Richard Turnbull (colonial administrator)
British colonial governor (1909-1998)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sir Richard Gordon Turnbull, GCMG (7 July 1909[2] – 21 December 1998[3])[4] was a British colonial governor and the last governor of the British mandate of Tanganyika from 1958 to 1961. Following the country's independence, he was governor-general from 9 December 1961 to 9 December 1962.
Sir Richard Turnbull | |
|---|---|
| Governor of Tanganyika | |
| In office 15 July 1958 – 9 December 1961 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Preceded by | Edward Twining |
| Succeeded by | himself (as Governor-General) |
| Governor-General of Tanganyika | |
| In office 9 December 1961 – 9 December 1962 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Julius Nyerere Rashidi Kawawa |
| Preceded by | Office established himself (as Governor) |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| 2nd High Commissioner of South Arabia | |
| In office 1964–1967 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Preceded by | Sir Kennedy Trevaskis |
| Succeeded by | Sir Humphrey Trevelyan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 July 1909 |
| Died | 21 December 1998 (aged 89)[1] Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England |
Biography
Richard Gordon Turnbull was born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, and educated at University College School in Hampstead, University College London and Magdalene College, Cambridge.[5] In 1931, he entered the Colonial Administrative Service in Kenya as a cadet, before working for nearly two decades as a district officer. He was then a provincial commander before becoming Minister for Internal Security and Defence in 1954.[6] A year later, he was appointed chief secretary of Kenya, assuming his role during the midst of the Mau Mau rebellion.[7] In 1958, he succeeded Edward Twining as governor of Tanganyika.[7] Following the first elections to the Legislative Council, Turnbull appointed five members of Julius Nyerere's Tanganyika African National Union party.[7] At the end of 1961, Tanganyika became independent with Nyerere as prime minister and Turnbull as governor-general. He served for a year until Tanganyika became a republic in December 1962. He later became the penultimate High Commissioner of Aden in 1965.
