Charles Wallace Alexander Napier Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, was born on 29 July 1860 in London. He was educated at Eton and Oxford prior to working as assistant private secretary to Lord Salisbury, a member of the House of Commons and, after his father's death, a member of the House of Lords. He married Mary Houghton Hozier in June 1895, and shortly afterwards was appointed Governor of Queensland, a position he served in from April 1896 to December 1901. Lamington was Governor of Bombay from 1903-1907, and in 1919 served as commissioner of the British Relief Unit in Syria. He died on 16 September 1940 at Lamington House, Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Lamington was conservative, and dismissive of 'socialist' ideas, but was also concerned about the unsatisfactory treatment of aborigines and Melanesians, and travelled extensively in Queensland. Lamington's name is remembered in Australia by places names such as Lamington Plateau in Queensland, and it is claimed that the lamington (cake covered in chocolate and coconut) is named after him.
