp| last=Carlyle |first=Edward Irving |wstitle=Wodehouse, Philip Edmond |volume=22 |pages=516–517}}
*{{cite book |last=Chesson |first=Frederick William |title=The Dutch Republics of South Africa: Three Letters to R. N. Fowler, and Charles Buxton |url=https://archive.org/details/dutchrepublicss01chesgoog |year=1871 |publisher=W. Tweedie |location=London}}
*{{Rayment|date=February 2013}}
*{{cite book |last=Malherbe |first=Vertrees Canby |title=What They Said, 1795-1910: A Selection of Documents from South African History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VHWbGAAACAAJ |year=1971 |publisher=Maskew Miller |location=Cape Town |isbn=9780623004579}}
{{Refend}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-gov}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Charles St. John Fancourt]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Superintendent of British Honduras]]|years=1851–1854}}
{{s-aft|after=[[William Stevenson (colonial administrator)|William Stevenson]]}}
{{s-bef|before=Sir [[Henry Barkly]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Governor of British Guiana]]|years=1854–1861|rows=2}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Francis Hincks|Sir Francis Hincks]]|rows=2}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-bef|before=[[William Walker (British colonial governor)|William Walker]]<br>(acting)}}
{{s-bef|before=Sir [[George Grey]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Governor of the Cape Colony]]|years=1861–1870|rows=2}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Charles Craufurd Hay]]<br>(acting)}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Robert Wynyard]]<br>(acting)}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Henry Barkly|Sir Henry Barkly]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Seymour Vesey-FitzGerald|Sir Seymour Vesey-FitzGerald]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Governor of Bombay]]|years=1872–1877}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Sir Richard Temple, 1st Baronet|Sir Richard Temple]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{British Governors of the Cape Colony}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wodehouse, Philip}}
[[Category:Governors of the Cape Colony]]
[[Category:1811 births]]
[[Category:1887 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:Governors of Bombay]]
[[Category:Wodehouse family|Philip Edmond Wodehouse]]
[[Category:Governors of British Honduras]]
[[Category:Governors of British Guiana]]
[[Category:Members of the Bombay Legislative Council]]

Philip Wodehouse (colonial administrator) - Revision history

DinahFlo5043561 at 01:24, 19 March 2025