Lord Dufferin
(1826-1902)

Volume 1, page 157, sitting number 833.

The Irish nobleman Frederick Temple Hamilton Temple-Blackwood (1826-1902), 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, served as Governor General of Canada (1872-1878) and as Viceroy of India (1884-1888). His family seat in Ireland was Clandeboye at Bangor in County Down, 12 miles outside Belfast. 

Lord Dufferin, reknowned for his brilliant wit, was  a great speaker, a writer, a courtier and a diplomat. The posts that he adorned included British Commissioner in Syria (1860), Under Secretary for India (1864-1866), Under Secretary of War (1866), Governor General of Canada (1872-1878), ambassador to St Petersburg (1879), ambassador to Turkey (1881) and Viceroy of India (1884-1888).

He was also the author of Letters from High Latitudes, an account of his voyage to Iceland on his yacht Foam.

He died on 12 February 1902 at Clandeboye in County Down. 

After his death, numerous newspapers extolled Lord Dufferin's many virtues. The Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette (12 February 1902) carried several anecdotes offering a more personal insight into his character. 'Lord Dufferin always says the happiest years of his long official life were those spent at Calcutta. He revelled in the sunshine. A friend one day expostulated with him for his reckless exposure of himself to the weather. "Well, you see," said the Viceroy, "they've always sent me to cold places. They sent me as Viceroy to Canada, where one must live two-thirds of the year in buffalo furs. They sent me to St Petersburg, where one has to hibernate like a bear. So when they ordered me to India, I rubbed my hands and said to myself 'Now I can hang myself up to dry.'"

'There is a story which Lord Dufferin has always told with gusto against himself. He was returning to Ireland from a diplomatic mission to be married, and his engagement to the beautiful Miss Hamilton had just been announced. He landed one evening on the platform of a small country station near Clandeboye, and hired a jarvey to drive him the four or five miles, but he was so muffled up that the driver failed to recognise him. Presently Lord Dufferin asked "Any news about here?" "No news," grumpily replied the man, "except that the beautiful Miss Hamilton is going to marry that ugly fellow Dufferin!"

'A thorough Irishman, warm-hearted, generous almost to the verge of lavishness, and unselfish, Lord Dufferin has gone through life with a disregard for economy which often alarmed his friends. A trivial but amusing example of this trait is the following: - He was driving once in a hansom with a friend from Hyde Park Corner to St James's Street. When they reached the club, Lord Dufferin gave the cabman half-a-crown. "What on earth did you do that for?" asked his astonished friend, "it's only a shilling fare." "Oh! I would never think of giving a cabman less than half-a-crown, would you?" replied Lord Dufferin, as if the correct fare were an economy unthinkable.'