"Western Australia" Sir Frederick Bedford (Image plate from Vanity Fair)

Sir Frederick George Denham Bedford GCB GCVO (1838–1913) was governor of Western Australia from 1903 to 1909. A rear admiral’s son, Bedford followed his father into the Royal Navy at age fourteen and later served in the Crimean War. Rising to the rank of captain, in 1886 he was appointed Knight Grand Cross and in 1889 was made a lord commissioner of the Admiralty. Between 1892 and 1895 he was commander-in-chief at the Cape of Good Hope and was rewarded for his success in this role with a promotion to vice-admiral. He took up the position of governor of Western Australia in 1903 having served for some years as commander-in-chief of British naval forces in North America and the West Indies. At the conclusion of his term in 1909, Bedford returned to England and in retirement resided in Surrey. Bedford Downs, a large cattle station in the Kimberleys, is named after him.