Richard Bourke
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General Sir Richard Bourke KCB |
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Bourke by Martin Archer Shee (c. 1837-1850)
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| 8th Governor of New South Wales | |
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In office 3 December 1831 – 5 December 1837 |
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| Preceded by | Ralph Darling |
| Succeeded by | George Gipps |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
4 May 1777 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 12 August 1855 (aged 78) Limerick, Ireland |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Jane Bourke (married:1800) |
| Children | two sons and three daughters |
General Sir Richard Bourke KCB (4 May 1777 – 12 August 1855), was an Irish-born Governor of New South Wales, 1831–37.
As a lifelong Whig (Liberal), he encouraged the emancipation of convicts and helped bring forward the ending of penal transportation to Australia. In this, he faced strong opposition from the military/conservative establishment and its press. He approved a new settlement on the Yarra River, and named it Melbourne, in honour of the incumbent British Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne.
Born in Dublin, Ireland, Bourke was educated at Westminster and read law at Christ Church, Oxford. He was a cousin of Edmund Burke, and spent school and university holidays at Burke's home, so acquired some influential friends. He joined the British Army as an ensign in the Grenadier Guards on 22 November 1798, serving in the Netherlands with the Duke of York before a posting in South America in 1807, where he participated in the siege and storming of Montevideo. He was promoted major-general in 1821. He retired from the army after the Peninsular War to live on his Irish estate, but eventually sought government office to increase his income. He was appointed to the Cape Colony and was promoted to Lieutenant-Governor of the Eastern District of the Cape of Good Hope, acting as governor for both eastern and western districts. Under Bourke's governorship, much was done to reform the old, mercantilist system of government inherited from the Dutch East India Company at the Cape.
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