British politician (1866?1941)
This British surname is
barrelled
, being made up of multiple names. It should be written as
Freeman-Thomas
, not
Thomas
.
Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon
,
GCSI
,
GCMG
,
GCIE
,
GBE
,
PC
(12 September 1866 ? 12 August 1941), styled as the
Earl of Willingdon
between 1931 and 1936, was a
British
Liberal
politician and administrator who served as
Governor General of Canada
and as
Viceroy and Governor-General of India
.
Freeman-Thomas was born in
England
and educated at
Eton College
and then the
University of Cambridge
before serving for 15 years in the Sussex Artillery. He then entered the diplomatic and political fields, acting as
aide-de-camp
to his father-in-law when the latter was
Governor of Victoria
and, in 1900, was elected to the
British House of Commons
. He thereafter occupied a variety of government posts, including secretary to the
British prime minister
and, after being raised to the peerage as Lord Willingdon, as
Lord-in-waiting
to King
George V
. From 1913, Willingdon held gubernatorial and viceregal offices throughout the
British Empire
, starting with the
governorship of Bombay
and then the
governorship of Madras
, before he was in 1926 appointed as the Governor-General of Canada to replace the
Viscount Byng of Vimy
, occupying the post until succeeded by the
Earl of Bessborough
in 1931. Willingdon was immediately thereafter appointed as
Viceroy and Governor-General of India
to replace
Lord Irwin
(later created Earl of Halifax), and he served in the post until succeeded by the
Marquess of Linlithgow
in 1936.
After the end of his viceregal tenure, Willingdon was installed as the
Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
and was elevated in the peerage as the Marquess of Willingdon. After representing Britain at a number of organisations and celebrations, Willingdon died in 1941 at his home in
London
, and his ashes were interred in
Westminster Abbey
.
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Freeman Thomas was born the only son of
Freeman Frederick Thomas
, an officer in the rifle brigade of Ratton and Yapton, and his wife, Mabel, daughter of
Henry Brand
,
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
(later
Speaker of the House of Commons
, who retired as 1st
Viscount Hampden
). Before he was two, Thomas' father had died and he was raised thereafter by his mother, who sent him to
Eton College
.
[1]
There, he acted as President of the
Eton Society
and was for three years a member of the school's
cricket
team, serving as captain of the playing eleven during his final year. He carried this enthusiasm for sport on to the
University of Cambridge
, where he was accepted to
Trinity College
after leaving Eton,
[1]
and was drafted into the Cambridge playing eleven, playing for
Sussex
and
I Zingari
. His father had also played for Sussex. Upon his general admission from university, Freeman-Thomas then volunteered for fifteen years for the Sussex Artillery, achieving the rank of
major
.
[2]
Marriage and political career
[
edit
]
In 1892, Freeman-Thomas assumed the additional surname of
Freeman
by
deed poll
[3]
and married the Hon.
Marie Brassey
, the daughter of
Thomas Brassey
, then recently created
Baron Brassey
. Freeman-Thomas often cited her as a source of support, stating once: "My wife has been a constant inspiration and encouragement."
[4]
The couple had two sons: Gerard, born 3 May 1893, and
Inigo
, born 25 July 1899.
[
citation needed
]
Gerard was killed in
World War I
on 14 September 1914, and Inigo eventually succeeded his father as Marquess of Willingdon.
In 1897 Freeman-Thomas was appointed
aide-de-camp
to his father-in-law, who was then the
Governor of Victoria
, Australia.
[4]
Upon his return to the United Kingdom, Freeman-Thomas joined the
Liberal Party
and
in 1900 was elected
to the
British House of Commons
to represent the borough of
Hastings
.
[5]
He then served as a junior
lord of the Treasury
in the
Liberal Cabinet
that sat from December 1905 to January 1906.
[6]
Though he lost in the
January 1906 elections
, Freeman-Thomas returned to the House of Commons by winning the
by-election for Bodmin
,
[7]
and, for some time, served as a secretary to the
prime minister
,
H. H. Asquith
. For his services in government, Freeman-Thomas was in 1910 elevated to the
peerage
as
Baron Willingdon
of
Ratton
in the
County of Sussex
,
[8]
and the following year was appointed as
Lord-in-waiting
to King
George V
, becoming a favourite tennis partner of the monarch.
[4]
His father-in-law was created Earl Brassey at the coronation in that year.
