Glyn Smallwood Jones
Encyclopedia
Sir Glyn Smallwood Jones, GCMG, MBE
(1908–1992), was a British colonial administrator in Southern Africa. He was the last governor of Nyasaland
(now Malawi
) from 1961 until it achieved independence in 1964. He served as the only Governor-General
of Malawi from 1964 until it became a republic in 1966. In 1964, he was appointed a GCMG.
, in England
, on January 9, 1908 and baptised in the Calvinist Methodist Church
. He attended a council-run elementary school in Chester and, from 1919–1927, King’s School, Chester, where in 1926 he became Head Boy and Captain of School. He was later admitted as a non-collegiate student to St Catherine’s Society (later St Catherine’s College), Oxford, and played soccer for the university in 1928-1931 as well as being stroke of the St Catherine’s 2nd VIII. After graduating in 1930, he was accepted for posting to Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia
) as an Administrative Officer Cadet to the Colonial Service conditional upon successfully completing the Tropical Africa Services course at Oxford, which he did in 1931.
under canvas, based in the Zambezi valley. In February 1932, he was posted to Mwinilunga
in the north west of the country, where he was based for the next 2 ½ years. During this time he sat and passed the Chinyanja exam. After his mandatory leave in 1934, he was posted to Luanshya
on the Copperbelt, during a period of disturbances among the native mineworkers there. In 1936-1937 he played on the Northern Rhodesia national soccer team.
On leave again in 1938, he married Margaret McWilliam. However, she refused to go back with him to Northern Rhodesia and he never saw her again. On his return, he was posted to Balovale
in the northwest province where he was appointed District Commissioner in July 1939. After Britain’s declaration of war against Germany, his request for leave to go on active service was rejected. In June 1942 he was granted a decree nisi of divorce from his wife, which was made absolute on 26 October 1942. On 8 November, he married Nancy Featherstone, a nurse working in Northern Rhodesia. He was subsequently posted to Feira in the Eastern Province where his wife bore two children, Elisabeth in 1944 and Timothy in 1946.
In 1951 Jones was appointed Commissioner for Native Development and took up residence in Northern Rhodesia’s capital, Lusaka
. In 1955, he was made Acting Development Secretary as well as being a provincial nominated member of the Legislative Council and a temporary official member of the Executive Council. He was promoted to Provincial Commissioner on 1 December 1955. In August 1956, after another leave, he took over in Ndola
in the Western Province and in February 1957 he became resident commissioner of Barotseland
province. During this time, he hosted a very successful tour by the Governor of Northern Rhodesia, Sir Arthur Benson, who had been his contemporary at Oxford. Shortly thereafter, in January, 1958, Benson appointed him Secretary for Native Affairs in Lusaka and he became a close confidant and lieutenant of the governor. During his time as Secretary, there were disturbances among the Tonga inhabitants of the Gwembe valley, which was to be flooded to accommodate the Kariba Dam.
in 1959, the UK Secretary for the Colonies, Iain Macleod
, nominated Jones to be Chief Secretary in Nyasaland. The nomination was motivated by Devlin’s having criticised the incumbent administrative officials in Nyasaland as “unimpressive” and by Jones’s reputation as a trouble-shooter, particularly in the Copperbelt disturbances, based on his career in Northern Rhodesia. Jones accepted the nomination somewhat reluctantly. In March 1960, prior to his official appointment beginning at the end of June, he visited Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda in gaol in Gwelo (now Gweru), Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Banda was a leading figure among Nyasas opposed to Federation with the Rhodesias and agitating for independence from Britain. Banda was released in April 1960.
In August 1960, the Governor of Nyasaland, Sir Robert Armitage
, went on leave and Jones was appointed Acting Governor in his absence. This was a time of rapid transition for Nyasaland, with the African population excited and the European settler population very concerned about the radical changes taking place in their country. A particularly inflammatory issue was the question of whether or when to release other leading political prisoners, and Jones and Banda had several meetings, some very confrontational, in his early days as Acting Governor before the eventual release of most of these prisoners in September 1960. In October 1960, Jones was told that he would be appointed Governor when Sir Robert Armitage retired, and he was also made Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (i.e. “knighted”) at this time. He took the oath of allegiance as Governor on 10 April 1961. His son, Timothy, died shortly thereafter.
