Alan Burns (colonial Administrator)
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Sir Alan Cuthbert Maxwell Burns (9 November 1887 – 29 September 1980) was a
British civil servant In the United Kingdom, the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government, which is led by a cabinet of ministers chosen by ...
who rose through the ranks to become governor of several colonies. He also wrote a number of books on politics and history, including a book on what he called "colour
prejudice Prejudice can be an affect (psychology), affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived In-group and out-group, social group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classifi ...
" (racism), in which he criticised the practice.


Early life and family

Burns was born in
Basseterre Basseterre (; Saint Kitts Creole: ''Basterre'') is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Saint Kitts and Nevis with an estimated population of 14,000 in 2018. Geographically, the Basseterre port is located at , on the south-wester ...
,
Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis, officially the Federation of Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis, is an island country consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of the Less ...
, and had seven siblings. His father was James Patrick Burns and his mother was Agnes Zulma Delisle Burns. His father was treasurer of
Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla (or Saint Christopher, Nevis, and Anguilla) was a British colony in the West Indies from 1882 to 1983, consisting of the islands of Anguilla (until 1980), Nevis, and Saint Kitts, Saint Christopher (or Saint Kitt ...
and died in 1896. Among his siblings were Cecil Delisle Burns, a
secularist Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...
writer and lecturer; Robert Edward Burns, who also worked in the
Colonial Service The Colonial Service, also known as His/Her Majesty's Colonial Service and replaced in 1954 by Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS), was the British government service that administered most of Britain's overseas possessions, under the aut ...
; and
Emile Burns Bernard Emile Vivian Burns (16 April 1889 – 29 November 1972) was a British communist, economist, translator and author as an active member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. Early life and family Emile Burns was born in Basseterre ...
, a leading British Communist. In 1901 Burns
matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used now ...
at St Edmund's College in
Old Hall Green Old Hall Green is a hamlet in Hertfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census the population was included in the civil parish of Standon. In 1793, an academy, St Edmund's College, Ware, was established there which provided a school for Catholic b ...
, but he had to leave early as his family could not afford the fees. His mother died in
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
in 1914. In the same year he married Kathleen Fitzpatrick Hardtman. They had two daughters, Barbara and Benedicta.


Career

Burns held several posts in the Colonial Service. He served in the
Leeward Islands The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In Engl ...
from 1905 to 1912 and then became Supervisor of Customs in
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
. In 1914 he enlisted in the West Africa Frontier Force. He served in the Cameroons Campaign and became
Adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...
of the Nigeria Land Contingent. Burns was Private Secretary to Sir Frederick (later Lord) Lugard then Hugh Clifford during their times as governors of Nigeria. In 1924 Burns was appointed Colonial Secretary of
the Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...
, where he served until 1929 and carried out the duties of Governor on several occasions. From 1929 to 1934 he was Deputy Chief Secretary to the Government of Nigeria. Then, at the age of 47, was posted to
British Honduras British Honduras was a Crown colony on the east coast of Central America — specifically located on the southern edge of the Yucatan Peninsula from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony — renamed Belize from June 1973
, where he was Governor from 2 November 1934 until 24 February 1939. In 1940 he was seconded to the
Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created in 1768 from the Southern Department to deal with colonial affairs in North America (particularly the Thirteen Colo ...
on special duties, with the rank of Assistant Under-Secretary. Burns was appointed Governor of the Gold Coast in 1941. In 1942 he served for five months as Acting
Governor of Nigeria The governor-general of Nigeria was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in Colonial Nigeria from 1954 to 1960, and after Nigerian independence in 1960, the representative of the Nigerian head of state. The office was created ...
. He then returned to the Gold Coast, where in 1942 he persuaded the Colonial Office to admit Africans onto the Executive Council of the colony. In 1946 he inspired a new constitution under which the Legislative Council came to consist of six ''ex officio'' members, six nominated members and eighteen elected members. As a result there was an African majority on the Council. In 1943 a
ritual murder Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease deity, gods, a human ruler, public or jurisdictional demands for justice by capital punishment, an authoritative/prie ...
took place in
Kyebi Kibi or Kyebi is a town located in the East Akim Municipal District, Eastern Region, Ghana, Eastern Region of Ghana. Its population is 11,677 people as of 2013. History Kibi is the traditional capital of the Akyem Abuakwa state in the Ea ...
. A jury consisting of six Gold Coast natives and one European convicted eight men of murder, but the accused had a well-funded defence, led by a lawyer who was a nationalist politician and a relative of some of the accused. The defence launched appeals to the UK and attempted to portray the trial as a case of white oppression. He received a degree of support from some politicians in the UK and the case dragged on for years. Burns resigned as Governor shortly after the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council rejected the final appeal in the case. From 1947 until his retirement in 1956 Burns served as Permanent Representative of the UK on the
United Nations Trusteeship Council The United Nations Trusteeship Council is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, established to help ensure that trust territories were administered in the best interests of their inhabitants and of international peace and sec ...
. In 1959, at the age of 72, he headed a Commission of Enquiry into the Natural Resources and Population Trends of the
Colony of Fiji The Colony of Fiji was a Crown colony that existed from 1874 to 1970 in the territory of the present-day nation of Fiji. London declined its first opportunity to annex Fiji in 1852. Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau had offered to cede the islands, s ...
. In 1966 Burns used his contacts to ensure a safe exit for his niece Dr Marca Burns from Ghana during a coup. Burns died at
Westminster Hospital Westminster Hospital was a hospital in London, England, founded in 1719. In 1834 a medical school attached to the hospital was formally founded. In 1939 a newly built hospital and medical school opened in Horseferry Road, Westminster. In 1994 the ...
in London.


Publications

Burns wrote a number of books and an article for a journal. He was also instrumental in founding the Lagos Library in 1932. While most people were excluded from the Library by its high subscription fees, it differed from many other similar institutions by allowing Africans to become members. In his book ''Colour Prejudice'' Burns wrote that colour prejudice (racism) Burns's book ''Colonial Civil Servant'' is a collection of reminiscences of his career.


Books

*''Colour Prejudice'' (1948) *''History of Nigeria'' (1948) *''Colonial Civil Servant'' (1949) *''History of the British West Indies'' (1954) *''In Defence of Colonies'' (1957) *''Fiji:The Corona Library'' (1963) *''Parliament as an Export'' (1966)


Journal article

*"Towards a Caribbean Federation" in ''Foreign Affairs'' Vol. 34, No. 1 (October 1955), pp. 128–140


Honours

* Companion of the
Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...
1927 *
Knight Commander Knight Commander (or Dame Commander) is the second most senior grade of seven British orders of chivalry, three of which are dormant (and one of them continues as a German house order). The rank entails admission into knighthood, allowing the rec ...
of the Order of St Michael and St George 1936.' * Knight of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta 1942 * Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George 1946


Further reading

*


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Alan Cuthbert Maxwell 1887 births 1980 deaths Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Hospitaller Colonial Administrative Service officers British governors and governors-general of Nigeria Governors of British Honduras People educated at St Edmund's College, Ware Governors of the Gold Coast (British colony) Colonial secretaries of the Bahamas