Governorship of Bombay
[
edit
]
A 1916 charity stamp for the
Bombay Presidency War and Relief Fund
organised by Lady Willingdon.
Willingdon was on 17 February 1913 appointed as the
Crown Governor of Bombay
, replacing
the Lord Sydenham of Combe
,
[9]
and to mark this event, Willingdon was on 12 March 1913 honoured with induction into the
Order of the Indian Empire
as a Knight Grand Commander (additional).
[10]
Within a year, however, the First World War had erupted, and India, as a part of the
British Empire
, was immediately drawn into the conflict. Lord Willingdon strove to serve the Allied cause, taking responsibility for treating the wounded from the
Mesopotamian campaign
. In the midst of those dark times,
Mahatma Gandhi
returned to Bombay from South Africa and Willingdon was one of the first persons to welcome him and invite him to
Government House
for a formal meeting. This was the first meeting Willingdon had with Gandhi and he later described the Indian spiritual leader as "honest, but a
Bolshevik
and for that reason very dangerous."
Mahatma Gandhi
, whose return to India and subsequent nationalistic activities would cause problems for Willingdon as Crown Governor of Bombay and Madras
In 1917, the year before Willingdon's resignation of the governorship, a severe famine broke out in the
Kheda
region of the
Bombay Presidency
, which had far reaching effects on the economy and left farmers in no position to pay their taxes. Still, the government insisted that tax not only be paid but also implemented a 23% increase to the levies to take effect that year. Kheda thus became the setting for Gandhi's first
satyagraha
in India, and, with support from
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
,
Narhari Parikh
,
Mohanlal Pandya
, and
Ravishankar Vyas
, organised a
Gujarat sabha
. The people under Gandhi's influence then rallied together and sent a petition to Willingdon, asking that he cancel the taxes for that year. However,
the Cabinet
refused and advised the Governor to begin confiscating property by force, leading Gandhi to thereafter employ non-violent resistance to the government, which eventually succeeded and made Gandhi famous throughout India after Willingdon's departure from the colony. For his actions there, in relation to governance and the war effort, Willingdon was on 3 June 1918 appointed by the King as a Knight Grand Commander of the
Order of the Star of India
.
[11]
Governorship of Madras
[
edit
]
Willingdon returned to the United Kingdom from Bombay only briefly before he was appointed on 10 April 1919 as the
governor of Madras
. This posting came shortly after the
Montagu?Chelmsford Reforms
of 1918 were formalised by the
Government of India Act
, which distributed power in India between the executive and legislative bodies.
[12]
Thus, in November 1920, Willingdon dropped the
writs of election
for the first election for the
Madras Legislative Council
; however, due to their adherence to Gandhi's
non-cooperation movement
, the
Indian National Congress
party refused to run any candidates and the
Justice Party
was subsequently swept into power. Willingdon appointed
A. Subbarayalu Reddiar
as his premier and
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
(a former Governor General of Canada), opened the first meeting of the Legislative Assembly.
The following year, the Governor found himself dealing with a series of communal riots that in August 1921 broke out in the
Malabar District
.
[13]
Following a number of cases of arson, looting, and assaults,
[14]
Willingdon declared martial law just before the
government of India
sent in a large force to quell the riots.
[13]
[15]
At around the same time, over 10,000 workers in the Buckingham and Carnatic Mills of
Madras city
organised for six months a general strike contemporaneous with the non-cooperation movement, which also sparked riots between pro- and anti-strike workers that were again only put down with police intervention.
[16]
[17]
When he returned once more to the United Kingdom at the end of his tenure as the Governor of Madras, Willingdon was made a viscount, becoming on 24 June 1924 the
Viscount Willingdon
, of Ratton in the County of Sussex.
[18]
Governor General of Canada
[
edit
]
The Viscount Willingdon inspects the
Governor General's Foot Guards
on
Parliament Hill
as part of the
Dominion Day
celebrations, 1927, the 60th jubilee of
Canadian confederation
It was announced on 5 August 1926 that George V had, by commission under the
royal sign-manual
and
signet
, approved the recommendation of his
British prime minister
,
Stanley Baldwin
, to appoint Willingdon as his representative in Canada. The sitting
Conservative
British Cabinet
had initially not considered Willingdon as a candidate for the governor generalcy, as he was seen to have less of the necessary knowledge of affairs and public appeal that other individuals held. However, the King himself put forward Willingdon's name for inclusion in the list sent to Canada, and it was that name that the then
Canadian prime minister
,
William Lyon Mackenzie King
, chose as his preference for the nomination to the King.
[19]
George V readily accepted, and Willingdon was notified of his appointment while on a diplomatic mission in
China
.
This would be the last Canadian viceregal appointment made by the monarch in his or her capacity as
sovereign of the United Kingdom
, as it was decided at the
Imperial Conference in October 1926
that the
Dominions
of the
British Empire
would thereafter be equal with one another, and the monarch would operate for a specific country only under the guidance of that country's ministers. Though this was not formalised until the enactment of the
Statute of Westminster
on 11 December 1931, the concept was brought into practice at the start of Willingdon's tenure as Governor General of Canada.
[4]
Princes
Edward
and
George
, along with Viscount Willingdon, outside
Rideau Hall
's main door, August 1927
The
Balfour Declaration of 1926
, issued during the Imperial Conference, also declared that governors-general would cease to act as representatives of the British government in diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and individual dominions. Accordingly, in 1928, the United Kingdom appointed its first
High Commissioner
to Canada thus effectively ending the governor general's, and Willingdon's, diplomatic role as the British government's envoy to Ottawa.
[20]
Willingdon arrived at
Quebec City
in late 1926, and on 2 October was sworn in as governor general in a ceremony in the
salon rouge
of the
parliament buildings of Quebec
. His following journey to
Ottawa
to take up residence in the country's official royal and viceroyal home,
Rideau Hall
, was just the first of many trips Willingdon took around Canada, meeting with a variety of Canadians and bringing with him what was described as "a sense of humour and an air of informality to his duties."
[19]
He also became the first governor general to
travel by air
, flying from Ottawa to
Montreal
and back, as well as the first to make official visits abroad; not only did he tour the
Caribbean
in 1929, but he further paid a visit to the
United States
, going there in 1927 to meet with and receive state honours from
President
Calvin Coolidge
.
[21]
On that visit, the Governor General was welcomed in
Washington
by
the King's emissary to the US
,
Vincent Massey
, who would later himself be appointed as Governor General of Canada.
[4]
Lord Willingdon with
Reginald Johnston
and the former
Emperor of China
in Tianjin, China, 1920s
In Canada, Willingdon hosted members of
the Royal Family
, including the King's two sons,
Prince Edward, Prince of Wales
, and
Prince George
, who, along with Baldwin, came to Canada to participate in the celebrations of the
Diamond Jubilee
of
Confederation
. The Princes resided at Rideau Hall and the Prince of Wales, accompanied by Willingdon, dedicated at the
Peace Tower
both the
altar
of the
Memorial Chamber
and the
Dominion Carillon
,
[22]
the first playing of which on that day was heard by listeners across the country on the first ever coast-to-coast radio broadcast in Canada.
[23]
This dedication marked the completion of the
Centre Block
of
Parliament Hill
, and the following year, Willingdon moved the annual governor general's
New Year
's
levee
to that building from the
East Block
, where the party had been held since 1870.
[24]
A few months before the end of his viceregal tenure in Canada, Willingdon was once more elevated in the peerage, becoming on 23 February 1931 the
Earl of Willingdon
and
Viscount Ratendone
.
[25]
In their time the viceroyal couple, the Earl and Countess of Willingdon fostered their appreciation of the arts, building on previous governor general
the Earl Grey
's Lord Grey Competition for Music and Drama by introducing the Willingdon Arts Competition, which dispensed awards for painting and sculpture. They also left at Rideau Hall a collection of carpets and
objets d'art
that they had collected during their travels around India and
China
, and many of which were restored in 1993 to the
Long Gallery
of Rideau Hall.
[26]
However, Willingdon's tastes also included sports, particularly fishing, tennis, skating, skiing, curling, cricket, and golf.
[4]
For the latter, he in 1927 donated to the
Royal Canadian Golf Association
the
Willingdon Cup
for Canadian interprovincial amateur golf competition, which has been contested annually since that year.
During his residence in Ottawa, Willingdon was a regular attendee at home matches of the
Ottawa Senators
, continuing a tradition of patronage by sitting Governors-General of the local professional club. In 1930, he donated a trophy to be awarded to the Senators player "of the greatest assistance to his team", which the organization cheekily interpreted as an award for the player to lead the team in assists
[27]
and dubbed the Willington Trophy.
