page_title: Thomas Denman, 3rd Baron Denman
section_title: Governor-General
hierarchical_section_title: Thomas Denman, 3rd Baron Denman / Governor-General
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph by Frank H. Boland, 12 March 1913, from the Naming of Canberra ceremony. Photograph shows the Governor General, Lord Denman, inspecting cadets.
context_page_description: Thomas Denman, 3rd Baron Denman, GCMG, KCVO, PC, was a British aristocrat and politician who served as the fifth Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1911 to 1914.
  Denman was born into the English nobility, inheriting his title at the age of 19 from a great-uncle. He attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and served in the Second Boer War. Denman sat with the Liberal Party in the House of Lords, and was made a Lord-in-waiting in 1905 and Chief Whip in 1907. He was appointed to the governor-generalship at the age of 36, and remains the youngest person to have held the position. Denman and his young family were immensely popular with the general public, and he enjoyed friendly relations with Prime Minister Andrew Fisher, with whom he shared many similar political opinions. However, he suffered from ill health and returned to England after less than three years as governor-general. Denman never again held public office, but remained active in the House of Lords and briefly commanded a unit in the First World War.
context_section_description: The Denmans arrived in Melbourne on 31 July 1911. They found Andrew Fisher's Labor government firmly in control. As the most politically liberal Governor-General yet appointed, he got on well with the Labor ministers, and his modesty and generosity with his father-in-law's money made him popular with the public.  In October 1912, the New South Wales Premier, James McGowen "evicted" him from Government House, Sydney. On 12 March 1913, he inaugurated the site of the future national capital and Lady Denman formally announced its name, Canberra. On 12 March 2013, his great-nephew, the 6th Baron Denman and his wife attended celebrations in Canberra commemorating the centenary of the naming of the city.
  But Denman found that he had less real political influence than any previous Governor-General. As Australia, along with the other dominions, achieved political maturity, its Prime Minister communicated directly with his British counterpart, cutting the Colonial Secretary and the Governor-General out of the loop. The appointment of an Australian High Commissioner in London further reduced the Governor-General's diplomatic role.
  In May 1913 the Labor government was unexpectedly defeated at a general election by Joseph Cook's Liberals. But Labor retained control of the Senate and was determined to frustrate Cook's government at every turn. By early 1914 it was clear that a constitutional crisis was developing.  Denman was in poor health—that he was allergic to Australia's national flower, the wattle, did not help—and his marriage was suffering from his wife's unhappiness at being so far from home. He felt he lacked the strength to deal with the political situation, and in May 1914 he resigned.
  The Denman Glacier in eastern Antarctica was named after Denman by Sir Douglas Mawson. It had been discovered by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911–14.
caption: The cadets being inspected by the Governor-General on 12 March 1913, at the Canberra naming ceremony
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