Hotham, Charles, Sir (naval officer and governor)
Dates
- Existence: 1806 - 1855
Biography
Sir Charles Hotham, naval officer and governor, was born on 14 January 1806 in Dennington, Suffolk, England. He entered the navy on 6 November 1818. By 1842 he was in command of the steam sloop 'Gorgon', and in November 1845 he commanded the naval squadron on the Parana River. In 1846 he was made K.C.B. and appointed commodore on the west coast of Africa.
In 1853, the Duke of Newcastle appointed him lieutenant-governor of Victoria - reputed to be a very difficult colonial post after the discovery of gold. His governorship was marked by authoritarianism on the one hand, and yet a courting of the workforce of Victoria on the other, together with obstinacy, secretiveness, and poor communications with his officials. Civil disobedience in Eureka led to Australia's first and only armed civil uprising (the Eureka Rebellion, or Eureka Stockade) which took place on 3 December 1854, and Hotham received little help from his officials, and his competence was questioned.
In November 1855, he sent his resignation to London, and on 17 December 1855 he caught a chill while opening the Melbourne gasworks, and he died on the 31 December 1855.