Governor-General of New Zealand
What was the position of Charles Bathurst, 1st Viscount Bledisloe from Mar 1930 to Mar 1935?
Charles Bathurst , 1st Viscount Bledisloe Charles Bathurst , 1st Viscount Bledisloe , ( 21 September 1867 – 3 July 1958 ) was a British Conservative politician and colonial governor . He was Governor-General of New Zealand from 1930 to 1935 . Early life . Bathurst was born in London , the second son of Charles Bathurst , of Lydney Park , Gloucestershire , and Mary Elizabeth , daughter of Colonel Thomas Hay by Georgette Arnaud . He was educated at Sherborne School , Eton College and then University College , Oxford , where he graduated with a law degree in 1890 . He then studied law and was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1892 , when he gained a Master of Arts from Oxford . He was also called to the bar . He inherited Lydney Park on the death of his elder brother . Member of Parliament and the First World War . Bathurst worked as a barrister and conveyancer . In 1910 he entered parliament representing the Conservative Party as MP for the South or Wilton division of Wiltshire . He served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food . During the First World War of 1914–1918 , Bathurst joined the Royal Engineers Special Reserves , and then served in Southern Command as Assistant Military Secretary at the War Office . He carried out the task of ensuring the country had a supply of sugar when asked to chair the Royal Commission on Sugar Supply until 1919 . Bathurst was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire ( KBE ) in 1917 , and raised to the peerage as Baron Bledisloe of Lydney in the County of Gloucester on 15 October 1918 . He remained in parliament until 1928 , serving as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries from 1924 onwards . The following year Bristol University granted him an honorary Doctorate of Science . He served as a member of the Privy Council from 1926 . Stanley Baldwin appointed Lord Bledisloe to chair the Royal Commission on Land Drainage , probably owing to his own experiences on the banks of the Severn in Gloucestershire . This was his last such honour before being posted overseas . Governor-General of New Zealand . After leaving parliament , Lord Bledisloe was created a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George and invested a Knight of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem on appointment as the fourth Governor-General of New Zealand , an office he held from 1930 until 1935 , proving to be well liked and respected . His social conscience was much appreciated during the Depression era , as was his insistence that his salary should be cut as were the salaries of public servants at the time . Bledisloe also contributed to improved Pākehā–Māori relations , purchasing the site where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed and presenting it to the nation as a memorial . In 1934 , the site was dedicated as a national reserve . The dedication ceremony attracted thousands of people , both Māori and Pākehā . Bledisloe continued to take an interest in the site even after his term expired and he returned to England . He also contributed to the recognition of the Māori King Movement by developing a friendship with King Koroki and Te Puea Herangi , and his willingness to use the title king without reticence . Bledisloe also promoted various causes and events by the presentation of trophies , notably the Bledisloe Cup , the trophy for an ongoing rugby union competition between New Zealand and Australia , first awarded in 1932 , and currently contested annually . He also initiated the New Zealand Chess Federation inter-club championship trophy , also called the Bledisloe Cup . Bledisloe was a freemason . During his term as governor-general , he was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand . Later life . In 1935 , Bledisloe was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal , honorary doctorate of civil laws ( DCL ) from Oxford , and honorary doctorate of Law ( LLD ) from Edinburgh . Upon returning to England he was elevated on 24 June 1935 to Viscount Bledisloe , of Lydney in the County of Gloucester . He continued to serve on a number of committees and councils , and was made a fellow of University College , Oxford and Pro-Vice Chancellor of Bristol . He received the Kings Coronation Medal from George VI in 1937 and was admitted at the same time as Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries . Bledisloe was a director of Lloyds Bank and the Australian Mutual Provident Society ; and latterly also of the P & O Steamship Company . Lord Bledisloe chaired the Bledisloe Commission , also known as the Rhodesia-Nyasaland Royal Commission , appointed in 1937–39 to examine the possible closer union of the three British territories in Central Africa : Southern Rhodesia , Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland . These territories were to some degree economically inter-dependent , and it was suggested that an association would promote their rapid development . ( The three territories would ultimately unite as the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1953. ) In 1943 , he created the Empire Knowledge Trophies , a school competition to promote the British Empire to grammar and secondary technical schools . The competition was organized by the Gloucestershire Education Committee . Lord Blesdisloe himself often attended to present the prizes to the pupils . On his 90th birthday he endowed the Bledisloe Gold Medal for Landowners of the Royal Agricultural Society of England , to be awarded annually for the application of science or technology to some branch of British husbandry . Bledisloe died , aged 90 , at Lydney on 3 July 1958 , and was succeeded as Viscount Bledisloe by his eldest son , Benjamin Ludlow Bathurst . Family . Charles Bathurst married Hon Bertha Susan , daughter of Henry Lopes , 1st Baron Ludlow by Cordelia Clark . They had two boys and a girl . - Benjamin Ludlow , 2nd Viscount Bledisloe ( 1899–1979 ) - Ursula Mary ( 1900-1975 ) , married Horace Field Parshall Jr ( 1903-1986 ) - Hon Henry Charles Hiley ( 1904–1969 ) Sports . Upon its formation in 1888 , Bathurst was invited to become President of Lydney Rugby Football Club . He held this position for 70 years until his death and was succeeded as by his eldest son , Benjamin . The Australia – New Zealand Bledisloe Cup , and Bledisloe Park sports ground in New Zealand , are named for Bledisloe . Styles . - 1867–1910 : Charles Bathurst - 1910–1914 : Charles Bathurst , MP - 1914–1917 : Captain Charles Bathurst , MP - 1917–24 October 1918 : Captain Sir Charles Bathurst , KBE , MP - 24 October 1918 – 1926 : The Right Honourable The Lord Bledisloe , KBE - 1926–1930 : The Right Honourable The Lord Bledisloe , KBE , PC - 1930-1 January 1935 : His Excellency The Right Honourable The Lord Bledisloe , GCMG , KBE , PC - 1 January – 28 June 1935 : The Right Honourable The Lord Bledisloe , GCMG , KBE , PC , KStJ - 28 June 1935 – 1958 : The Right Honourable The Viscount Bledisloe , GCMG , KBE , PC , KStJ External links . - Lydney Rugby Football Clu