Charles Du Cane
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Sir Charles Du Cane (5 December 1825 – 25 February 1889) was a British Conservative Party politician and colonial administrator who was a Member of Parliament between 1852 and 1854 and
Governor of Tasmania The governor of Tasmania is the representative in the Australian state of Tasmania of the monarch, currently King Charles III. The incumbent governor is Barbara Baker, who was appointed in June 2021. The official residence of the governor is Gov ...
from 1868 to 1874. Du Cane was born in
Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 24,096 according to the 2021 Census. Its growth as a seaside resort came after the villages of Upper Ryde and ...
on the
Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...
in 1825, the son of Charles Du Cane of Braxted Park and Frances Prideaux-Brune. He was educated at
Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...
in
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
and
Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...
. From 1848 to 1855, Du Cane played first-class cricket for the
Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...
as a batsman; a younger brother,
Alfred Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...
, also played first-class cricket. In 1852, he was elected to the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
as a Member of Parliament (MP) for
Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is prod ...
in
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
, but his election was declared void after it was discovered that Du Cane's agents had been involved in bribery although it was established that Du Cane was unaware of the corruption. He spent two years as
Civil Lord of the Admiralty The Civil Lord of the Admiralty formally known as the Office of the Civil Lord of Admiralty also referred to as the Department of the Civil Lord of the Admiralty was a member of the Board of Admiralty who was responsible for managing the Royal N ...
. At the 1857 general election he was elected as MP for Northern Essex, and held the seat until the division was abolished at the 1868 general election. Du Cane was appointed
Governor of Tasmania The governor of Tasmania is the representative in the Australian state of Tasmania of the monarch, currently King Charles III. The incumbent governor is Barbara Baker, who was appointed in June 2021. The official residence of the governor is Gov ...
, and was sworn in at
Hobart Town Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly half ...
on 15 January 1869. He faced a minor constitutional crisis when the Premier of Tasmania,
James Milne Wilson Sir James Milne Wilson (29 February 1812 – 29 February 1880) was a colonial Australian politician who served as premier of Tasmania from 1869 to 1872. Biography Wilson was born in 1812 in Banff, Aberdeenshire, Banff, Scotland; the third son ...
, threatened to resign after a taxation scheme he had proposed was defeated in parliament, which would have left Tasmania without a government, although Wilson withdrew his resignation and a general election took place. Du Cane's tenure in Tasmania saw the colony grow strong and prosperous, partly due to industrial and resources booms and the improvement of communication between Tasmania, the mainland and England. He left Hobart in November 1874, and was appointed KCMG the next year after his return to England. Du Cane died at his family estate in
Braxted Park Braxted Park, formerly called Braxted Lodge, is a country house in the Queen Anne style set in a landscaped 2,000 acre park near the village of Great Braxted, Essex. In the Domesday Book of 1086, Eudo Dapifer is shown as owner of the manor. All ...
, Essex on 25 February 1889.Rimmer, Gordon
'Du Cane, Sir Charles (1825–1889)'
Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...
, Volume 4, Melbourne University Press, 1972, pp 106–107.


See also

* English translations of Homer: Charles Du Cane


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Du Cane, Charles 1825 births 1889 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School Governors of Tasmania Lords of the Admiralty Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers People from Ryde Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 English cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers Colony of Tasmania people Members of Parliament for Maldon