Frank Brewer
British colonial administrator (1915–1987)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frank Brewer (1915 – 21 December 1987) was a British civil servant and colonial administrator who served as Secretary for Defence of the Federation of Malaya from 1957 to 1959.
Frank Brewer | |
|---|---|
| Secretary for Defence of the Federation of Malaya | |
| In office 1957–1959 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1915 |
| Died | 21 December 1987 (aged 71–72) |
| Alma mater | Pembroke College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Colonial administrator and civil servant |
Early life and education
Brewer was born in 1915, the son of Lewis Arthur Brewer. He was educated at Commonweal School, Swindon and Pembroke College, Oxford.[1]
Career
Brewer joined the Malay Civil Service in 1937,[2] and during the following year was sent to Amoy to study Chinese.[3] On his return to Malaya, he was appointed acting assistant Protector of Chinese at Penang[4] and also served as Food Controller.[5] In 1941, after the outbreak of World War II, Brewer enrolled in the Special Forces, and was captured by the Japanese and incarcerated as a POW in Sumatra.[1]
After the War, Brewer returned to Malaya and was attached to the Labour Department as assistant Controller of Labour in Singapore.[6] In 1947, he was appointed a member of the Wages Commission to consider conditions of service of government employees.[7] In 1951, he was serving as Deputy Commissioner of Labour for Penang,[8] and in the following year as Deputy Secretary for Chinese Affairs and as a member of the Penang Council.[9] From 1955 to 1957, he served as Deputy Chief Secretary of the Federation of Malaya, and in 1957 was appointed Secretary for Defence of the Federation of Malaya, a post he held until his retirement in 1959 under the Malayanisation programme.[1][10]
After returning to England in 1959, the following year Brewer entered the Foreign Office where he served until 1976.[11]
Personal life and death
Honours
Brewer was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1960 New Year Honours.[12] He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1953 New Year Honours.[13]