Viceroy and Governor-General of India
[
edit
]
Appointment
[
edit
]
A cartoon from 1932 depicting the Viscount Willingdon on a
hunger strike
against
Gandhi
He had not been Governor General of Canada for five years before Willingdon received word that he was to be sent back to India as that country's
viceroy and governor general
. After being appointed to the
British Privy Council
on 20 March 1931,
[28]
he was sworn in as such on 18 April 1931, merely two weeks after he was replaced in Canada by
the Earl of Bessborough
. When Willingdon arrived again in India, the country was gripped by the
Great Depression
and was soon leading Britain's departure from the
gold standard
, seeing thousands of tonnes of gold shipped to the United Kingdom through the port of Bombay. Of this, Willingdon said: "For the first time in history, owing to the economic situation, Indians are disgorging gold. We have sent to London in the past two or three months, £25,000,000 sterling and I hope that the process will continue."
Jailing leaders of Congress
[
edit
]
Simultaneously, Willingdon found himself dealing with the consequences of the nationalistic movements that
Gandhi
had earlier started when Willingdon was Governor of Bombay and then Madras. The
India Office
told Willingdon that he should conciliate only those elements of Indian opinion that were willing to work with the Raj. That did not include
Nehru
and the
Indian National Congress
, which launched its Civil Disobedience Movement on 4 January 1932. Therefore, Willingdon took decisive action.
[29]
He imprisoned Gandhi. He outlawed the Congress, he rounded up all members of the Working Committee and the Provincial Committees and imprisoned them, and banned Congress youth organizations. In total he imprisoned 80,000 Indian activists. Without most of their leaders, protests were uneven and disorganized, boycotts were ineffective, illegal youth organizations proliferated but were ineffective, more women became involved, and there was terrorism, especially in the
North-West Frontier Province
. Gandhi remained in prison until 1933.
[30]
[31]
Willingdon relied on his military secretary,
Hastings Ismay
, for his personal safety.
[32]
Construction projects
[
edit
]
The Marquess of Willingdon in later life.
It was also by Willingdon's hand, as Governor-in-Council, that the
Lloyd Barrage
was commissioned, seeing £20 million put into the construction of the
barrage
across the mouth of the
Indus River
, which not only provided labour but also brought millions of hectares of land in the
Thar Desert
under
irrigation
.
[33]
Further, Willingdon established the
Willingdon Airfield
(now known as Safdarjung Airport) in
Delhi
and, after he was denied entry to the
Royal Bombay Yacht Club
because he was accompanied by Indian friends, despite his being the viceroy, Willingdon was motivated to establish the
Willingdon Sports Club
in Bombay, with membership open to both Indians and British and which still operates today.
[34]
As he had been in Canada, Willingdon acted for India as
Chief Scout
of the
Bharat Scouts and Guides
and took this role as more than an
ex-officio
title. Convinced that
Scouting
would contribute greatly to the welfare of India, he promoted the organisation, especially in rural villages, and requested that
J. S. Wilson
pay special attention to cooperation between Scouting and village development.
[35]
Post-viceregal life
[
edit
]
Once back in the United Kingdom, Willingdon associated with
Roland Gwynne
. Willingdon was one of the notable guests of parties at Gwynne's
East Sussex
estate,
Folkington Manor
.
[36]
He was also honoured by George V, not only by being appointed as the
Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
?one of the higher honours bestowed by the sovereign and normally reserved for members of the Royal Family and former prime ministers?but he was also elevated once more in the peerage, being created
Marquess of Willingdon
by Edward VIII on 26 May 1936,
[37]
making him the most recent person to be promoted to such a rank.
Willingdon did not cease diplomatic life altogether: he undertook a goodwill mission to
South America
, representing the Ibero-American Institute, and chaired the British committee on the commissioning of army officers. In 1940, he also represented the United Kingdom at the celebrations for the centennial of the formation of
New Zealand
. The next year, however, on 12 August, the Marquess of Willingdon died at 5 Lygon Place, near
Ebury Street
, in London, and his ashes were interred in
Westminster Abbey
.
