Gowrie, Lord (1872-1955), Alexander Gore Arkwright Hore-Ruthven, Baron Gowrie, was a British soldier and military administrator who served as governor general of Australia from 1936 to 1945.
Hore-Ruthven joined the British Royal Army in 1891. In 1898, he won the Victoria Cross while fighting in Sudan. In 1905, he became military secretary to Lord Dudley, who was at that time lord lieutenant of Ireland. Hore-Ruthven accompanied Dudley to Australia in 1908, when Dudley went to serve as governor general. Hore-Ruthven visited Australia again from 1909 to 1910 as a member of Lord Kitchener’s staff (see Kitchener, Horatio Herbert ), when Kitchener came to advise the Australian government on defense matters.
During World War I (1914-1918), Hore-Ruthven fought at Gallipoli, a battle in which many Australian soldiers fought and died. He won the Distinguished Service Order and Bar. After the war, he served as commander of the Welsh Guards and then the Brigade of Guards. He served as governor of South Australia from 1928 to 1934 and as governor of New South Wales in 1935.
Hore-Ruthven was born on July 6, 1872, in Windsor, England, and received his education at Eton College. In 1935, he was created Baron Gowrie of Canberra and Dirleton. In 1945, the year after his return from Australia to the United Kingdom, he was created First Earl of Gowrie. Lord Gowrie died in England on May 2, 1955.
