Thomas David Gibson-Carmichael, 1st Baron Carmichael, (18 March 1859 – 16 January 1926), known as Sir Thomas Gibson-Carmichael, 11th Baronet, between 1891 and 1912, was a Scottish Liberal politician and colonial administrator. He was also a keen naturalist.

Background and education

Born near

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland, Carmichael was the eldest son of Reverend Sir William Henry Gibson-Carmichael, 10th Baronet, and Eleanora Anne Anderson, daughter of David Anderson.thepeerage.com Thomas David Gibson-Carmichael, 1st and last Baron Carmichael
/ref> He was educated at the Wixenford House school of

Cowley Powles Richard Cowley Powles (1819–1901), known often as Cowley Powles, was an English cleric, academic and founding headmaster of Wixenford School. Early life He was the son of John Diston Powles, and was educated at Helston Grammar School under D ...

, then near Eversley in

Wixenford Wixenford is an area of the civil parish of Wokingham Without in which Ludgrove School stands. It adjoins Wokingham and is in the English county of Berkshire. Name The area was developed by the former Wixenford School, which closed in 1934. That ...

and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The ...

. He succeeded his father as 11th Baronet in 1891.

Political career

Carmichael was Private Secretary to George Trevelyan and

Lord Dalhousie James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie (22 April 1812 – 19 December 1860), also known as Lord Dalhousie, styled Lord Ramsay until 1838 and known as The Earl of Dalhousie between 1838 and 1849, was a Scottish statesman and co ...

, when Secretaries for Scotland. He unsuccessfully contested Peebles and Selkirk in 1892 but was successfully returned as Liberal

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Midlothian Midlothian (; gd, Meadhan Lodainn) is a historic county, registration county, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east- central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinbu ...

in 1895, succeeding

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-con ...

. He continued to represent this constituency until the 1900 general election. During this period, Carmichael leased Malleny House and Garden. He developed the gardens, as well as organising decorative ironwork to be added to the garden.

Colonial Governor

Carmichael was appointed

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and t ...

in 1908 and served from 27 July 1908 to 19 May 1911. As governor, Carmichael permitted Victoria Premier Sir Thomas Bent who had lost a no-confidence vote on 3 December 1908 to dissolve the assembly and call for fresh elections. Thomas Bent, however, lost the elections and John Murray succeeded him as premier. A Royal Commission investigation was started in 1909 to inquire into the financial misappropriations made by Bent. In 1911 Carmichael was appointed

governor of Madras This is a list of the governors, agents, and presidents of colonial Madras, initially of the English East India Company, up to the end of British colonial rule in 1947. English Agents In 1639, the grant of Madras to the English was finalized be ...

and served from 3 November 1911 to 30 March 1912. He was elected President of The Asiatic Society for 1913–15.

Honours

He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1908, a

Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) No appoi ...

in 1911 and a

Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes: # Knight Grand Commander ( GCSI) # Knight Commander ( KCSI) # Companion ( CSI) No appointme ...

in 1917. In 1912 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Carmichael, of Skirling in the County of Peebles. Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee created a post Carmichael Professor of Ancient Indian History and Culture, after his name. Carmichael College in Rangpur, Bangladesh is named after and was inaugurated by him in 1916.

Other public appointments

Carmichael was also Chairman of the

Commissioners in Lunacy for Scotland The Commissioners in Lunacy for Scotland or Lunacy Commission for Scotland were a public body established by the Lunacy (Scotland) Act 1857 to oversee asylums and the welfare of mental illness, mentally ill people in Scotland. Previous bodies The ...

from 1894 to 1897, a Trustee of the Board of Manufactures in Scotland from 1900, a Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery from 1904 to 1908 and of the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

from 1906 to 1908 and again from 1923 to 1926. Between 1920 and 1926 he served as Lord Lieutenant of Peeblesshire. In 1891 he founded the Scottish Beekeepers Association.

Freemasonry

He was a freemason. He was initiated, passed and raised within eight days of 1895 in the Dramatic and Arts Lodge No. 757. He became Worshipful Master of the Lodge in 1902 and served for two years. He was also appointed Senior Grand Deacon of the Grand Lodge of Scotland. Seven years later he became Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland. When he was appointed Governor of Victoria, he resigned from Grand Master only to become almost immediately Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Victoria. Served as Provincial Grand Master of Midlothian 1904-1909.

Personal life

Lord Carmichael married the Hon. Mary Helen Elizabeth, daughter of Baron Albert Nugent, in 1886. They had no children. He died at 13 Portman Street,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, in January 1926, aged 66, and was buried at

Skirling Skirling is a parish, community council area and village in Peeblesshire in the Scottish Borders situated 2½ miles east of Biggar in Lanarkshire. Biggar Water, a tributary the River Tweed forms the southern boundary of the parish with the pari ...

, Biggar,

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotl ...

. The barony became extinct on his death while he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his cousin, Henry Thomas Gibson-Craig. He was a keen amateur entomologist. During his career in India, he made a large collection of insects, mainly from the Darjeeling region, which he gave to the Indian Museum before leaving India. The damselfly species, ''Drepanosticta carmichaeli'' was named after him by Laidlaw in 1915.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carmichael, Thomas Gibson-Carmichael, 1st Baron 1859 births 1926 deaths People educated at Wixenford School Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Gibson-Carmichael, Thomas Gibson-Carmichael, Thomas Gibson-Carmichael, Thomas UK MPs who were granted peerages Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Governors of Victoria (Australia) British governors of Bengal Lord-Lieutenants of Peeblesshire Australian Freemasons Masonic Grand Masters Presidents of The Asiatic Society Barons created by George V