Henry Rawlingson Carr

Henry Carr (1863-1945) was a Nigerian educator and administrator, he was one of the most prominent West Africans in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century [Kenneth Little, Reviewed Work(s): The Origins of Modern African Thought: Its Development in West Africa During the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. New Series, Vol. 3, No. 4 (Dec., 1968)] and was a member of the legislative council in Lagos from 1918-1924

Career in West Africa

Henry Carr was born in England and migrated to Sierra Leone at an early age. In Sierra Leone, he attended Fourah Bay College where he received an honors degree, he was the first graduate of the school to achieve the feat. After leaving Fourah Bay, he migrated to Nigeria. While in Lagos, Nigeria, he became one of the earliest Africans to hold an administrative position during the colonial period. He was a clerk in the Nigerian secretariat, Lagos in 1888, and became the resident of the colony of Lagos in 1920. Prior to his appointment as a clerk, he was a teacher at CMS Grammar School. [Boniface I. Obichere; Studies in Southern Nigerian History, Cass, 1982] Henry Carr was one of the few West Africans during the early twentieth century that broke barriers in colonial governance. Before the second world war, few Africans rose beyond the position of chief clerk in colonial administration. While as the death rate of Europeans declined in west Africa, many expatriates came to the country and gained administrative positions, as the colonial officers readily accepted expatriates and helped advanced their careers, this situation further diminished the chances of West Africans to take more administrative responsibilities. [Boniface I. Obichere; Studies in Southern Nigerian History, Cass, 1982. pp 170-240] Reasons given to limit the career advancement of Africans were the suspicions British officials had about Africans ethical disposition, due to an earlier embezzlement case in Ghana. However, this was a single case, and some critics questioned whether there were sinister motives behind the policy. [Boniface I. Obichere; Studies in Southern Nigerian History, Cass, 1982. pp 170-240]

Like his political foe, Herbert Macaulay, Carr collected a voluminous collection of books, totaling 18,000. Most of the books like those of Macaulay were donated to the University College, Ibadan. Carr was considered to be a member of the early Lagos political movements that favored assimilation with the European colonists.

Notes

References

*Toyin Falola, The History of Nigeria, Greenwood Press, 1999