Henry Bathurst, Third Earl Bathurst KG PC (1762-1834) was a lord of the Admiralty from 1783 to 1789; a lord of the Treasury from 1789 to 1791; and commissioner of the Board of Control from 1793 to 1802. For two months in 1809 he was in charge of the Foreign Office. Having been master of the Mint, he became secretary of state for War and the Colonies in 1812. He remained in the post until 1827, with Henry Goulburn as his under-secretary; together, they carried through important administrative reforms in the colonial portfolio. During this period, in 1815, the town of Bathurst was established and named in Bathurst’s honour (Goulburn was established about fifteen years later). Bathurst Island, NT, is also named for Bathurst.
Updated 2021
