Sir George Ruthven Le Hunte, KCMG

Sir George Ruthven Le Hunte GCMG was born on the 20th August 1852 in Artramon, County Wexford, Ireland, the son of GeorgeLe Hunte, high sheriff, and Mary, daughter of Edward Pennefather, lord chief justice of Ireland. He married Caroline Rachel Clowes (cousin of Evelyn May Clowes) on 14 February 1884. He died on the 29th January 1925.

He was the Governor of South Australia from 1 July 1903 until 18 February 1909, soon after federation of Australia. 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.

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

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/le-hunte-sir-george-ruthven-7162

OUR NEW GOVERNOR.

Although thfest appointment of Mr George Ruthven Le Hunte, C.M.G., to the Governorship of South Australia will cause a general feeling of surprise. there is no reason why the choice of the Colonial Office should not be deemed entirely suitable. While South Australians do not affect to depreciate the value of titular honours, or overlook the advantages associated with the possession of 'blue blood' and an ancestral roll in Debrett, they cannot be accused of paying' undue homage to the mere outward semblances of nobility. The late Mr. R. W. Hanbury wisely remarked recently that the empire is so;wide, and its interests so great and diversified, that it must look less than it has hitherto done to the / highborn and wealthy classes for administrative officials, and depend more upon personal merit and talent, wherever those qualities may be found. The cry: for efficiency, now echoing through the empire, was first voiced by a prominent Liberal peer, and the latest selections for (responsible imperial offices justify the hope that the eminently) sensible demand for first-class talent for the discharge of lofty titles is not being made in vain. South /Australia 'has been exceedingly fortunate in her Governors. She has bad a succession of capable,- judicious, public spirited, and generous viceroys, who have rarely failed to win popular respect and esteem as administrators and as men. Mr. Le Hunte will come to us with a fine reputation for useful and valuable work conscientiously performed in the interests of the empire and he deserves, and -will assuredly receive, a sympathetic welcome. His appointment indicates on the part of the Iimperial Government a reversion to the old typo of Governors which was last represented here by the late Sir W. 0. F. Robinson. Mr. Le Hunte has occupied numerous responsible posts in Crown colonies, and the honourable distinction now given to him comes as a promotion earned by faithful and conspicuously able service. The new Governor is a scholar and a lawyer.

His first appointment under the Colonial Office was as Private Secretary to the Governor of Fiji in 1875. In that colony he afterwards had other high offices. In 1883 he was Judicial Commissioner for the High Commissioner of the Western Pacific. Subsequently he held administrative posts successively in Dominica, Barbados, and Mauritius, and in 1898 he became Lieutenant-Governor of British New Guinea. The energy, discretion, courage, 'and judicial talent which be has since dis played in the performance of his multifarious, onerous, and, ofttimes dangerous duties in that dependency of the Commonwealtih have won for him golden opinions. The impending change in his status will be the more marked because the position of head of a self-governing state forms a strong contrast to that of a benevolent autocrat, devising and applying laws for untutored barbarians. The difficulties which . the Governor-designate will encounter are Heightened by the fact that the present Lieutenant-Governor has proved & most admirable representative of the King. As a leader in religious and philanthropic enterprises, arid as a representative of the intellectual life of Australia, Sir Samuel Way has won enduring esteem, and his devotion to the best interests of the community during a protracted career has won for him an unrivalled reputation. Mr. and Mrs. Le Hunte cannot do better than seek to maintain the excellent traditions which have so long been established at Government House. Meanwhile, their advent among us will be awaited with pleasant expectation.

OUR NEW GOVERNOR. (1903, May 9). The Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), p. 6. Retrieved October 12, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55432899