Eric Woodward Lieutenant General Sir Eric Winslow Woodward KCMG , KCVO , CB , CBE , DSO ( 21 July 189929 December 1967 ) was an Australian military officer and Viceroy . Following long service in the Australian Army , including terms as Deputy Chief of the General Staff and General Officer Commanding Eastern Command , he was appointed as the Governor of New South Wales from 1957 to 1965 , thus becoming the first New South Wales - born Governor of the state . Early life . Woodward was born in Hay , New South Wales in July 1899 , the third son of Victorian - born parents Albert William Woodward , a cattle station manager , and his wife Marie Woodward , née Reid . He and attended Toowoomba Grammar School . At school he did well academically , becoming Captain of the swimming team and playing in the First XV Rugby Team . However , due to his family ' s financial concerns , he was unable to attend university . Therefore , in 1917 he entered the Royal Military College , Duntroon . He graduated and was commissioned a lieutenant on 16 December 1920 . Woodward first served twelve months with the 7th Queen ' s Own Hussars in India from 1921 - 1922 . Following this service Woodward returned to Australia and , in 1925 , he transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force and qualified as a pilot at No . 1 Flying Training School in Point Cook , Victoria . On 7 February 1927 , in Melbourne , he married his cousin Amy Weller . Despite his apparent success as a pilot , he reverted to the army service in 1928 . In December 1928 , he was promoted to captain and became adjutant and quartermaster of the 19th Light Horse Regiment ( 1928 - 1929 ) , and of the 4th Light Horse Regiment ( 1929 - 1934 ) before being posted to the Directorate of Military Training , Melbourne . In January 1937 he was sent to the Staff College , Camberley in England . Second World War . Following the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 , Woodward joined the Second Australian Imperial Force as Deputy Assistant Quartermaster - General for the 6th Division AIF , and left for the Middle East in April 1940 . In the Middle East he gained distinction during the North Africa campaign from December 1940 to January 1941 and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire ( OBE ) on 8 July 1941 . He served in the Greece Campaign from March to April 1941 as a lieutenant colonel on General Sir Thomas Blamey ' s staff and later served in the I Corps in the Syrian campaign . In May 1942 he was posted to the 9th Division AIF . He fought in both the 1st and 2nd Battles of El Alamein and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order on 11 February 1943 . He was twice mentioned in dispatches for his work in the Middle East . Arriving back in Australia in February 1943 , in March Woodward was promoted to the rank of brigadier and was posted to the headquarters of the Northern Territory Force until December 1943 . He then served in various administrative positions until the end of the war . From July 1945 to March 1946 he was appointed deputy adjutant and quartermaster - general , at headquarters on Morotai . Post - war career . In 1948 Woodward attended the Imperial Defence College and remained in London as Australian army representative for the High Commission of Australia in London . In December 1949 he was at Army Headquarters in Melbourne and implemented the new National Service scheme , and fought for improvements in soldiers ' pay and conditions . In 1950 and 1951 he reported directly to Prime Minister Robert Menzies as head of a special staff which planned counter - measures in the event of the government ' s attempt to ban the Communist Party of Australia leading to industrial unrest . On 20 February 1951 he was promoted to temporary major general and made Deputy Chief of the General Staff . Weary of involvement with bureaucrats , he requested not be put forward as a candidate for Chief of the General Staff . In 1952 he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire ( CBE ) . Appointed General Officer Commanding Eastern Command in December 1953 , he was elevated to the same role his great - grandfather Charles William Wall had held from 1823 to 1825 . He was further appointed as a Companion of the Order of the Bath ( CB ) in 1956 . Woodward was further promoted as a lieutenant general in December 1953 . Governor of New South Wales . When Sir John Northcott ' s term as Governor of New South Wales drew to a close , the Premier , Joseph Cahill , sought another Australian - born military officer to succeed him and chose Woodward , who assumed office on 1 August 1957 . The thirty - first governor of New South Wales , he was the first to have been born in the state . As Governor he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1958 and a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1963 . For part of his term in office , as the longest - serving Governor , he acted as Administrator of the Commonwealth of Australia from 16 June to 30 August 1964 in the absence of the Governor - General of Australia , The Viscount De L ' Isle . In recognition of his service as Governor , Woodward was awarded honorary doctorates by various universities , including an honorary Doctor of Science ( Hon . DSc ) from the University of New South Wales ( 1958 ) , an honorary Doctor of Letters ( Hon . DLitt ) on 29 April 1959 by the University of Sydney and New England ( 1961 ) . On 30 June 1961 , he officially opened Vaucluse Boys ' High School . He laid the foundation for International House , University of New South Wales on 13 February 1965 . Woodward retired on 31 July 1965 and he and his wife moved to Wahroonga . Death and legacy . Woodward died on 29 December 1967 at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital , Camperdown and was given a state funeral with full military honours . Lady Woodward survived him , as did their daughter and son , Sir Edward Woodward , who became a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia . The Sir Eric Woodward Memorial School for children with intellectual and physical disabilities was established in 1971 and named in his honour . In 1970 , the Public Transport Commission in charge of Sydney Ferries commissioned a new ship for the " Lady class " of ferries . Launched at the New South Wales State Dockyard in Newcastle in 1970 , it was named the " Lady Woodward " to commemorate their service in office . The Lady Woodward was sold in 1993 and now operates as a privately owned craft in Tin Can Bay , Queensland . 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