Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava KP, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC (21 June 1826 – 12 February 1902) was a British public servant and prominent member of Victorian society. In his youth, he was a popular figure in the court of Queen Victoria, and became well known to the public after publishing a best-selling account of his travels in the North Atlantic. He is now best known as one of the most successful diplomats of his time. His long career in public service began as a commissioner to Syria in 1860, where his skillful diplomacy maintained British interests while preventing France from instituting a client state in Lebanon. After his success in Syria, Lord Dufferin served in the Government of the United Kingdom as the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Under-Secretary of State for War. In 1872 he became the third Governor General of Canada, bolstering imperial ties in the early years of the Dominion, and in 1884 he reached the pinnacle of his diplomatic career as eighth Viceroy of India. Following his retirement from the diplomatic service in 1896, his final years were marred by personal tragedy and a misguided attempt to secure his family's financial position. His eldest son was killed in the Second Boer War, shortly before a mining company of which he had become chairman collapsed under scandalous circumstances. Although no personal blame attached to Dufferin, it was a blow to his failing health; he withdrew from public life and died in early 1902. On his father's side, Lord Dufferin was descended from Scottish settlers who had moved to County Down in the early 17th century. The Blackwood family had become prominent landowners over the following two hundred years, and were created baronets in 1763, entering the Peerage of Ireland in 1800 as Baron Dufferin. The family had influence in parliament because they controlled the return for the borough of Killyleagh. Marriages in the Blackwood family were often advantageous to their landowning and high society ambitions, but Lord Dufferin's father, Captain Price Blackwood, did not marry into a landowning family. His wife, Helen Selina Sheridan, was the granddaughter of the playwright Richard Sheridan, and through her, the family became connected to English literary and political circles. Lord Dufferin was thus born into considerable advantage as Frederick Temple Blackwood in Florence, Italy in 1826. He studied at Eton and the College of Christ Church at the University of Oxford, where he became president of the Oxford Union Society for debate, although he left the college after only two years without obtaining a degree. He succeeded his father in 1841 as 5th Baron Dufferin and Claneboye in the Peerage of Ireland, and was appointed a Lord-in-Waiting to Queen Victoria in 1849. In 1850 he was created Baron Claneboye, of Clandeboye in the County of Down, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.[1] In 1856, Lord Dufferin commissioned the schooner Foam, and set off on a journey around the North Atlantic. He first visited Iceland, where he visited the then-minuscule Reykjavík, the plains of Þingvellir, and Geysir. Returning to Reykjavík, the Foam was towed north by Prince Napoleon, who was on an expedition to the region in the steamer La Reine Hortense. Dufferin sailed close to Jan Mayen Island, but was unable to land due to heavy ice, and caught only a very brief glimpse of the island through the fog. From Jan Mayen, the Foam sailed to northern Norway, stopping at Hammerfest, before sailing for Spitsbergen. On his return, Lord Dufferin published a book about his travels, Letters From High Latitudes. With its irreverent style and lively pace, it was extremely successful, and can be regarded as the prototype of the comic travelogue. It remained in print for many years, and was translated into French and German. The letters were nominally written to his mother, with whom he had developed a very close relationship after the death of his father when he was 15.[2] Despite the great success of Letters From High Latitudes, Dufferin did not pursue a career as an author, although he was known for his skillful writing throughout his career. Instead he became a public servant, with his first major public appointment in 1860 as British representative on a commission to Syria to investigate the causes of a civil war earlier that year in which the Maronite Christian population had been subject to massacres by the Muslim and Druze populations. Working with French, Russian, Prussian and Turkish representatives on the commission, Lord Dufferin proved remarkably successful in achieving the objectives of British policy in the area. He upheld Turkish rule in the area, and prevented the French from establishing a client state in Lebanon, later securing the removal of a French occupying force in Syria. He also defended the interests of the Druze community, with whom Britain had a long association. The other parties on the commission were inclined to repress the Druze population, but Dufferin argued that had the Christians won the war they would have been just as bloodthirsty. The long-term plan agreed by the commission for the governance of the region was largely that proposed by Dufferin — that Lebanon should be governed separately from the rest of Syria, by a Christian Ottoman who was not a native of Syria.