Anthony Musgrave
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Sir Anthony Musgrave GCMG |
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| Lieutenant Governor of Saint Vincent | |
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In office 1862–1864 |
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| Governor of Newfoundland | |
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In office 1864–1869 |
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| Governor of Newfoundland | |
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In office 18864–1869 |
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| Governor of the United Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia |
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In office 1869–1871 |
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| Governor of Natal | |
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In office 1872–1873 |
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| Governor of South Australia | |
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In office 1873–1877 |
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| Governor-General of Jamaica | |
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In office 1877–1883 |
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| Governor of Queensland | |
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In office 1883–1888 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 31 August 1828 St John's, Antigua, |
| Died | 9 October 1888 (aged 60) Queensland |
| Resting place | Toowong Cemetery |
| Citizenship | British |
| Spouse(s) | Christiana Elizabeth Byam; Jeanie Lucinda Field |
Sir Anthony Musgrave GCMG (31 August 1828 – 9 October 1888) was a colonial administrator and governor. He died in office as Governor of Queensland in 1888.
He was born at St John's, Antigua, the third of 11 children of Anthony Musgrave and Mary Harris Sheriff.
After education in Antigua and Great Britain, he was appointed private secretary to Robert James Mackintosh, governor-in-chief of the Leeward Islands in 1854. He was recognised for his "capacity and zeal", and quickly promoted, administering in turn the British West Indies territories of Nevis and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
After ten years of colonial service in the Caribbean, Musgrave was appointed governor of Newfoundland in September, 1864. Unlike his previous appointments, Newfoundland had responsible government and an active colonial assembly. He also found a colony in dire economic straits, containing a destitute population. During his tenure, Musgrave dedicated most of energies towards convincing Newfoundland to remedy this by joining the negotiations with other British North American colonies towards union in what would become the Canadian Confederation. In this project, he was allied with the goals of the colonial office. Despite his efforts, and what seemed like imminent success, Musgrave ultimately failed to move the colonial assembly to accepting terms of union. Canada was proclaimed on 1 July 1867—and Newfoundland would not join Confederation for eighty years.
In consultation with the colonial office and the Canadian Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, it was agreed that Musgrave should redirect his energies concerning the expansion of the Canadian confederation away from the easternmost colony of British North America, to the westernmost—the United Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia. Following the death of Frederick Seymour, Musgrave took up his new responsibilities as colonial governor in August, 1869. Musgrave found a colony in an administrative and financial mess, with a fractious assembly, long-simmering disputes between the two colonies and their capitals – Victoria and New Westminster—and general frustration with the slow pace of negotiations for the colony to enter confederation. Musgrave proved to be both a capable administrator, and an able placater of the assembly's notoriously contentious members. In less than two years, in July, 1871, British Columbia joined Canada as its sixth province.
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