Sir James Fergusson, 6th BaronetGCSIKCMGPCDL (14 March 1832 – 14 January 1907) was a British soldier, Conservative politician and colonial administrator.
Background and education
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Fergusson was the eldest son of Sir Charles Fergusson, 5th Baronet, and his wife Helen, daughter of David Boyle. He was educated at Cheam, Rugby, and University College, Oxford (although he left without taking a degree). He entered the Grenadier Guards in 1851 and served in the Crimean War where he was wounded. He retired from the army in 1859.
Fergusson served as Governor of South Australia from 1868. In November 1872 he was appointed governor of New Zealand and left Adelaide on 6 December for a short visit to England before taking up the post.[2]
He was appointed to a Royal Commission to inquire into the operation of the Factory and Workshop Acts in 1875,[4] and to a Commission inquiring into the sale of liquor in Scotland in 1877.[5]
Fergusson married firstly Lady Edith Christian, daughter of James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie, in 1859. They had two sons and two daughters. Lady Edith died on 20 October 1871 in Port Adelaide in Australia, aged 32. She was buried at North Road Cemetery in Adelaide.[8] There is a memorial headstone in the north-west corner of the first western extension to Inveresk churchyard in Scotland.[9]
Fergusson married secondly Olive, daughter of John Henry Richman, in 1873. Olive was born in South Australia, and they were married soon after arriving in New Zealand.[2] They had one son. She died of cholera in January 1882.