The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/MacDonnell, Sir Richard Graves
MacDonnell, Sir Richard Graves, K.C.M.G., C.B., M.A., LL.D., son of the late Rev. Dr. Richard MacDonnell, Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, from 1852 to 1867, by a daughter of Dean Graves, Senior Fellow of Trinity, was born on Sept. 3rd, 1814, and educated at Trinity College, where he was Scholar in 1833, and graduated B.A. in 1835 and M.A. in 1838, being made honorary LL.D. in 1844. He was called to the Irish bar in 1838, and to the English in 1840. From 1843 to 1847 he was Chief Justice of the Gambia, and then Governor until 1853, when he was appointed Governor of St. Lucia, being transferred in the same year to St. Vincent. In 1855 he was appointed Governor of South Australia, and held the post from June of that year till March 1862, when he was succeeded by Sir Dominic Daly. Sir Richard was Governor of Nova Scotia from 1864 to 1865, and of Hong Kong from 1866 to 1871, when he retired from the Colonial Service. During Sir Richard's tenure of office in South Australia responsible government was proclaimed. He married Blanche Anne, daughter of Francis Skurray, of Brighton. Sir Richard was knighted in 1855, and died on Feb. 5th, 1881.