John Lawrence Baird, 1st Viscount Stonehaven (27 April 1874 – 20 August 1941) was a British politician who served as the eighth governor-general of Australia, in office from 1925 to 1930. He had previously been a government minister under David Lloyd George, Bonar Law, and Stanley Baldwin.
Baird was born in London, and attended Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. His father was Sir Alexander Baird, a Scottish-born civil servant who spent much of his life in Egypt. Baird was a member of the Diplomatic Service before winning election to the House of Commons in 1910, representing the Conservative Party. When war broke out a few years later, he joined the Intelligence Corps and won the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). Baird was added to the Lloyd George ministry in 1916, and held various junior portfolios until 1922 when he was appointed Minister of Transport and First Commissioner of Works.
In 1925, Baird was appointed Governor-General of Australia on the advice of Stanley Bruce. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Stonehaven, having previously succeeded to his father's baronetcy in 1920. Lord Stonehaven was the first governor-general to live in Canberra, moving into Yarralumla in 1927 and presiding over the first sitting at the new Parliament House. After returning to Britain, Stonehaven served as Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1931 to 1936. He was raised to the viscountcy in 1938, and retired to his ancestral seat in Kincardineshire.
Early life
Baird was born in Chelsea, London, son of Sir Alexander Baird, 1st Baronet, and wife The Hon. Annette Maria, daughter of Lawrence Palk, 1st Baron Haldon.
He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, but left university without graduating. He was commissioned in the Lanarkshire Yeomanry (later the Scottish Horse). In 1894 he served as an aide-de-camp to the Governor of New South Wales, then entered the diplomatic service. and became a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1904, before he retired from the Diplomatic Service in 1908.
Political career 1910–1924
Baird was elected to the House of Commons for Rugby in the January 1910 general election as a Conservative, and was private secretary to the Leader of the Conservative Party, Bonar Law, between 1911 and 1916. He also fought in the First World War where he was mentioned in despatches and awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He entered David Lloyd George's coalition government as Parliamentary Secretary to the Air Board in December 1916, an office that was renamed Parliamentary Secretary to the Air Council in November 1917. In January 1919 he became Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Munitions. Already in April 1919, he was made Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, which he remained until the coalition government fell in October 1922. and First Commissioner of Works. He was sworn of the Privy Council a few days later. He continued as First Commissioner of Works and Minister of Transport also when Stanley Baldwin became Prime Minister in May 1923 and held them until January 1924, when Ramsay MacDonald's Labour government took office. and appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG).
Freemasonry
Stonehaven was a freemason. During his term as Governor-General (1925–1930), he was also Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New South Wales.
Later life
On his return to Britain, he was appointed Chairman of the Conservative Party in 1931, a post he held until 1936.
Family
Stonehaven married Lady Ethel Sydney Keith-Falconer, daughter of the 9th Earl of Kintore, in 1905. The couple had two sons and three daughters. Lord Stonehaven died of hypertensive cardiac disease at Ury House, Stonehaven, Scotland, in August 1941, aged 67, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Ian. The Viscountess Stonehaven succeeded her elder brother as eleventh Countess of Kintore in 1966. She died in September 1974, one day after her 100th birthday.
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