Alexander Gore Arkwright Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie (6 July 1872 - 2 May 1955, tenth Governor-General of Australia, was born in Windsor, Berkshire, England, the second son of the 8th Baron Ruthven. He was educated at Eton College, but withdrawn due to poor eyesight.

In 1898 he joined the Army. He was 26 years old, and a Captain in the 3rd Bn., The Highland Light Infantry, British Army during the Sudan Campaign . On 22 September 1898 during the action at Gedarif, Sudan, Captain Hore-Ruthven saw an Egyptian officer lying wounded within 50 yards of the advancing Dervishes who were firing and charging. He picked up the wounded officer and carried him towards the 16th Egyptian Battalion. He had to drop his burden several times in order to fire upon the Dervishes and check their advance, but his action undoubtedly saved the officer's life.

In 1905 he became aide-de-camp to Lord Dudley, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and in 1908 he married Zara Pollok. They had one son. In 1908 Dudley was appointed Governor-General of Australia, and Hore-Ruthven (pronounced Hore-Riven) went with him as military secretary. He left in 1910 and returned to military service in India. During the First World War he served in France and at Gallipoli, where he was severely wounded. He finished the war as a Brigadier-General, and commanded British forces in Germany in 1919-20. He then held various Army staff positions until 1928, when he was appointed Governor of South Australia. He was in London when the third Bodyline Test cricket match in Adelaide caused Anglo-Australian political tension in 1933, and played a significant part in smoothing relations through meetings with the British Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs James Henry Thomas. His term ended in 1934, and he was then promptly appointed Governor of New South Wales, with the title Baron Gowrie.

With such a fine military record, and such extensive vice-regal experience, Gowrie was an obvious choice to succeed Sir Isaac Isaacs when he retired as Governor-General in 1936. In accordance with established practice, the Prime Minister, Joseph Lyons, was offered several alternatives, but Gowrie was the outstanding candidate given that Lyons had no intention of appointing another Australian to the post.

Gowrie was a popular if unobtrusive figure in Australia. The days when Governors-General exercised significant power or even participated in negotiations between the Australian and British governments had now passed. Neverthless, Gowrie set a precedent in 1938 when he toured the Netherlands East Indies at the invitation of the colonial administration. This was the first time a Governor-General had represented Australia abroad.

In April 1939 Lyons died suddenly, the first time this had happened in Australia. Gowrie commissioned Sir Earle Page, the leader of the Country Party, as acting Prime Minister until the United Australia Party could choose a new leader. This was the only circumstance in which the Governor-General still had some personal discretion.

Gowrie's political skills were tested again after the 1940 election, which left the UAP Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, dependent on the votes of two independent members to stay in power. When the UAP dumped Menzies as leader, the independent members voted to put the government out. Gowrie sent for them and demanded that they give him a guarantee that if he commissioned the Labor leader, John Curtin, they would support him and end the instability in government.

In wartime Gowrie saw his duty as supporting the government and the British Empire, and also the troops. In 1943 he undertook a four-week tour of inspection of Allied Defence Forces in northern Australia and New Guinea. Shortly before this, he and Lady Gowrie learned that their son, Patrick, had been killed in Libya the previous year.

Gowrie's term ended in September 1944 and he returned to Britain, where weas created Earl of Gowrie and appointed Deputy Constable and Lieutenant-Governor of Windsor Castle. In 1948 he was elected president of the Marylebone Cricket Club. He died in May 1955 at his home in Gloucestershire.

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
Sir Philip Game | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Governor of New South Wales
1935–1936 | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Sir David Anderson

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
Sir Isaac Isaacs | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Governor-General of Australia
1936–1945 | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
The Duke of Gloucester