Arthur Havelock

Infobox Governor
honorific-prefix = Sir
name = Arthur Havelock
honorific-suffix =
GCSI, GCMG, GCIE


order =
office = President of Nevis
term_start = 6 April 1877
term_end = 1878
predecessor = Roger Goldsworthy
successor = Charles Spencer Salmon
order2 =
office2 = Governor of Sierra Leone
term_start2 = 27 June 1881
term_end2 = September 1884
predecessor2 = Sir Samuel Rowe
successor2 = Sir Samuel Rowe
order3 = 35th (British)
office3 = Governor of Trinidad
term_start3 = 24 January 1885
term_end3 = 1885
predecessor3 = Sir Sanford Freeling
successor3 = William Robinson
order4 =
office4 = Governor of Natal
term_start4 = 18 February 1886
term_end4 = 5 June 1889
predecessor4 = Sir Henry Bulwer
successor4 = Sir Charles Mitchell
order5 =
office5 = Governor of Ceylon
term_start5 = 28 May 1890
term_end5 = 24 October 1895
predecessor5 = Arthur Hamilton-Gordon
successor5 = Joseph West Ridgeway
order6 =
office6 = Governor of Madras
term_start6 = 18 March 1896
term_end6 = 28 December 1900
predecessor6 = Beilby Lawley, 3rd Baron Wenlock
successor6 = Arthur Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill
order7 = 8th
office7 = Governor of Tasmania
term_start7 = 8 November 1901
term_end7 = 16 April 1904
predecessor7 = Jenico Preston, 14th Viscount Gormanston
successor7 = Gerald Strickland
birth_date = birth date|df=yes|1844|5|7
birth_place = Bath, Somerset, England, UK
death_date = death date and age|df=yes|1908|6|25|1844|5|7
death_place = Bath, Somerset, England, UK
nationality = flagicon|UK British
spouse = Anne Grace Norris (1871–1908)
relations = Sir Henry Havelock (uncle)
alma_mater = Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst
footnotes =

Sir Arthur Elibank Havelock, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE (21 February 1844 – 25 June 1908) was a career British colonial governor, serving as Governor of Sierra Leone from 1880, of Natal, of Madras, of Ceylon from 1890 to 1895, and of Tasmania from 1901 to 1904.

Early life and family

Havelock was born in 1844 in Bath, Somerset, the fifth surviving son of Lieutenant-Colonel William Havelock and Caroline Elizabeth Chaplin, and the nephew of Sir Henry Havelock. The family moved to India in 1844, where his father commanded the 14th Light Dragoons but was killed in action at the Battle of Ramnagar on 22 November 1848. The Havelocks returned to England briefly, but settled in Ootacamund in 1950, where Havelock attended school until he completed his education in London.G. S. Woods, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/33760 ‘Havelock, Sir Arthur Elibank (1844–1908)’] , rev. Lynn Milne, "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2005, accessed 21 April 2008.]

Military career

In 1860, Havelock entered the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, and on 14 January 1862 was gazetted an Ensign in the 32nd (Cornwall) Light Infantry. He was promoted Lieutenant on 10 April 1866, and was stationed at Gibraltar (1866–7), at Mauritius (1867–8), then at the Cape Colony (1868–72). He returned to Mauritius in 1872 as the colony's paymaster, and was promoted to Captain on 1 February 1873, serving as "aide-de-camp" to Selby Smith, the acting governor, and later to the Governor of Mauritius, Sir Arthur Hamilton-Gordon.

He held several key posts in the colonial civil service from 1874: Chief Civil Commissioner of the Seychelles (1874–75), and Colonial Secretary and Receiver General in Fiji (1874–75). He returned to England in 1876, and retired from the British Army as a captain in March 1877.

Colonial service

Havelock joined the colonial civil service upon leaving the army, and was sent to the West Indies in 1877 as President of Nevis. In 1878, he was transferred to Saint Lucia as the colony's Administrator, before returning to the Seychelles as Chief Civil Commissioner.

Governor of Sierra Leone

In February 1881, Havelock was assigned his first governorship in Sierra Leone and the West African settlements. In addition, he was appointed British consul to Liberia, and became involved in a major border dispute between Liberia and Great Britain.

