{{Short description|British politician}} {{other people}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} {{infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Sir Alexander Bannerman | honorific_suffix = | image = Sir Alexander Bannerman.jpg | office = [[List of governors of Newfoundland and Labrador#Colonial Governors of Newfoundland, 1855–1907|Governor of Newfoundland]] | term_start = 1857 | term_end = 1864 | predecessor = [[Charles Henry Darling|Sir Charles Henry Darling]] | successor = [[Anthony Musgrave|Sir Anthony Musgrave]] | office1 = [[Governor of the Bahamas]] | term_start1 = 1854 | term_end1 = 1857 | predecessor1 = [[Charles John Bayley]] | successor1 = [[John Gregory (governor)|John Gregory]] | office2 = [[Lieutenant-Governors of Prince Edward Island|Governor of Prince Edward Island]] | term_start2 = 1851 | term_end2 = 1854 | predecessor2 = [[Ambrose Lane]] | successor2 = [[Dominick Daly]] | office3 = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Aberdeen (UK Parliament constituency)|Aberdeen]] | term_start3 = 1832 | term_end3 = 1847 | predecessor3 = ''New constituency'' | successor3 = [[Alexander Fordyce (politician)|Alexander Fordyce]] | office4 = 37th [[Rector of the University of Aberdeen#Rector of Marischal College, Aberdeen|Rector of Marischal College, Aberdeen]] | term_start4 = 1834 | term_end4 = 1836 | predecessor4 = [[Sir Charles Forbes, 1st Baronet|Sir Charles Forbes]] | successor4 = [[John Abercrombie (physician)|Dr. John Abercrombie]] | birth_date = {{birth date|1788|10|07|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Aberdeen]], Scotland | death_date = {{death date and age|1864|12|30|1788|10|07|df=yes}} | death_place = [[Mayfair, London]] | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = | parents = Thomas Bannerman<br />Jean Simson | spouse = {{marriage|Margaret Gordon<br />|1825||reason=}} | children = | relations = [[Sir Alexander Bannerman, 6th Baronet]] (uncle) }} '''Sir Alexander Bannerman''' (7 October 1788 – 30 December 1864) was a Scottish merchant, [[vintner]], politician and British colonial governor.
==Early life== Known as "Sandy", he was born on 7 October 1788 in [[Scotland]]. He was the eldest son of merchant Thomas Bannerman (1743–1820) and his wife, Jean ([[née]] Simson) Bannerman (1745–1817), who married in 1779. His younger brother, Thomas, was the father of [[Sir George Bannerman, 10th Baronet]] and grandfather of [[Sir Alexander Bannerman, 11th Baronet]].<ref name="Burke1869"/>
His maternal grandfather was George Simson of [[Hazlehead]]. His paternal grandparents were Aberdeen merchant Alexander Bannerman and Margaret (née [[House of Burnett|Burnett]]) Bannerman. His uncle was [[Sir Alexander Bannerman, 6th Baronet]].<ref name="Burke1869">{{cite book |last1=Burke |first1=Bernard |title=A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire, Volume 1 |date=1869 |publisher=Harrison |location=London |page=66 |url=https://archive.org/stream/genealogicalhera00inburk#page/66/mode/2up |access-date=9 October 2020}}</ref>
Bannerman was a prominent businessman in his hometown of Aberdeen from where he managed the family wine business. He also had a hand in trading and [[whaling]]. Bannerman served as the city's provost and in 1837, was elected dean of [[Marischal College, Aberdeen]].<ref name = Dod>{{cite book | last = Dod | first = Robert P. | title = The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland | year = 1860 | publisher = Whitaker and Co. | location = London | pages = 103 }}</ref>
==Career== Alexander Bannerman joined the town council of Aberdeen in 1811. He was a reformer, challenging the long-standing oligarchy led by James and Gavin Hadden, and was instrumental in establishing an elected trust to manage the new Aberdeen Harbour.<ref>Fry, Michael (2013), ''A New Race of Men: Scotland 1815 – 1914'', Birlinn, Edinburgh, pp. 137–143</ref>
In 1832 he became Member of Parliament (MP) for [[Aberdeen (UK Parliament constituency)|Aberdeen]] in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]], sitting as a Radical, and remained an MP until his retirement in 1847. Together with his wife, Margaret Gordon the granddaughter of former Governor [[Walter Patterson (governor)|Walter Patterson]], Bannerman returned to the colony of her birth, when he took up the appointment in 1851 as [[List of Prince Edward Island lieutenant-governors|governor of Prince Edward Island]]. On this occasion he was made a [[Knight Bachelor]].<ref name = Dod/> Bannerman instituted [[responsible government]] on the island but was removed in 1854 due to political unrest in which he favoured the Reformers. Subsequently, he was [[Colonial Heads of the Bahamas|governor of the Bahamas]] until 1857, when he returned north to become [[List of governors of Newfoundland and Labrador#Colonial Governors of Newfoundland, 1855–1907|governor of Newfoundland]], the second governor since responsible government had been granted.