[3] Dufferin's achievements in Syria launched his long and successful career in public service. In 1864 he became Under-Secretary of State for India, moving to Under-Secretary of War in 1866, and from 1868 he held the position of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in Prime Minister Gladstone's government. In 1871 he was raised in the Peerage as Earl of Dufferin, in the County of Down, and Viscount Clandeboye, of Clandeboye in the County of Down.[3] Lord Dufferin took the name Hamilton by royal licence 9 September 1862, shortly before his marriage to Hariot Georgina Rowan-Hamilton on 23 October 1862. He was distantly related to the Hamilton family by previous marriages, and the union was partly designed to eliminate some long-standing hostilities between the families. Dufferin also took the name of Temple, on 13 November 1872.[3] They had seven children; the two youngest, a son and a daughter, were born in Canada: Shortly after his own marriage, he was deeply upset when his mother married his friend George Hay, styled Earl of Gifford, a man some 17 years her junior. The marriage scandalised society, but Lord Gifford died only weeks afterward. Despite his disapproval of his mother's second marriage, Lord Dufferin was devastated by her death in 1867, and built Helen's Tower, a memorial to her, on the estate at Clandeboye. A nearby bay was also named Helen's Bay, and a station of that name was built there by him, seeding the growth of the modern Belfast commuter town of Helen's Bay.[4] After his mother's death Dufferin's diplomatic career advanced rapidly. He became Governor General of Canada in 1872, and his six-year tenure was a period of rapid change in Canadian history. During his term, Prince Edward Island was admitted to Confederation, and several well-known Canadian institutions, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Royal Military College of Canada, and the Intercolonial Railway, were established.[5] In Dufferin's opinion, his two predecessors in the post had not given the position the prominence it deserved. He consciously set out to assume a more active role, and to get to know ordinary Canadians as much as possible.[3] He was at ease speaking with a wide variety of people, both in English and French, and became known for his charm and hospitality. At a time when a weak or uncharismatic Governor General might have loosened the ties to Empire, Dufferin felt that involving himself with the people of the Dominion would strengthen constitutional links to Britain. He visited every Canadian province, and was the first Governor General to visit Manitoba.[6] Lord Dufferin involved himself as much as was permissible in Canadian politics, even going so far as to advise ministers to abandon policies which he thought mistaken. He followed proceedings in the Parliament with interest, although as the Queen's representative he was barred from entering the House of Commons. He established an Office of the Governor General in a wing of the Parliament buildings, and Lady Dufferin attended many debates and reported back to him. In 1873, the Pacific scandal arose when the Conservative government of John A. Macdonald was accused by the Liberal opposition of financial impropriety in relation to the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Dufferin prorogued parliament, and established an enquiry which found against the Government, and MacDonald fell from power.[6] In 1873 Dufferin established the Governor General's Academic Medals for superior academic achievement by Canadian students. Today, these medals are the most prestigious that school students can be awarded, and more than 50,000 have been awarded in total. He also instituted several sporting prizes, including the Governor General's Match for shooting, and the Governor General's Curling Trophy.[5] Dufferin made several extensions and improvements to Rideau Hall, the official Governor General's residence. He added a ballroom in 1873, and in 1876 built the Tent Room to accommodate the increasing number of functions being held at the Hall. He also attracted ordinary Canadians to the Hall grounds by constructing an ice skating rink, to which he contributed $1,624.95 of his own money, which was later reimbursed by the government. Public use of the rink was on condition of being "properly dressed". These additions enhanced Rideau Hall's role as an important centre of social affairs.[6] The Dufferins also used the Citadel of Quebec in Quebec City as a second vice-regal residence. When Quebec city officials began to demolish the old city walls, Dufferin was appalled, persuading them to stop the demolition, and to repair and restore what had already been damaged. Old Quebec was recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in the 1980s. Dufferin's final public appearance as Governor General was in Quebec City, to lay the foundation stone for Dufferin Terrace, a walkway overlooking the St. Lawrence River built to his own design.[5]