Sir Frederick Napier Broome (18 November 1842 – 26 November 1896) was a colonial administrator in the British Empire, serving in

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

and

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

. The Western Australian towns of Broome and

Broomehill Broomehill is a place name, and may refer to: * Broomehill, Western Australia Broomehill is a town on the Great Southern Highway between Katanning, Western Australia, Katanning and Albany, Western Australia, Albany, in the Great Southern (Wes ...

are named after him. He has signed his name as F. Napier Broome.

Early life

The eldest son of Rev. Frederick Broome, rector of Kenley,

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, by his wife Catherine Eleanor (eldest daughter of Lieut.-Colonel Napier, formerly Superintendent, Indian Department, Canada) Broome was born in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and educated at

Whitchurch Grammar School Whitchurch may refer to: Places Canada *Whitchurch, Ontario, since 1971 part of Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ontario England *Whitchurch, Bristol *Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire *Whitchurch, Devon, in Tavistock **Whitchurch, Devon (parish), a List o ...

, Shropshire. When visiting England in 1865, he married Mary Anne Barker on 21 June. The couple moved to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

where Broome had a sheep station, in the

Malvern Hills The Malvern Hills are in the English counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire, dominating the surrounding countryside and the towns and villages of the district of Malvern. The highest summit af ...

, province of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

Career

Journalist and poet

Broome returned to London in 1869, and for the following six years was a regular contributor to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', being the newspaper's correspondent at the Duke of Edinburgh's marriage at St. Petersburg, and on many other occasions. He also wrote literary reviews, art critiques, and miscellaneous articles. He published two volumes of verse, ''Poems from New Zealand'' (1868) and ''The Stranger of Seriphos'' (1869), and contributed verse to the '' Cornhill'', ''

Macmillan's Magazine ''Macmillan's Magazine'' was a monthly British magazine published 1859 to 1907 by Alexander Macmillan. The magazine was a literary periodical that published fiction and non-fiction works primarily by British authors. Thomas Hughes convinced Mac ...

'', and other periodicals.

Administrator

In 1870 he was appointed secretary to the

St. Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

Completion Fund, and, in 1873, secretary to the Royal Commission on Unseaworthy Ships, and held for some time a commission in the Essex yeomanry. He was selected by the Earl of Carnarvon, in 1875, to proceed with Lord Garnet Wolseley on a special mission to

, as colonial secretary of that colony. He held that post until 1878, when he was promoted to the colonial secretaryship of

, where he administered the government in 1879, and was lieutenant-governor of the island from 1880 to 1888. He was the 14th governor of Mauritius from 9 Dec 1880 to 5 May 1883. He was created CMG in 1877, and KCMG in 1884 On receiving the news of Britain's military disaster at

Isandlwana Isandlwana () (older spelling ''Isandhlwana'', also sometimes seen as ''Isandula'') is an isolated hill in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. It is located north by northwest of Durban.''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (1950), v.12, 703. T ...

(1879), he despatched at once to the assistance of Lord Chelmsford nearly the whole of the garrison of the colony, including a half battery of artillery, For which he was warmly thanked by the governor and high commissioner of the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

, Sir

Bartle Frere Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere, 1st Baronet, (29 March 1815 – 29 May 1884) was a British colonial administrator. He had a successful career in India, rising to become Governor of Bombay (1862–1867). However, as High Commissioner for Sout ...

, and by the colony of Natal through its lieutenant governor, Sir Henry Bulwer.

Governor of Western Australia

On 14 December 1882 he was appointed

governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch, King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutional, ceremonial and commun ...

, and assumed office in June 1883. He visited England in 1885, when, with the "view of extending knowledge of the resources of what was at that time a little known colony", he read a paper on "Western Australia" before the Colonial Institute, H.R.H. the Prince of Wales taking the chair. That year he donated a small but important collection of Aboriginal artefacts from Western Australia to the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. His term as governor of Western Australia was marked by great extension of railways and telegraphs, and general progress. When the colony was preparing for

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive br ...

, Broome acted as intermediary between the Legislative Council and the British secretary of state. After considerable correspondence, the details of the new constitution were settled, and a bill, approved by Her Majesty's Government, finally passed the local legislature in 1889. Since complementary legislation was needed from Westminster to transfer Crown lands to the colonial legislature, the necessary bill was at once introduced by Lord Knutsford, and passed the House of Lords; but, owing to strong opposition to handing over an immense tract of Crown lands to the colonists, which suddenly showed itself in the home press and in the House of Commons, the bill could not be proceeded with in the House in 1889, and had to be deferred to the following year. Sir Frederick and two leading members of the Western Australian legislature travelled to England in December 1889 to give evidence before a select committee of the House of Commons, to which, early in the session of 1890, the Constitution Bill was referred. Much to the surprise of the London press, the committee reported in favour of the bill and of the transfer of all lands to the colony. Consequently, the British Parliament passed a bill for the whole of the lands of the vast territory—1,060,000 square miles—to be freely handed over to the legislature of Western Australia, which thus obtained its new constitution on the same basis as the other colonies of the continent, there being no opposition to the bill in the House of Lords. Broome finally left Western Australia in December 1889, on a mission to England in connection with the Constitution Bill, and his tenure as governor ended in September 1890. One source states "Disputes with his senior officials tarnished Broome’s reputation in the Colonial Office.Broome and Cable Beach
''Placenames Australia'' newsletter at Pandora Archive,

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

, March 2011 Broome was transferred to serve as acting

governor of Barbados This article contains a list of viceroys in Barbados from its initial colonisation in 1627 by England until it achieved independence in 1966. From 1833 to 1885, Barbados was part of the colony of the Windward Islands, and the governor of Barbad ...

in the West Indies and, in July 1891, was appointed governor of Trinidad. He died in London in 1896 and was buried on the eastern side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...

References

External links

The Constitutional Centre of Western Australia: Online exhibitions: Governors and PremiersConstitutional Centre of Western Australia: Online exhibitions: Governors and Premiers: Frederick Broome
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Broome, Frederick Napier 1842 births 1896 deaths Governors of Western Australia Governors of Trinidad and Tobago Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Burials at Highgate Cemetery Colony of Western Australia people Colony of Natal people Chief secretaries (British Empire) Colonial secretaries of Mauritius Governors of British Mauritius