The area in question was known as the Gallinas territory, an area lying between the Sewa River and the Mano River, and the vague border between Sierra Leone and Liberia had been unsettled for years. On 20 March 1882, Havelock led a flotilla of four British gunboats to the Liberian capital Monrovia, issuing a demand that Liberia cede all territories up to the Mafa River to Great Britain, and pay an indemnity of £8,500 to British merchant traders for injuries inflicted in 1871 by tribes inhabiting the area of the British claim. A treaty was signed, but its ratification was refused by the Liberian Senate, and Havelock and his gunboats returned to Monrovia in September that year, demanding immediate acknowledgement of the British claims, and ratification of the treaty. The senate refused once more, and although Havelock's diplomacy prevented a bloody conflict, British troops from Sierra Leone marched into the disputed territory several months later. Despite the support of the United States, Liberia realised that resisting the British claim was futile, and signed the treaty in London on 22 November 1885. [cite book |title=The United States and Africa: A History |last=Duignan |first=Peter |authorlink= |coauthors=LewisH. Gann |year=1984 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location= |isbn=052133571X |pages=121 ] The border was finally settled in 1903 by a mixed commission from both countries.

Governor of Trinidad, Natal

In 1885, Havelock was appointed Governor of Trinidad, and in 1886, Governor of Natal, where he dealt with the annexation of Zululand in 1887, and an unsuccessful rebellion led by Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo in 1888. He returned to England in 1889, and served on the international anti-slavery commission in Brussels.

Governor of Ceylon, Madras

In March 1890, Havelock was appointed Governor of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) [ [http://www.londongazette.co.uk/ViewPDF.aspx?pdf=26033&geotype=London&gpn=1592&type=ArchivedIssuePage London Gazette issue 26033, 14 March 1890] ] , where his actions included extending the country's railways to Kurunegala and Bandarawela, and abolishing the 'paddy tax', a levy on rice cultivation. [Michael W. Roberts: "Grain Taxes in British Ceylon, 1832-1878: Problems in the Field", "The Journal of Asian Studies", Vol. 27, No. 4 (Aug., 1968), pp. 809-834.] He returned to his childhood home of India as Governor of Madras from 1896 to 1900.

Governor of Tasmania

Havelock left Madras in 1901, and was offered the governorships of the Straits Settlements in Malaya and Victoria in Australia, which he declined due to ill health caused by many stressful years in tropical climates. He was then offered the post of Governor of Tasmania, which he accepted, arriving in Hobart on 8 November. His health, however, continued to decline and he made the decision to cut short his term as governor to only two-and-a-half years. He notified the premier, William Propsting, of his resignation on 6 January 1904, and left Tasmania on 16 April.George B. Cartland, [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A090231b.htm Havelock, Sir Arthur Elibank (1844 - 1908)] , "Australian Dictionary of Biography", Volume 9, Melbourne University Press, 1983, pp 228-229.]

Later life

Havelock returned to England, and retired to Torquay, Devon. His wife, Anne Grace, née Norris, died in early 1908, and Havelock himself died at Bath, Somerset less than six months later on 25 June. He was survived by a daughter.

Honours

Havelock was appointed CMG in 1880. He was knighted KCMG in 1884, and GCMG in 1895. He was awarded the GCSI (1896), and GCIE (1901) for his work in India.

References

succession box
before=Roger Tuckfield Goldsworthy
title=President of Nevis | years=1877 – 1878
after=Charles Spencer Salmonsuccession box
before=Sir William Des Vœux
title=Administrator of Saint Lucia | years=1878 – 1879
after=Sir Roger Goldsworthysuccession box
before=Sir Samuel Rowe
title=Governor of Sierra Leone | years=1881 – 1884
after=Sir Samuel Rowesuccession box
before=Sir Sanford Freeling
title=Governor of Trinidad | years=1885
after=William Robinsonsuccession box
before=Sir Henry Bulwer
title=Governor of Natal | years=1886 – 1889
after=Sir Charles Mitchellsuccession box
before=Sir Arthur Hamilton-Gordon
title=Governor of Ceylon | years=1890 – 1895
after=Joseph West Ridgewaysuccession box
before=Beilby Lawley, 3rd Baron Wenlock
title=Governor of Madras | years=1896 – 1900
after=Arthur Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthillsuccession box
before=Jenico Preston, 14th Viscount Gormanston
title=Governor of Tasmania | years=1901 – 1904
after=Gerald Strickland