Prime Minister of Malta
Which position did Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland hold from Aug 1927 to 1928?
Gerald Strickland , 1st Baron Strickland Gerald Paul Joseph Cajetan Carmel Antony Martin Strickland , 6th Count della Catena , 1st Baron Strickland , ( 24 May 1861 – 22 August 1940 ) was a Maltese and British politician and peer , who served as Prime Minister of Malta , Governor of the Leeward Islands , Governor of Tasmania , Governor of Western Australia and Governor of New South Wales , in addition to sitting successively in the House of Commons and House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Early life . Strickland was born in Valletta , the son of naval officer Commander Walter Strickland , from the ancient English Strickland family of Sizergh , and Maria Aloysia Bonici-Mompalao , the niece and heiress of Sir Nicholas Sceberras Bologna , fifth Count della Catena in Malta , whom Gerald succeeded in 1875 . He was educated at St Marys College , Oscott , and Trinity College , Cambridge ( BA , LLB ) . Upon graduating , he was admitted to Inner Temple in 1887 entitled to practice as a Barrister-at-Law . He gained the rank of Major in the service of the Royal Malta Militia . Elected in 1886 to the council of the government of Malta , Strickland began to take an active part in Maltese politics at an early age and in December 1887 , he accompanied Dr . Fortunato Mizzi – founder of the Maltese Nationalist Party – to the first Colonial Conference in London to submit a scheme for a legislative assembly . The result was that the new Maltese Constitution of December 1887 was largely based on the joint Strickland-Mizzi proposals . In the following year , he was appointed as Assistant Secretary to Malta in 1888 and held the office of Chief Secretary of Malta in 1889 , a post which he held till July 1902 when to avert more trouble in Malta which were created by his orders in councils to increase taxation , he was appointed as Governor of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean . Sir Gerald and Lady Edeline Strickland left Southampton for Antigua in September 1902 , and took up residence at Government House , St Johns on arrival . He was appointed as Governor of Tasmania in 1904 , serving as such until 1909 , and then as Governor of Western Australia from 1909 to 1913 . In the early years consequent upon Australian Federation he was involved in the delicate matter of State rights and the developing nature of the appointment , role and salaries of governors . Appointed as Governor of New South Wales in March 1913 , on 30 May 1913 he was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George ( GCMG ) . He was a supporter of the Eugenics Education Society . Political career . In 1917 , Strickland returned to Malta and , after the grant of Self-Government , formed the Anglo-Maltese Party in 1921 , which soon afterward amalgamated with the Maltese Constitutional Party to become the Constitutional Party under his leadership . Strickland was the leader of the Opposition between 1921 and 1927 . In 1924 , he won the seat of Lancaster for the Conservatives in the United Kingdom House of Commons . He left the House of Commons in 1928 upon being made a peer . After the 1927 election , Strickland had a majority in the Legislative Assembly and became Head of the Ministry ( the fourth Prime Minister of Malta ) from August 1927 until 1932 . Amongst the most important events of his government were the commencement of building works for St . Lukes Hospital in Gwardamanġia and his clash with the Senate , which led to the issue of Letters Patent which curtailed its powers and his concurrent clash with the ecclesiastical authorities . On 1 May 1930 , Sir Mauro Monsignor Caruana , Titular Archbishop of Rhodes and Bishop of Malta , and Mikiel Monsignor Gonzi , Bishop of Gozo , issued a pastoral letter , read in all the churches of Malta and Gozo . In it , Archbishop Caruana and Bishop Gonzi declared that whoever voted for the Constitutional Party and its former coalition partner , the Labour Party , committed a mortal sin . That year he narrowly avoided assassination . This mortal sin was also committed by those who read Stricklands newspapers , printed by his Progress Press , namely the Daily Malta Chronicle and Ix-Xemx . He subsequently began publishing Il-Progress and Il-Berqa . The clash between the Catholic bishops and the Constitutional Party led to the suspension of the Maltese Constitution following consultations between the British Governor and London . Between July 1932 and November 1933 , Strickland was again the leader of the Opposition , and after the grant of a new Constitution in 1939 , he became the leader of the elected majority in the Council of Government . Personal life . Strickland married Lady Edeline Sackville-West ( 1870–1918 ) , the daughter of The 7th Earl De La Warr and the Honourable Constance Mary Elizabeth Cochrane-Wishart-Baillie , on 26 August 1890 . They had six daughters , and two sons who died at an early age . Their first daughter married Henry Hornyold , became known as Mrs Hornyold-Strickland and chaired the Conservative Party Conference in 1947 . They had the following children : - Reginald Strickland ( 1892–1893 ) - Hon . Mary Christina Strickland ( 1896–1970 ) - Hon . Cecilia Victoria Strickland ( 1897–1982 ) - Hon . Mabel Edeline Strickland OBE ( 1899–1988 ) - Margaret Angela Strickland ( 1900–1901 ) - Hon . Henrietta May Strickland ( 1903–1975 ) , who married Robert Tatton Bower - Walter Strickland ( 1901–1902 ) - Hon . Dr . Constance Teresa Strickland LMSSA ( 1912–1979 ) On 31 August 1926 , following the death of Lady Edeline in 1918 , Strickland married Margaret Hulton , daughter of the newspaper proprietor Edward Hulton in the same church as his earlier wedding . She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire ( DBE ) in the 1937 Coronation Honours . Strickland was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George ( CMG ) in 1889 , for rendering invaluable services during a severe cholera epidemic . He was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1897 . He was raised to the Peerage of the United Kingdom as Baron Strickland , of Sizergh Castle in the County of Westmorland , on 19 January 1928 . He died at Villa Bologna , his residence in Attard , and is buried in the family crypt at St . Pauls Cathedral , Mdina . Bibliography . - Montalto , J. , The Nobles of Malta-1530–1800 , Midsea Books Ltd , Malta , 1980 . - Burkes Peerage , Baronetage and Knightage of the UK ( 106th ed. ) ( London 2002 ) . - Giles Ash , S. , The Nobility of Malta , Publishers Enterprises Group ( PEG Ltd 1988 ) . - Koster , A. , Prelates and politicians in Malta , ( Amsterdam University 1977 ) .