Henry Turner Irving

Sir Henry Turner Irving, GCMG (1833–1923) was a British civil servant and colonial administrator. He first served as acting Governor of British Ceylon.^[1] In 1873–1874, he served as Governor of the Leeward Islands. In 1874–1880, he served as Governor of Trinidad. In 1882–1887, he served as Governor of British Guiana.

Sir Henry Turner Irving GCMG
Acting Governor of British Ceylon
In office 4 January 1872 – 4 March 1872
Monarch	Queen Victoria
Preceded by	Hercules Robinson
Succeeded by	William Henry Gregory
Governor of Trinidad
In office 1874–1880
Preceded by	John Scott Bushe (acting)
Succeeded by	John Scott Bushe (acting)
Personal details
Born	1833
Died	1923 (aged 89–90)
Spouse	Emma Patty Barclay ​ ​ (m. 1884; died 1903)​

He was the first Governor of Trinidad to occupy the Government House, now known as the President's House.^[2]

He entered the Colonial Office as a clerk in 1854. In 1858, while at the Colonial Office, he served as a special messenger to William Ewart Gladstone who was then the Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands. He then was appointed private secretary to the Permanent Under-Secretary, Sir Frederic Rogers in 1862. In 1865, he was selected to accompany the Governor of Jamaica, John Peter Grant, as Colonial Secretary of that colony.^[3]

He married on 24 June 1884 widow Emma Patty Johnson, née Barclay, daughter of Sir David Barclay, 10th Baronet. Lady Irving died in Folkestone on 5 February 1903.^[4] The couple had no children.^[5]