An election was announced for August 1961, and the run up to this event was a tense time during which members of Banda’s party, the Malawi Congress Party, were said to have engaged in acts of violent intimidation against political opponents, creating some problems for Jones. Shortly after the election, after some tense negotiations, Jones appointed Banda and three other Africans as Ministers of the new government as well as two African parliamentary secretaries. On 1 February 1963, Banda became Prime Minister. In July 1964, Nyasaland formally became the independent Commonwealth of Malawi. With Banda’s assent, Jones stayed on as Governor General. Less than two months later, a crisis erupted after most of Banda’s ministers agitated for more power in his markedly autocratic government. By the end of September, most of the cabinet had fled the country. In June 1966, Jones officially assented to Malawi becoming an independent republic, leading to the termination of his own job as Governor General when the country’s new status was adopted in July 1966.
MBE
MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...
(1908–1992), was a British colonial administrator in Southern Africa. He was the last governor of Nyasaland
Nyasaland
Nyasaland or the Nyasaland Protectorate, was a British protectorate located in Africa, which was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Since 1964, it has been known as Malawi....
(now Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
) from 1961 until it achieved independence in 1964. He served as the only Governor-General
Governor-General
A Governor-General, is a vice-regal person of a monarch in an independent realm or a major colonial circonscription. Depending on the political arrangement of the territory, a Governor General can be a governor of high rank, or a principal governor ranking above "ordinary" governors.- Current uses...
of Malawi from 1964 until it became a republic in 1966. In 1964, he was appointed a GCMG.
Education
Glyn Smallwood Jones was born in ChesterChester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
, in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, on January 9, 1908 and baptised in the Calvinist Methodist Church
Presbyterian Church of Wales
The Presbyterian Church of Wales , also known as The Calvinistic Methodist Church , is a denomination of Protestant Christianity. It was born out of the Welsh Methodist revival and the preaching of Hywel Harris Howell Harris in the 18th century and seceded from the Church of England in 1811...
. He attended a council-run elementary school in Chester and, from 1919–1927, King’s School, Chester, where in 1926 he became Head Boy and Captain of School. He was later admitted as a non-collegiate student to St Catherine’s Society (later St Catherine’s College), Oxford, and played soccer for the university in 1928-1931 as well as being stroke of the St Catherine’s 2nd VIII. After graduating in 1930, he was accepted for posting to Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
) as an Administrative Officer Cadet to the Colonial Service conditional upon successfully completing the Tropical Africa Services course at Oxford, which he did in 1931.
Rhodesia
In June 1931, Jones's appointment was confirmed and he sailed for Cape Town on July 9, 1931, on the Edinburgh Castle. He spent his first eight months in Northern RhodesiaNorthern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia was a territory in south central Africa, formed in 1911. It became independent in 1964 as Zambia.It was initially administered under charter by the British South Africa Company and formed by it in 1911 by amalgamating North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia...
under canvas, based in the Zambezi valley. In February 1932, he was posted to Mwinilunga
Mwinilunga
Mwinilunga is a town in the North-Western Province of Zambia and headquarters of a district of that name. It lies on the West Lunga River, not far from the borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola.- Overview :...
in the north west of the country, where he was based for the next 2 ½ years. During this time he sat and passed the Chinyanja exam. After his mandatory leave in 1934, he was posted to Luanshya
Luanshya
Luanshya is a town in Zambia, in the Copperbelt Province near Ndola. It has a population of 117,579 .Luanshya was founded in the early part of the 20th century after a prospector/explorer, William Collier, shot and killed a Roan Antelope on the banks of the Luanshya River, discovering a copper...
on the Copperbelt, during a period of disturbances among the native mineworkers there. In 1936-1937 he played on the Northern Rhodesia national soccer team.
On leave again in 1938, he married Margaret McWilliam. However, she refused to go back with him to Northern Rhodesia and he never saw her again. On his return, he was posted to Balovale
Balovale
Balovale means the Lovale people, also spelled Luvale and also called the Luena or Lwena, an ethnic group in Zambia and Angola. In Zambia they are found mainly in the North-Western Province of Zambia, centred in the town of Zambezi which was previously called Balovale...
in the northwest province where he was appointed District Commissioner in July 1939. After Britain’s declaration of war against Germany, his request for leave to go on active service was rejected. In June 1942 he was granted a decree nisi of divorce from his wife, which was made absolute on 26 October 1942. On 8 November, he married Nancy Featherstone, a nurse working in Northern Rhodesia. He was subsequently posted to Feira in the Eastern Province where his wife bore two children, Elisabeth in 1944 and Timothy in 1946.
