George Le Hunte

Sir George Ruthven Le Hunte GCMG (20 August 1852 – 29 January 1925) was Governor of South Australia from 1 July 1903 until 18 February 1909, soon after federation of Australia.[1][2]

Sir George Le Hunte GCMG
15th Governor of South Australia
In office 1 July 1903 – 18 February 1909
Monarch	Edward VII
Premier	John Jenkins(1903–05) Richard Butler (1905) Thomas Price (1905–09)
Preceded by	Lord Tennyson
Succeeded by	Sir Day Bosanquet
Personal details
Born	20 August 1852
Died	29 January 1925 (1925-01-30) (aged 72)
Nationality	British

He was born in Porthgain, Pembrokeshire, Wales, the son of George and Mary Le Hunte. He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge.[3] He married Caroline Rachel Clowes (cousin of Evelyn May Clowes) on 14 February 1884.[4]

Le Hunte served as President of Dominica (1887–94), secretary of Barbados (1894–97) and Mauritius (1897); and Lieutenant-Governor of British New Guinea (1899–1903).

As South Australian Governor, he became the first patron of the Royal Automobile Association of South Australia when it was formed in 1903.

He was later Governor of Trinidad and Tobago from 1909 to 1916.

The District Council of Le Hunte in the north of Eyre Peninsula was named after him before it was changed to Wudinna District Council in 2008.

Family

George Le Hunte married Caroline Rachel Clowes (c. 1854 – 18 May 1939) on 14 February 1884. They had two children:

• John Le Hunte (11 August 1886 – ) married Vera Spurgin on 12 August 1913. Reports of his being killed in action early in WWI[5] are hard to verify.[6]
• Editha Rachel Le Hunte (c. October 1892 – ) married Godfrey Barton Pease (15 May 1887 – ) on 5 October 1912. Details of his death in WWI[7] have also been hard to find. Other reports[8] indicate they both survived to 1919 at least.

• Lt.-Col. Godfrey Philip Desmond Pease (19 September 1913 – 8 March 2007)
• Ann Pease ( – ) married Lt.-Col. William Elliot

References

1. Le Hunte, Sir George Ruthven (1852–1925), Australian Dictionary of Biography
2. Obituary JSTOR
3. "Le Hunte, George Ruthven (L870GR)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
4. "Sir George Le Hunte Dead". The Register. XC (26, 239). South Australia. 31 January 1925. p. 9. Retrieved 16 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
5. "Concerning People". The Register. LXXXIII (22, 396). South Australia. 20 August 1918. p. 4. Retrieved 17 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
6. "Viceregals at the War". The Register. LXXXI (21, 793). South Australia. 13 September 1916. p. 6. Retrieved 17 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
7. "Concerning People". The Register. LXXXIII (22, 283). South Australia. 10 April 1918. p. 6. Retrieved 17 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
8. "Our Vice-Regal Ladies". The Critic. XIX (1092). South Australia. 15 January 1919. p. 9. Retrieved 17 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.

• Diane Langmore, 'Le Hunte, Sir George Ruthven (1852–1925)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, MUP, 1986, pp 66–67.

External links

• World Statesmen – Trinindad and Tobago
• World Statesmen – Dominica
• World Statesmen – Papua New guinea
• "Le Hunte, Sir George Ruthven" . Thoms Irish Whos Who . Dublin: Alexander Thom and Son Ltd. 1923. p. 134  – via Wikisource.

Government offices
Preceded by James Meade	President of Dominica 1887–1894	Succeeded by Edward Baynes (acting)
Preceded by Sir William MacGregor	Lieutenant-Governor of British New Guinea 1898–1903	Succeeded by Christopher Stansfield Robinson (acting Administrator)
Preceded by Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson	Governor of South Australia 1903–1909	Succeeded by Admiral Sir Day Hort Bosanquet
Preceded by Sir Henry Moore Jackson	Governor of Trinidad and Tobago 1909–1916	Succeeded by Sir John Robert Chancellor