Laurence Guillemard - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from Laurence Nunns Guillemard) Colonial Administrator

His Excellency SirLaurence GuillemardGCMG KCB


18th Governor of the Straits Settlements
In office 17 February 1920 – 3 June 1927
Monarch	George V
Preceded by	Sir Arthur Young
Succeeded by	Sir Hugh Clifford

Personal details
Born	7 June 1862 Dublin, United Kingdom
Died	13 December 1951(1951-12-13) (aged 89) London, England
Spouse	Lady Ella Guillemard (m. 1902; died 1940)
Parent	Rev. William Guillemard (father)
Education	Charterhouse School
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge
Occupation	Colonial Administrator

Sir Laurence Nunns Guillemard GCMG KCB (7 June 1862 – 13 December 1951) was a British civil servant who served as high commissioner in Malaya when it was under the British Empire.

Early life

Guillemard was the only son of Rev. William Guillemard. He was educated at Charterhouse School and Trinity College, Cambridge.

Career

Guillemard entered the civil service in 1886 and joined the Treasury in 1888 where he was a Private Secretary to both Chancellors of the Exchequer, Sir William Harcourt and Sir Michael Hicks Beach between 1892 and 1902. In May 1902, he was appointed Deputy-Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue and Chairman of the Board of Customs in 1908.

He was appointed Governor of the Straits Settlements and High Commissioner for the Federated Malay States in 1920 and retired from the civil service in 1927. In 1925 he was the target of an assassination plot by anarchist Wong Sau Ying.

Awards and honours

Guillemard was invested as a Companion of Order of the Bath (CB) in 1905, Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1910, and a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1923. He was later awarded Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in the 1927 New Year Honours.

Personal life

In 1902 Guillemard married Ella Walker (1881-1940), the daughter of Thomas Spencer Walker. She predeceased him.

Legacy

During his administration, Guillemard was criticised by opinion pieces in The Straits Times remarking on his lack of "bold initiative." Guillemard's attempts to decentralise more control over internal affairs to the Federated Malay States met with opposition, and some of his proposals were abandoned. Guillemard's obituary published in The Straits Times began by stating he was "not likely to be regarded by Malayan historians as a great Colonial Governor." However it went on to call him "a sound administrator, and the right man for Malaya at the end of the first world war," praising him for his decentralisation efforts, reforms expanding the number of local seats on the Straits Settlements Legislative Council, and his financial stewardship during the Great Depression.

The Guillemard Bridge in Kelantan and the Guillemard Reservoir in Penang are named after him. The road Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim (formerly known as Jalan Duta) and its adjoining hill Bukit Ledang in Kuala Lumpur were both initially named for Guillemard. Guillemard Road in Singapore is also named after him.

References

"Laurence Nunns Guillemard". Singapore Infopedia. 23 April 2014 – via eresources.nlb.gov.sg.
^ "The New Governor". The Straits Times. 10 October 1919. p. 10.
"Guillemard, Lady Ella (d 1940)". Archived from the original on 20 October 2012.
"Laurence Nunns Guillemard". nlb.gov.sg. 23 April 2014.
"No. 25564". The London Gazette. 2 March 1886. p. 1034.
"No. 25821". The London Gazette. 29 May 1888. p. 3013.
"No. 31642". The London Gazette. 14 November 1919. p. 13800.
"Sir Laurence Guillemard". The Straits Times. 18 December 1951. p. 8.
Harper, Tim (2021). Underground Asia: Global Revolutionaries and the Assault on Empire. Harvard University Press. p. 513. ISBN 978-0-674-72461-7.
"No. 11739". The London Gazette. 4 July 1905. p. 655.
"No. 28388". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 June 1910. p. 4476.
"No. 32830". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 1923. p. 3945.
"No. 33235". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1926. p. 4.
"Laurence Nunns Guillemard". www.nlb.gov.sg. National Library Board Singapore. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
"Sir Laurence Guillemard". The Straits Times. 18 December 1951. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
"Guillemard Bridge". Machang District Council. Archived from the original on 18 August 2020.
"Heritage Water Works". Penang Heritage Trust. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
"Historic roads among some 500 renamed in KL". Daily Express. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
"Guillemard Road : general view [1]". www.nlb.gov.sg. National Library Board Singapore. Retrieved 2 September 2024.

External links

Listing of Photographic Collection for 'Guillemard, Sir Laurence Nunns (1862-1951) Knight, colonial governor' held at Cambridge University (Janus)
GUILLEMARD, Sir Laurence Nunns, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2016 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014)

Government offices
Preceded bySir Thomas Pittar	Chairman of HM Customs 1908–1909	Succeeded byhimselfas Chairman, Board of Customs and Excise
Preceded byhimselfas Chairman of the HM Customs	Chairman of Board of Customs and Excise 1909–1919	Succeeded bySir Horace Hamilton
Preceded byThe Lord Chalmersas Chairman, Inland Revenue	Chairman of Board of Customs and Excise 1909–1919	Succeeded bySir Horace Hamilton
Preceded bySir Arthur Young	Governor of the Straits Settlements and British High Commissioner in Malaya 1920 – 1927	Succeeded bySir Hugh Clifford
Notes and references
1. The excise functions were demerged from the Inland Revenue, but the latter otherwise remained a separate body.

Governors of Singapore (1819–1959)
(with italics * for the Acting)
Resident of Singapore (1819–1826)	William Farquhar Dr. John Crawfurd
Governors of the Straits Settlements (under British India) (1826–1867)	Robert Fullerton Robert Ibbetson Kenneth Murchison Sir Samuel George Bonham William John Butterworth Edmund Augustus Blundell
Governors of the Straits Settlements (under Colonial Office) (1867–1942)	Sir Orfeur Cavenagh Sir Harry St. George Ord Sir Andrew Clarke Sir William Jervois Sir Archibald Edward Harbord Anson * Sir William Cleaver Francis Robinson Sir Archibald Edward Harbord Anson * Sir Frederick Aloysius Weld Sir Cecil Clementi Smith William Edward Maxwell * Sir Charles Bullen Hugh Mitchell Sir James Alexander Swettenham * Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham Sir John Anderson Sir Arthur Henderson Young Sir Laurence Nunns Guillemard Sir Hugh Charles Clifford Sir John Scott * Sir Cecil Clementi Sir Andrew Caldecott * Sir Thomas Shenton Whitelegge Thomas
Japanese Mayor of Syonan (1942–1945)	Shigeo Odate Kanichi Naito
British Military Administration of the Straits Settlements (1945–1946)	Lord Louis Mountbatten Sir Thomas Shenton Whitelegge Thomas
Governors of the Crown Colony of Singapore (1946–1959)	Sir Franklin Charles Gimson Wilfred Lawson Blythe * Sir John Fearns Nicoll William Allmond Codrington Goode * Sir Robert Brown Black Sir William Allmond Codrington Goode

This article about a person involved in governance in the United Kingdom or its predecessor states is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

This Malaysian biographical article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

This article about a politician from Singapore is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

Categories: