The Governors of New South Wales

This book contains biographical accounts of all 37 Governors of New South Wales from Arthur Phillip in 1788 to Marie Bashir.

Highlights of the book include John Hunter’s amazing sea voyages, the erratic career of the ‘devious and foul-tempered’ William Bligh, the highly public clashes of Sir Hercules Robinson (nicknamed the ‘Crisis maker’) with Governments and Parliament, the ‘Boy’s Own’ Naval career of the swashbuckling Sir Harry Rawson, the extraordinary double life of Lord Beauchamp and the dramatic events surrounding Sir Philip Game’s dismissal of Jack Lang.

Leading historians such as Brian Fletcher, JM Bennett, Geoffrey Bolton, Graham Freudenberg, Anne Twomey, Chris Cunneen, Ian Hancock, Evan Williams and Rodney Cavalier tell of both extraordinary lives and the political and constitutional crises many had to face.

The governor of a state is at the apex of its system of government, assenting laws, dissolving parliaments and commissioning ministers. Yet he or she is almost always required to act on the advice of the government of the day. This paradox is a product of the states' origins as colonies under the British Crown and their subsequent moves to responsible government. That progression is, in many ways, the theme of this book, which contains biographies of the 37 governors of NSW since 1788, with particular emphasis on their period as the vice-regal representative... like all books from Federation Press, this one is produced with superior paper and beautiful binding so that is a pleasure to hold while reading. - Michael Sexton, Spectrum, Sydney Morning Herald, March 27-28, 2010

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