death_date death_place birth_place imagesize office birth_date term_start image article_title term_end name
8 august 1884 port of spain , trinidad worlingworth , suffolk , england 200px clerk secretary to the governor of sierra leone colonial secretary of to western australia & nominated mlc british honduras lieutenant governor trinidad the administrator executive and legislative councils & private 6 february 1827 1853 july 1855 march 1877 april 1884 frederick barlee.jpg frederick barlee
 1855 24 november 1875 september 1882 august 1884 frederick barlee
frederick barlee

sir frederick palgrave barlee kcmg -lrb- 6 february 1827 -- 8 august 1884 -rrb- was colonial secretary of western australia from 1855 to 1875 ; lieutenant-governor of the british honduras -lrb- now belize -rrb- from 1877 to 1882 ; and administrator of trinidad in 1884 .
frederick barlee was born in worlingworth , suffolk , england on 6 february 1827 .
he was educated privately and at local schools , and in 1845 he entered the public service as a clerk to the ordnance department in chatham and woolwich .
in 1851 , barlee married jane oseland .
later that year he was posted to sierra leone , where he served initially as a barrack-master and storekeeper .
in 1853 he became clerk to the executive and legislative councils , and private secretary to the governor of sierra leone arthur edward kennedy .
in 1855 , kennedy was appointed governor of western australia , and he arranged for barlee to be appointed colonial secretary .
both men arrived in western australia in june 1855 , and commenced work the following month .
as colonial secretary , barlee became a nominated member of the western australian legislative council .
kennedy immediately embarked on a range of reforms , with barlee largely responsible for their implementation .
kennedy 's reforms were unpopular , and barlee made numerous enemies during this time .
however by 1856 barlee and kennedy had fallen out ; after this , barlee often opposed kennedy on important issues , and his influence declined .
in 1862 , governor kennedy was succeeded by governor john hampton , and barlee returned to a position of influence .
in 1863 , he became permanent chairman of the board of education .
the following year he gave bishop matthew hale financial help in establishing the bishop 's collegiate school -lrb- now hale school -rrb- , and was appointed first governor of the school .
that year , he also invested in the unsuccessful attempt to establish a pastoral settlement at roebuck bay .
eventually , barlee again fell out of favour with the governor , this time through disagreements over the treatment of convicts , and the management of the convict system in general .
during the period from november 1868 to september 1869 colonel john bruce was acting governor and there was a great deal of friction between bruce and barlee .
john bruce was replaced by frederick weld in 1869 , and barlee again became an influential figure .
weld and barlee shared an enthusiasm for representative government , and together they worked to promote it .
largely due to their efforts , western australia obtained representative government in may 1870 .
under the new system of government , barlee became the most powerful person in the colony other than weld himself .
in 1873 , barlee began to work for early achievement of responsible government .
both directly and through a newspaper that he had recently bought a stake in , barlee agitated for responsible government , and in 1874 the legislative council passed a resolution calling for the constitutional change .
although weld did not think that western australia was yet ready for responsible government , he accepted the situation and passed on the request to the colonial office in london .
the colonial office were strongly against granting responsible government , and were critical of weld for allowing the situation to arise .
shortly afterwards , weld was transferred to tasmania .
barlee , perhaps anticipating a transfer , took long service leave and left for england in july 1875 .
in his absence , the demand for responsible government receded , and it would not be granted until 1890 .
barlee remained nominal colonial secretary for another eighteen months , and intended to return to the position unless he was offered a better appointment elsewhere .
in 1877 , he was made cmg .
also in 1877 , he was appointed lieutenant-governor of british honduras -lrb- now belize -rrb- , a position that he held until 1882 .
after briefly visiting western australia to attend to some investments , he returned to england to await his next posting .
he was made kcmg in 1883 , but had to wait until april 1884 for his next posting , as administrator of trinidad .
barlee arrived at port of spain , trinidad and took up his appointment in june 1884 , but died from asthma just seven weeks later on 8 august 1884 .
barlee had married in 1851 , jane , daughter of edward john oseland , of coleraine , ireland , who survived him .
