1. George Bowen was educated at Charterhouse School and Trinity College, Oxford.
21 Facts About George Bowen
1. 2.
George Bowen was elected a fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford, and entered Lincoln's Inn as a student, both in 1844.
3.
In 1847, George Bowen was appointed president of the Ionian Academy located in Corfu, a post he held until 1851.
4.
George Bowen became the chief secretary to the government of the Ionian Islands in 1854.
5.
George Bowen was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1855 and was advanced to Knight Commander in the following year.
6.
In 1859, George Bowen was appointed the first Governor of Queensland, a colony that had just been separated from New South Wales.
7.
George Bowen was interested in the exploration of Queensland and in the establishment of a volunteer force, but incurred some unpopularity by refusing to sanction the issue of inconvertible paper money during the financial crisis of 1866.
8.
In 1867 George Bowen was made Governor of New Zealand, where he was successful in reconciling the Maori reaction to British rule and saw the end of the New Zealand Wars.
9.
George Bowen instituted the New Zealand Cross for colonial soldiers, one of the rarest bravery awards in the world and equivalent to the Victoria Cross.
10.
George Bowen's proposal, incorporating the Southern Cross, was approved and remains in use to this day.
11.
In March 1873, George Bowen was transferred to the colony of Victoria as the Governor of Victoria, where he embarked on an endeavour to reduce the expenses of the colony.
12.
In January 1878, backed by advice from the Colonial Office, George Bowen consented to premier Graham Berry's plan to break the deadlock by the wholesale dismissal of public servants on so-called "Black Wednesday".
13.
George Bowen arrived on Mauritius on 4 April 1879, and served as 13th Governor of the colony until 9 December 1880.
14.
On 30 March 1883, George Bowen was made Governor of Hong Kong.
15.
George Bowen founded the first college in Hong Kong, and ordered the construction of the Typhoon Shelter in Causeway Bay, and a government hospital.
16.
George Bowen returned to England after his time in Hong Kong and was appointed chief of a Royal Commission sent to Malta in December 1887 to help to draft the new constitution for the island.
17.
George Bowen married his second wife, Letitia Florence White, in late 1896 at Chelsea, London.
18.
George Bowen died on 21 February 1899 in Brighton in Sussex, aged 77 years old.
19.
George Bowen died from bronchitis after a short illness of two days.
20.
George Bowen was buried on 25 February 1899 in Kensal Green cemetery in London.
21.
Several objects connected to George Bowen are held in the collections of the State Library of Queensland, including his ceremonial sword, an 1865 sterling silver ceremonial spade presented to George Bowen during turning of the first sod of the first section of the Queensland Northern Railway and an 1882 pastel portrait by artist Henry Gordon Fanner.