#10182, Frederic John Napier THESIGER

Following Winchester and Oxford (1887-1892) Frederic was called to the Bar of the Inner Temple to practice law. A keen cricketer he had captained the Oxford XI and played for Middlesex. In April 1905, following his father's death he secceeded to the title of 3rd Baron Chelmsford and in July that year he accepted his appointment as Governor of Queensland, Australia.

In May 1909 he became Governor of New South Wales and when his term expired he returned to England in March 1913. Upon the outbreak of war he was posted to India and appointed to the Privy Council. Rising quickly he was appointed Viceroy in March 1916 and his term was certainly turbulent and on his return to Britain he was elevated to 1st Viscount Chelmsford. For a short while, surprisingly, in 1924 he joined the Labour administration as First Lord of the Admiralty but he retired from political life before the end of the year. He received honorary degrees from Oxford, Birmingham and Edinburgh, was a long-standing Freemason and became Warden of All Souls, Oxford in 1932.