Honours
[
edit
]
Titles
[
edit
]
Viceregal styles of
the Viscount Willingdon
(1926?1931)
then
the Earl of Willingdon
(1931?1936)
|
---|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/90/Arms_of_Canada_%281921%E2%80%931957%29_%28crowned%29.svg/30px-Arms_of_Canada_%281921%E2%80%931957%29_%28crowned%29.svg.png) |
Reference style
| His Excellency The Right Honourable
(in Canada, also)
Son Excellence le tres honorable
|
---|
Spoken style
| Your Excellency
(in Canada, also)
Votre Excellence
|
---|
Statue of Lord Willingdon in
Coronation Park, Delhi
- Appointments
- Medals
Honorary military appointments
[
edit
]
Honorific eponyms
[
edit
]
- Awards
- Organizations
- Geographic locations
- Schools
Arms
[
edit
]
Coat of arms of Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon
|
- Crest
- 1st: A demi lion rampant Gules charged on the shoulder with an Ermine spot Argent (Freeman); 2nd: Issuant out of an antique crown Azure a boar's head proper (Thomas).
- Escutcheon
- Quarterly, 1st and 4th: Argent three lions rampant Gules a chief azure (Thomas); 2nd and 3rd: Ermine two pallets in pale Azure over all three fusils conjoined in fess Or (Freeman).
- Supporters
- On either side a freeman armed cap a pie in English armour of the 17th century Proper.
- Motto
- Honesty Is The Best Policy
[43]
|
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Thomas (post Freeman-Thomas), Freeman (THMS885F)"
.
A Cambridge Alumni Database
. University of Cambridge.
- ^
"No. 27389"
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- ^
"Thomas, Freeman Freeman-, first marquess of Willingdon (1866?1941)".
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
doi
:
10.1093/ref:odnb/33266
.
(Subscription or
UK public library membership
required.)
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Office of the Governor General of Canada.
"Governor General > Former Governors General > The Marquess of Willingdon"
. Queen's Printer for Canada. Archived from
the original
on 11 February 2009
. Retrieved
3 April
2009
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"No. 27244"
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- ^
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(PDF)
.
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. 1 January 1922
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5 April
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- ^
a
b
Associated Press (28 August 1921).
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.
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2009
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- ^
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(PDF)
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5 April
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(PDF)
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5 April
2009
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. Cambridge University Press. p. 94.
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- ^
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. 24 June 1924. p. 4887.
- ^
a
b
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"Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon"
.
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.
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.
Archived
from the original on 21 July 2009.
- ^
"What's in a name?" ? The curious tale of the office of High Commissioner
, by Lorna Lloyd.
- ^
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. Montreal and London: McGill-Queen's University Press. p.
166
.
ISBN
978-0-7735-0310-6
.
- ^
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.
"The Books of Remembrance > History of the Books"
. Queen's Printer for Canada
. Retrieved
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2008
.
- ^
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"The House of Commons Heritage Collection > Carillon > History"
. Queen's Printer for Canada
. Retrieved
24 December
2008
.
- ^
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"The House That History Built"
.
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5
(1). Ottawa: Queen's Printer for Canada
. Retrieved
4 January
2009
.
- ^
"No. 33692"
.
The London Gazette
. 24 February 1931. p. 1283.
- ^
MacMillan, Margaret; Harris, Majorie; Desjardins, Anne L. (2004).
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. Toronto: Alfred A. Knopf Canada.
ISBN
978-0-676-97675-5
.
- ^
"Coveted Trophy for Senators"
.
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: 11. 11 February 1930
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.
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"No. 33700"
.
The London Gazette
. 20 March 1931. p. 1877.
- ^
John F. Riddick (2006).
The History of British India: A Chronology
. Greenwood. p. 110.
ISBN
978-0313322808
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- ^
Brian Roger Tomlinson,
The Indian National Congress and the Raj, 1929?1942: the penultimate phase
(Springer, 1976).
- ^
Rosemary Rees.
India 1900?47
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- ^
Ismay, Hastings (1960).
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ISBN
978-0-8371-6280-5
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- ^
George, Robert E.; Sencourt, Robert (1949).
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. p. 66.
- ^
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.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
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;
Baden-Powell, Olave
(1959).
Scouting Round the World
. London: Blandford Press. pp. 91?93.
ASIN
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.
- ^
Cullen, Pamela V. (2006).
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- ^
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.
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.
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.
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. 31 January 1913. p. 761.
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.
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. 20 July 1926. p. 4795.
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.
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. 20 March 1931. p. 1877.
- ^
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. Friends of Geographical Names of Alberta. Archived from
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on 23 July 2009
. Retrieved
4 April
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.
- ^
Burke's Peerage
. 1949.
External links
[
edit
]
Wikisource
has original text related to this article:
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