Dudley de Chair

Admiral Sir Dudley Rawson Stratford de Chair, KCB, KCMG, KBE, MVO (30 August 1864 – 17 August 1958) was a senior Royal Navy officer and later served as Governor of New South Wales, Australia.

Military career
De Chair joined the Royal Navy at the age of 16. He served in the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882 and later as an Admiral in the First World War.

He was promoted to commander on 22 July 1897. On 31 July 1912, de Chair was promoted to rear admiral.

Governor of New South Wales
De Chair was appointed Governor of New South Wales on 8 November 1923. Arriving in Sydney in 1924, De Chair became Governor in stable political times. However, when the Fuller Conservatives were defeated by the Labor Party under Jack Lang, De Chair found himself in conflict with Lang's revolutionary reform program, particularly over Lang's attempts to abolish the New South Wales Legislative Council. While Lang's attempts ultimately failed, De Chair failed to gain the support of an indifferent Dominions Office. With Lang's departure in 1927, the Nationalist Government of Thomas Bavin invited him in 1929 to stay on as Governor for a further term. De Chair agreed only to a year's extension and retired on 8 April 1930.

Later life
Returning to London after a global trip, de Chair worked on his memoirs until his death in 1958.

Personal life
De Chair married Enid Struben in 1903. Together they had three children, Henry Graham de Chair, Elaine de Chair and Somerset de Chair.

Honours and decorations






Following the King Edward VII's visit to the Russian Empire, de Chair was appointed Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) on 10 June 1908 for his role in the visit as commander HMS Cochrane. In the 1914 King's Birthday Honours, he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).

On 6 March 1911, de Chair was appointed a Naval aide-de-camp (ADC) to King George V. He relinquished the appointment on 31 July 1912, having been promoted to flag rank on that day.