He clashed with [[John Kent (Newfoundland politician)|John Kent]], the [[List of Newfoundland and Labrador premiers|premier of Newfoundland]], who he felt was corrupt. Bannerman accused Kent's government, as did Bishop Mullock, of using relief aid as patronage and also accused Kent of being unreasonable in negotiations with France over the [[French Shore]]. In 1861, after Kent had accused Bannerman of conspiring with the courts and opposition [[Conservative Party of Newfoundland]] against a proposal to reduce the salaries of judges, Bannerman dismissed the Kent government and appointed the [[Opposition (parliamentary)|leader of the opposition]], [[Hugh Hoyles]] as the new [[List of Newfoundland and Labrador premiers|Premier]].
Kent's [[Liberal Party of Newfoundland]] defeated the Conservative government in a [[Motion of No Confidence]] resulting in an election campaign that was fought along [[sectarian]] lines with [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholics]] largely voting Liberal and [[Protestantism|Protestants]] largely voting Conservative. The Protestant [[Conservative Party of Newfoundland]] narrowly defeated Kent's Liberals. Extensive rioting led to disputed results, with the Conservatives having a majority of only two until in a peaceful by-election [[Harbour Grace]] returned two Conservatives. Bannerman' initial action in dismissing Kent had been rash and the Colonial Office told him so, but Hoyles, the new Premier, moved towards non-sectarian government, both bishops called for order, and the politics of class replaced the politics of religion. Bannerman resigned as governor in 1864 and returned to England.
==Personal life== [[File:The grave of Sir Alexander Bannerman, Kensal Green Cemetery.jpg|thumb|330px|The grave of Sir Alexander Bannerman, Kensal Green Cemetery]] In 1825, Bannerman married Margaret Gordon, a daughter of Guthrie Gordon, Esq.<ref name="Burke1869"/> Lady Bannerman, as she was known, was born in [[Charlottetown]] on [[Prince Edward Island]], and was a granddaughter of [[Walter Patterson (governor)|Walter Patterson]] who had been the Island's first governor.<ref name=Archibald/> She was later identified as "Carlyle's first love" by her biographer, who tells of the young schoolmaster [[Thomas Carlyle]], in [[Kirkcaldy]], Scotland, "who was attracted by her intelligence and wit."<ref name = Archibald/> Her family considered Carlyle as an unsuitable marriage prospect, and she eventually married Bannerman, a distant cousin.<ref name=Archibald>{{cite book|last=Archibald|first=Raymond C.|title=Carlyle's First Love: Margaret Gordon, Lady Bannerman|url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_991345|publisher=John Lane the Bodley Head|location=London|year=1910|isbn=9780659913456 }}</ref>
While in England, he caught a cold and, in his enfeebled state, fell down a flight of stairs causing his death on 30 December 1864 in [[Mayfair, London]] aged 76.
He is buried in [[Kensal Green Cemetery]].
===Legacy=== [[Bannerman Park]] in St. John's commemorates his name in Newfoundland.
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{hansard-contribs | mr-alex-bannerman | Alexander Bannerman }} * {{Official website|http://www.gov.pe.ca/lg/gallery/11Bannerman.php3|Biography at Prince Edward Island Government official website}} *[http://www.heritage.nf.ca/govhouse/governors/g48.html Biography at Government House ''The Governorship of Newfoundland and Labrador''] *[http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=4280 Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online'']
{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{s-new|constituency}} {{s-ttl| title = Member of Parliament for [[Aberdeen (UK Parliament constituency)|Aberdeen]] | with = | years = [[1832 United Kingdom general election|1832]]–[[1847 United Kingdom general election|1847]] }} {{s-aft| after = [[Alexander Fordyce (politician)|Alexander Fordyce]] }}
{{s-gov}} {{succession box|title=[[Lieutenant-Governors of Prince Edward Island|Governor of Prince Edward Island]]| before=[[Ambrose Lane]] | after=[[Dominick Daly]] | years=1851–1854}}
{{succession box|title=[[Governor of the Bahamas]]| before=[[John Gregory (governor)|John Gregory]] | after=[[Charles John Bayley]] | years=1854–1857}}
{{succession box|title=[[List of governors of Newfoundland and Labrador#Colonial Governors of Newfoundland, 1855–1907|Governor of Newfoundland]]| before=[[Charles Henry Darling|Sir Charles Henry Darling]] | after=[[Anthony Musgrave|Sir Anthony Musgrave]] | years=1857–1864}} {{s-end}}
{{PELG}} {{NLLG}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bannerman, Alexander}} [[Category:1788 births]] [[Category:1864 deaths]] [[Category:British governors of the Bahamas]] [[Category:Knights Bachelor]] [[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Aberdeen constituencies]] [[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies]] [[Category:Governors of Newfoundland Colony]] [[Category:Politicians from Aberdeen]] [[Category:19th-century Scottish businesspeople]] [[Category:UK MPs 1832–1835]] [[Category:UK MPs 1835–1837]] [[Category:UK MPs 1837–1841]] [[Category:UK MPs 1841–1847]] [[Category:Wine merchants]] [[Category:Lieutenant governors of the Colony of Prince Edward Island]] [[Category:Rectors of the University of Aberdeen]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Aberdeen]] [[Category:Businesspeople awarded knighthoods]] [[Category:19th-century British merchants]]