Harry Ord

Infobox President
honorific-prefix = The Honourable
name =Sir Harry St. George Ord
honorific-suffix =
GCMG

|150px
order =Governor of Straits Settlements
term_start =1855
term_end =1856
deputy =
predecessor =Sir William Orfeur Cavenagh
successor =Sir Andrew Clarke
order1 =Governor of Western Australia
term_start1 =1877
term_end1 =1880
predecessor1 =Sir William Cleaver Francis Robinson
successor1 =Sir William Cleaver Francis Robinson
birth_date =birth date|1819|8|4|df=y
birth_place =North Cray, Kent, England
death_date =death date|1885|08|20|df=y
death_place =Homburg, Germany
spouse =Lady Julia Graham of Exmouth
religion =Christian
constituency =
party =
languagesspoken =English

Major-General Sir Harry St. George Ord GCMG, CB, RE, was born on 4 August 1819 in North Cray, Kent, England. He was the son of Henry Gough Ord and grandson of Craven Ord, a prominent antiquarian.

Education and Career

George Ord was educated at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, (1835 - 1837). He served in the Royal Engineers, (1837 - 1856), principally in the West Indies, West Africa, and the Anglo-French expedition to the Baltic, (1854). He held many important colonial posts, such as:

* Commissioner of the Gold Coast, (1855 - 1856)

* Commissioner at the Courts of Paris and the Hague, (1856 - 1857)

* Governor of Dominica, (1857 - 1861)

* Governor of Bermuda, (1861 - 1864)

* Special Commissioner to West Africa, (1864 - 1867)

* Governor of Straits Settlements, (1867 - 1873)

* Governor of Western Australia, (1877 - 1880)

Governor of Straits Settlements

Sir Harry Ord, was the first Colonial Office appointed as the Governor of the Straits Settlements, was at first given no instructions regarding the Colony's relations with the Malay States. He was unpopular in the Straits Settlements, but was an ambitious and energetic man, who was ready to do what he could to restore order and promote trade in the Peninsula. Conditions in Malaya at that time were extremely unsettled. The quarrels of the Malays were intensified by feuds between competing groups of Chinese miners, and the links of the Chinese with the British settlements threatened to involve these too in the trouble. After some experience of negotiating with Malays and Siamese, Ord worked out a policy under which he proposed to share the supervision of the Peninsula between Britain and Siam. This policy was disapproved by the Colonial office, and Sir Harry Ord was directed to abstain from all interference in the affairs of the Malay States.

Life

He married Julia Graham of Exmouth daughter of Admiral James Carpenterin in 1846 by whom he had three sons. Sir Harry Ord died on 20 August 1885 from heart attack.

References

* Colonial Office List, various list, DNB
* One Hundred Years of Singapore (1819)
* C.D. Cowan, Nineteenth Century Malaya: The Origins of British Political Control, (1961)
* [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A050424b.htm Sir Harry Ord Biography]
* [http://www.ccentre.wa.gov.au/index.cfm?event=governorsHarryord Sir Harry Ord Biography]

See Also

[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Petition_of_Chung_Keng_Quee_%26_44_Others The Petition of Chung Keng Quee & 44 Others to Sir Harry Ord seeking government protection.]