Harry Rawson

Harry Rawson was born at Walton-on-Hill, Lancashire, on 5 November 1843, the son of Christopher Rawson, of a landed gentry family of The Haugh End and Mill House.[3][4] He was educated at Eastman's Royal Naval Academy[5] and at Marlborough College.[4]

In October 1871 in Cheshire, England, he married Florence Alice Stewart Shaw, daughter of John Ralph Shaw, of Arrowe Park, Cheshire.[4][6] The couple had five children.

He was a long-standing Freemason, and served as Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.[7]

Portrait of Sir Harry Rawson, governor of New South Wales

Rawson joined the Royal Navy in 1857 and took part in the capture of the Taku Forts in 1860 during the Second Opium War.[5] Promoted to captain in 1877, he was given command of HMS Minotaur.[5] He was the Principal Transport Officer during the Anglo-Egyptian War in 1882.[5] Then, in 1883, he was made Flag Captain to the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet and, in 1885, he was appointed captain of the steam reserve at Devonport.[5] He returned to sea as captain of HMS Benbow in 1889.[5]

Admiral Rawson was appointed commander of British naval forces at the Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa Station in 1895[8] and held that post at the time of the Benin Expedition which was regarded in British circles largely as a stroke of disciplined and coordinated planning:

In twenty-nine days a force of 1,200 men, coming from three places between 3000 and 4500 m. from the Benin river, was landed, organized, equipped and provided with transport. Five days later the city of Benin was taken, and in twelve days more the men were re-embarked, and the ships coaled and ready for any further service.[9]

Rawson was also the commanding officer of the British forces in the Anglo-Zanzibar War, the shortest war in history, which lasted for 38 minutes on 27 August 1896.[5] For this he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath and a first class member of the Order of the Brilliant Star of Zanzibar. He commanded the Channel Squadron from 1898 to April 1901, with HMS Majestic as flagship.[5] He was also a recipient of the Grand Cross of the Military Order of Aviz of Portugal, Order of Hamondieh of Zanzibar and Order of Osmanieh of the Ottoman Empire and Civic Cross of Belgium.

Rawson caricatured by Spy for Vanity Fair, 1901

In February 1902 Rawson was appointed Governor of New South Wales, the first naval officer since William Bligh to hold the post.[10] He kissed hands upon his appointment in an audience with King Edward VII on 24 March,[11] and left for Australia soon thereafter, arriving at Sydney on 26 May 1902 to take up the position the following day.[12] He proved so popular that his term was extended.[5] He lived with his family in Cranbrook, Bellevue Hill, the temporary Government House of New South Wales (Government House, Sydney being used by the Governor-General). In March 1905 (during his term as Governor of New South Wales), his wife was in poor health and returned to England with her son Wyatt and a daughter to seek the best medical advice.[13] Her condition deteriorated and in June 1905 Harry Rawson travelled to England to be with her.[14] In the belief she was recovering, the four of them set sail for Australia in December 1905, but Lady Rawson died on board the ship "Ormuz" in the Red Sea on 3 December 1905 and was buried at sea.[4][15][16] From 1903 to 1909, his aide-de-camp was Leslie Orme Wilson, later to be Governor of Queensland.

Rawson died, two days before his 67th birthday, on 3 November 1910 in London after an operation for appendicitis; he was survived by two sons and a daughter.[4][5]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sir Harry Holdsworth Rawson.

• Obituary from The Times