Background
Lord Ranfurly was born in Guernsey, the second son of Thomas Knox, 3rd Earl of Ranfurly, by his wife Harriet, daughter of John Rimmington, of Broomhead Hall, Yorkshire.
Governor-General of New Zealand politician
Lord Ranfurly was born in Guernsey, the second son of Thomas Knox, 3rd Earl of Ranfurly, by his wife Harriet, daughter of John Rimmington, of Broomhead Hall, Yorkshire.
Becoming a cadet on board His Majesty’s Ship Britannia, he passed for the Royal Navy, but, giving up a naval career, entered Trinity College, Cambridge, at the age of eighteen.
He was Governor-General of New Zealand from 1897 to 1904. He was appointed to succeed The Earl of Glasgow as Governor of New Zealand on 6 April 1897, assuming office on 10 August. Lord Ranfurly became Honorary Colonel of the 1st Wellington Battalion (1898) and of the 1st South Canterbury Mounted Rifles (1902).
His term ended on 19 June 1904, when he personally handed over office to Lord Plunket.
He is remembered for his donation of the Ranfurly Shield, a New Zealand sporting trophy. On his return to England Ranfurly was made an Irish Privy Counsellor (1905).
Then for a time he returned to farm in Mildura, Victoria, Australia. But he soon devoted more and more time to his other great interest, the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem.
In 1914 he was a Knight of Justice, and Registrar of the Order in London, becoming (1915-1919) Director of its Ambulance Department.
After the partition of Ireland, Lord Ranfurly was made a Privy Counsellor for Northern Ireland in 1923, also serving as Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace for his native County Tyrone. Lord Ranfurly married the Honourable Constance Caulfield, only child of James Alfred Caulfeild, 7th Viscount Charlemont, on 10 February 1880. They had four children: Thomas Uchter Knox, Viscount Northland (1882–1915) Lady Annette Agnes (1880–1886) Lady Constance Harriet Stuart (1885–1964) Lady Eileen Maud Juliana (1891–1972) One of the tiny subantarctic Bounty Islands was named after him: Ranfurly Island.