- William Jervois
Infobox Officeholder
name =Sir William Jervois
caption =Sir William Jervois, circa 1880
birth_date =birth date|1821|9|11|df=y
birth_place =
death_date =death date and age|1897|8|17|1821|9|11|df=y
death_place =
spouse =
order =10th Governor of the Straits Settlements
term_start =May 1875
term_end =1877
successor =Sir William Cleaver Francis Robinson
predecessor =Harry Ord
order2 =10thGovernor of South Australia
term_start2 =2 October 1877
term_end2 =9 January 1883
successor2 =Sir William Cleaver Francis Robinson
predecessor2 =Sir Anthony Musgrave
order3 =10th Governor of New Zealand
term_start3 =20 January 1883
term_end3 =23 March 1889
successor3 =Earl of Onslow
predecessor3 =Arthur Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Baron Stanmore |Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois, GCMG, CB (
10 September 1821 –17 August 1897 ) was a military engineer and Governor of the Straits Settlements, South Australia and New Zealand.Jervois joined the army in 1839, and was educated and commissioned as a Royal Engineer. After service in
South Africa , he became an expert on land-based fortifications of cities against naval attack, and proposed several options for a ring of defences aroundLondon . In 1864 and 1865, he reviewed fortifications inCanada , submitting what became a politically controversial report that stated that theGreat Lakes andUpper Canada were not defensible.Following the withdrawal of British garrison troops from Australia in 1870, Jervois and
Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Scratchley were commissioned by a group of colonies to advise on defence matters. They inspected each colony's defences and produced theJervois-Scratchley reports of 1877. Not surprisingly these also emphasised fortifications against naval attack. These reports went on to form the basis of defence planning in Australia and New Zealand for the next 30 years. He was Governor-general of the Crown Colonies of the Straits Settlements (Penang, Malacca and Singapore) at Singapore from May 8, 1875 to April 3, 1877.The prominent streets
Jervois Quay inWellington and Jervois Road inAuckland are named after him.Also See
* [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Corresp:_Actions_of_Perak_Expeditionary_Force_post-murder_of_Birch Corresp: Actions of Perak Expeditionary Force post-murder of Birch]
*Governor of Penang External links
* [http://members.aol.com/reubique/jervois.htm detailed biography]
* [http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=2J2 Dictionary of New Zealand Biography]
* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=6188 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
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