Cavendish Boyle

Sir Charles Cavendish Boyle KCMG AMInstCE (29 May 1849 – 17 September 1916) was a British civil servant, magistrate, and colonial administrator who served as Colonial Governor of Newfoundland, Mauritius and British Guiana.[2] He wrote the lyrics for the anthem of the Dominion and later Province of Newfoundland, "Ode to Newfoundland".

Sir Cavendish Boyle
Sir Cavendish with the badge of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George
Personal details
Born	Charles Cavendish Boyle 29 May 1849 Bridgetown, Barbados[1]
Died	29 May 1916 (aged 67) London, England
Citizenship	British
Spouse(s)	Judith Sassoon ​ (m. 1914)​
Profession	Colonial administrator

Early life and education

Known as Cavendish Boyle, he was born in Barbados into an ancient British family, the son of Capt. Cavendish Spencer Boyle and Rose Susan Alexander, daughter of Lt-Col. C. C. Alexander. He was the grandson of Sir Courtenay Boyle and the great-grandson of the Seventh Earl of Cork and Earl of Orrery.[2] His elder brother, Sir Courtenay Edmund Boyle, was also a civil servant who served as Permanent Secretary to the Board of Trade.[3]

Boyle was educated in London at Charterhouse, and later studied colonial administration and law.[1]

Career

Sheet music produced for the debut of "Ode to Newfoundland" in 1902.

Boyle joined the British Colonial Office and was made magistrate in the Leeward Islands in 1879.[1] He served as Colonial Secretary in Bermuda from 1882 to 1888 and in Gibraltar from 1888 to 1894. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint John (CMG) in 1889,[4] and granted a knighthood in the same order in the 1897 Diamond Jubilee Honours.[5]

In 1894 he moved to British Guiana, where he was Government Secretary and acted as Governor several times.[2]

In March 1901, he was appointed Governor of Newfoundland,[6] where he arrived in St. Johns in mid-June.[7] He stayed as such until 1904, and wrote poems to the island's rugged beauty including the Ode to Newfoundland which was adopted as the dominion's national anthem. As governor, Boyle donated a trophy, the Boyle Challenge Cup, to the Newfoundland Hockey League.

He continued his colonial career with a posting as the 19th Governor of Mauritius from 20 August 1904 to 10 April 1911, after which he retired to Brighton, England.[2]

Personal life

In 1914, Boyle married to Judith Louise Sassoon MBE, daughter of Reuben David Sassoon (1835-1905). They had no children. He died in London in 1916 after undergoing an operation. His widow, who was 25 years his junior, lived to be 90, dying in 1960.[3]

References

1. "Boyle, Sir Charles Cavendish (1849-1916)". Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage. Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
2. "Sir Cavendish Boyle". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 18 September 1916. p. 11.
3. Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 900. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
4. Dod, Charles Roger; Dod, Robert Phipps (1904). Dod's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland, Including All the Titled Classes. p. 180. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
5. "No. 26947". The London Gazette. 14 March 1898. p. 1679.
6. "No. 27290". The London Gazette. 1 March 1901. p. 1499.
7. "Court and Social". The Times (36483). London. 17 June 1901. p. 11.

External links

• Biography at Government House The Governorship of Newfoundland and Labrador
• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online