John Chancellor (colonial administrator)

Chancellor in Palestine, 1931.
Detail

Lieutenant Colonel Sir John Robert Chancellor GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO (1870–1952) was a British soldier and colonial official.

Biography

After a career in the British Army's Corps of Royal Engineers,[1][2] which included service on the North West Frontier[3] and being Secretary of the Colonial Defence Committee,[4] he became a colonial administrator serving as the 20th Governor of Mauritius from 13 Sep 1911[5] to 28 Jan 1916,[6] Trinidad and Tobago (1916[7]–1921) and Southern Rhodesia (1923–1928). He also served as Principal Assistant Secretary to the Committee of Imperial Defence From 1922–1923.[8]

In 1898 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).[3] In 1909 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George.[4] He was knighted in the 1913 King's Birthday Honours when he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG).[9] In the 1922 Dissolution Honours List he was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG).[10] He was appointed a Knight of Justice in the Venerable Order of Saint John on 19 December 1928.[11]

High Commissioner

In 1928, he became High Commissioner of the British Mandate of Palestine, where he was perceived as being cool to Zionism and the Jewish people.[12] Though he admired some Zionist leaders, in particular Pinchas Rutenberg, in general Chancellor's attitude towards Jews was negative.[13] He wrote to his son that "truly the Jews are an ungrateful race".[13] His attitude towards Arabs was politically supportive but paternalistic; he wrote to his son "they are like children, and very difficult to help".[13]

While he was in London in 1929, Arab riots protesting Jewish immigration broke out. On his return, he initially condemned Arab attacks but was subsequently less critical. He helped write the Lord Passfield's White Paper of 1930, which aimed to reinterpret the Balfour Declaration in order to back away from a commitment to the creation of a Jewish state. He left Palestine in 1931.

In 1931, Jerusalem's Straus Street was renamed Chancellor Avenue in his honour. The street reverted to its original name after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.[14][15]

In 1937 he was appointed chairman of the Livestock Commission, which was set up following the passing of the Livestock Industry Act, 1937.[16] In the 1947 King's Birthday Honours he was created a Knight Grand Cross in the Civil Division of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) for services to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.[17]

Legacy

Chancellor Avenue in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, now Harare, Zimbabwe, was named after him and still bears his name.[18] However, his grandson, Alexander Chancellor, suggested that it be changed on account of it now being the street on which Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe now lives.[19]

References

  1. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 26076. p. 4283. 5 August 1890. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  2. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 26428. p. 4356. 1 August 1893. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  3. 1 2 The London Gazette: no. 26968. p. 3166. 20 May 1898. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  4. 1 2 The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 28305. p. 8240. 5 November 1909. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  5. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 28517. p. 5632. 28 July 1911. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  6. ↑ http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Mauritius.htm
  7. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 29516. p. 3065. 21 March 1916. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  8. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 32598. p. 978. 3 February 1922. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  9. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 28724. p. 3905. 30 May 1913. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  10. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 32766. p. 8017. 10 November 1922. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  11. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 33453. p. 49. 1 January 1929. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  12. ↑ Anita Shapira (2012). Israel: A History. Brandeis University Press. p. 79. ISBN 9781611683523.
  13. 1 2 3 Evyatar Friesel (1993). "Through a Peculiar Lens: Zionism and Palestine in British Diaries, 1927-31". Middle Eastern Studies. 29: 419–44. doi:10.1080/00263209308700959.
  14. ↑ Katz, D. (1 October 2011). "Pizza, Shnitzel and the Fog of War: Some Impressions of a Recent Visit to Israel". wherewhatwhen.com. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  15. ↑ Ronnen, Meir. "The Life and Death of Jaffa Road". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  16. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 34420. p. 4743. 23 July 1937. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  17. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 37977. p. 2582. 6 June 1947. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  18. ↑ Notebook, The Spectator, 30 September 1983, page 5
  19. ↑ Despite Mugabe's hatred of British colonialism, the road he lives in is still named after my grandfather, The Guardian, 27 June 2008

External links

Government offices
Preceded by
Sir Cavendish Boyle		 Governor of Mauritius
1911–1916 		Succeeded by
Sir Henry Hesketh Joudou Bell
Preceded by
George Le Hunte		 Governor of Trinidad and Tobago
1916–1921 		Succeeded by
Sir Samuel Herbert Wilson
Preceded by
Percy Donald Leslie Flynn (acting administrator)		 Governor of Southern Rhodesia
1923–1928 		Succeeded by
Murray Bisset (acting)
Preceded by
Sir Harry Charles Luke (acting)		 High Commissioner of Palestine
1928–1931 		Succeeded by
Sir Mark Aitchison Young (acting)
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