Sir Geoffrey Edmund Cator (14 August 1884 – 21 April 1973) was a British administrator in the Malayan Civil Service.

Biography

Cator was born in

Lacock Lacock is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) south of the town of Chippenham, and about outside the Cotswolds area. The village is owned almost in its enti ...

, Wiltshire, the son of brewer Robert Cator of

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

and Evelyn Susan Sotheron Estcourt. He married Elizabeth Margaret Wynne Mostyn in 1922; they had a son, Peter John Cator (26 October 1924 – 22 January 2006) and daughter Rosemary Ann Cator. Initially assigned to

Kuala Kangsar Kuala Kangsar (Perak Malay: ) is the royal town of Perak, Malaysia. It is located at the downstream of Kangsar River where it joins the Perak River, approximately northwest of Ipoh, Perak's capital, and southeast of George Town, Penang, Ge ...

, he held the position of Collector of Land Revenue and frequently participated in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

games with the

Malay College The Malay College Kuala Kangsar (abbreviated MCKK; ; ) is a boarding school, residential school in Malaysia. It is an all-boys and all-Malay people, Malay school in the royal town of Kuala Kangsar, Perak. It is sometimes dubbed "the Eton College ...

students, a sport he possessed some skill in. Pusat Bandar 19 February 2023 24

Sir Geoffrey joined the Malayan Civil Service in 1907 until 1939. He was the British Resident of Brunei from May 1916 until March 1921. Later he was posted as the Superintendent of Government Monopolies of

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements () were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under control of the ...

, the District Officer of Klang and also member of the Legislative Council of

Federated Malay States The Federated Malay States (FMS, , Jawi script, Jawi: ) was a federation of four protectorate, protected states in the Malay Peninsula — Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang — established in 1895 by the British government, and whi ...

. He was the British Resident of Selangor (1932-1933) and British Resident of Perak (1933-1939). His last post was the head of the Malay States Information Agency in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He was made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in the

1946 New Year Honours The 1946 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth Realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and to celebrate the passing of 1945 and the beginn ...

. He had previously been awarded the CMG in 1936. 1948 saw his retirement as a Malayan Agent. One of his responsibilities in that position was to see Sybil Kathigasu in the hospital following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

; he accomplished this duty and did so with his wife, Lizzy. Using modern medicine, especially quinine, to combat

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

was one of his main concerns while he was in

Perak Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...

. He died in England, 1973.

Contributions

During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Sir Geoffrey also responsible for planning the war strategy, initially he published some written reviews, when

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

was ambushed by the Japanese. His publications were, *"Malaya's war effort", ''Asiatic Review'' (1940) *"Malaya: The first year", ''Asiatic Review'' (1940) *"Course of Japanese invasion of Malaya", ''Crown Colonist'' (February 1942) *"Malaya and the Japanese attack", ''Asiatic Review'' (1942) *"Malaya: a retrospect", ''Asiatic Review'' (1942)

Namesakes

*Cator Avenue in Taiping was named after him. *A street in Pusat Bandar (

Bandar Seri Begawan Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB) is the capital and largest city of Brunei. It is officially a Municipalities of Brunei, municipal area () with an area of and an estimated population of 100,700 as of 2007. It is part of Brunei–Muara District, the s ...

) is named after him, Jalan Cator.

References

National Archive of Malaysia
*Geoffrey C. Gunn, ''New World Hegemony in the Malay World'' 1884 births 1973 deaths Administrators in British Brunei Administrators in British Malaya Administrators in British Borneo Knights Bachelor Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Alumni of the University of Cambridge Colonial Administrative Service officers British people in British Malaya Malayan Civil Service officers {{UK-gov-bio-stub