View source for Thomas Brassey 1st Earl Brassey

Thomas Brassey (1836–1918) was a prominent British Liberal Party politician, Governor of Victoria from 1895 to 1900, and founder of *The Naval Annual*. Born to Thomas Brassey and Maria Harrison, he studied at Rugby, University College Oxford, and was called to the Bar in 1864. His political career included roles as MP for Devonport and Hastings, Civil Lord of the Admiralty, Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, and Governor of Victoria. He founded *The Naval Annual* in 1886.

Brassey held numerous honors: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (1906), Earl Brassey (1911), President of the Royal Statistical Society (1879–1880), London Chamber of Commerce (1901–1902), and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (1908–1913). He served in military roles, including Honorary Colonel of the 2nd Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers.

A Freemason since his Oxford days, Brassey was Grand Master of Victoria’s Grand Lodge. He married Anna Allnutt in 1860, with whom he had five children, and Sybil de Vere Capell in 1890, having one daughter. His wife Anna wrote about their voyage in *A Voyage in the Sunbeam*. At 79, Brassey sailed his yacht as a hospital ship in Gallipoli. He died in 1918, succeeded by his son Thomas.