In 1951 Jones was appointed Commissioner for Native Development and took up residence in Northern Rhodesia’s capital, Lusaka
Lusaka
Lusaka is the capital and largest city of Zambia. It is located in the southern part of the central plateau, at an elevation of about 1,300 metres . It has a population of about 1.7 million . It is a commercial centre as well as the centre of government, and the four main highways of Zambia head...
. In 1955, he was made Acting Development Secretary as well as being a provincial nominated member of the Legislative Council and a temporary official member of the Executive Council. He was promoted to Provincial Commissioner on 1 December 1955. In August 1956, after another leave, he took over in Ndola
Ndola
Ndola is the third largest city in Zambia, with a population of 495,000 . It is the industrial, commercial, on the Copperbelt, Zambia's copper-mining region, and capital of Copperbelt Province. It is also the commercial capital city of Zambia and has one of the three international airports, others...
in the Western Province and in February 1957 he became resident commissioner of Barotseland
Barotseland
Barotseland is a region in the western part of Zambia, and is the homeland of the Lozi people or Barotse who were previously known as Luyi or Aluyi. Its heartland is the Barotse Floodplain on the upper Zambezi River, also known as Bulozi or Lyondo, but it includes the surrounding higher ground of...
province. During this time, he hosted a very successful tour by the Governor of Northern Rhodesia, Sir Arthur Benson, who had been his contemporary at Oxford. Shortly thereafter, in January, 1958, Benson appointed him Secretary for Native Affairs in Lusaka and he became a close confidant and lieutenant of the governor. During his time as Secretary, there were disturbances among the Tonga inhabitants of the Gwembe valley, which was to be flooded to accommodate the Kariba Dam.
Nyasaland
After the report of the Devlin Commission into disturbances in neighbouring NyasalandNyasaland
Nyasaland or the Nyasaland Protectorate, was a British protectorate located in Africa, which was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Since 1964, it has been known as Malawi....
in 1959, the UK Secretary for the Colonies, Iain Macleod
Iain Macleod
Iain Norman Macleod was a British Conservative Party politician and government minister.-Early life:...
, nominated Jones to be Chief Secretary in Nyasaland. The nomination was motivated by Devlin’s having criticised the incumbent administrative officials in Nyasaland as “unimpressive” and by Jones’s reputation as a trouble-shooter, particularly in the Copperbelt disturbances, based on his career in Northern Rhodesia. Jones accepted the nomination somewhat reluctantly. In March 1960, prior to his official appointment beginning at the end of June, he visited Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda in gaol in Gwelo (now Gweru), Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Banda was a leading figure among Nyasas opposed to Federation with the Rhodesias and agitating for independence from Britain. Banda was released in April 1960.
In August 1960, the Governor of Nyasaland, Sir Robert Armitage
Robert Perceval Armitage
Robert Perceval Armitage was a British colonial administrator who held senior positions in Kenya and the Gold Coast, and was Governor of Cyprus and then Nyasaland during the period when the former British colonies were gaining independence.-Early years:Armitage was born on 21 December 1906 in...
, went on leave and Jones was appointed Acting Governor in his absence. This was a time of rapid transition for Nyasaland, with the African population excited and the European settler population very concerned about the radical changes taking place in their country. A particularly inflammatory issue was the question of whether or when to release other leading political prisoners, and Jones and Banda had several meetings, some very confrontational, in his early days as Acting Governor before the eventual release of most of these prisoners in September 1960. In October 1960, Jones was told that he would be appointed Governor when Sir Robert Armitage retired, and he was also made Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (i.e. “knighted”) at this time. He took the oath of allegiance as Governor on 10 April 1961. His son, Timothy, died shortly thereafter.
An election was announced for August 1961, and the run up to this event was a tense time during which members of Banda’s party, the Malawi Congress Party, were said to have engaged in acts of violent intimidation against political opponents, creating some problems for Jones. Shortly after the election, after some tense negotiations, Jones appointed Banda and three other Africans as Ministers of the new government as well as two African parliamentary secretaries. On 1 February 1963, Banda became Prime Minister. In July 1964, Nyasaland formally became the independent Commonwealth of Malawi. With Banda’s assent, Jones stayed on as Governor General. Less than two months later, a crisis erupted after most of Banda’s ministers agitated for more power in his markedly autocratic government. By the end of September, most of the cabinet had fled the country. In June 1966, Jones officially assented to Malawi becoming an independent republic, leading to the termination of his own job as Governor General when the country’s new status was adopted in July 1966.