Sir Charles Harper

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

CMG (24 February 1876 – 13 May 1950) was a British colonial administrator.

Biography

He was born in

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England. He was educated at

Blundell's School Blundell's School is an Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent co-educational boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school in the English Public School (United Kingdom), public school tradition, located in Tiverton, Devon, T ...

in Tiverton, and

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

, and played rugby football for

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. In 1900, Harper entered the Colonial Service as a Cadet in the Gold Coast Civil Service and was attached to the Ashanti Field Force. He left the Gold Coast in 1909 when he was called to the Bar of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

; the following year he married Marjorie Ford. Harper returned to the Gold Coast and in May 1914 was appointed Acting Colonial Secretary in

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

. At the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he served as Senior Political Officer with the Togoland Field Force during the occupation of the former German colony, a post he held until December 1914. During 1916 he deputised for the Governor,

Sir Hugh Clifford Sir Hugh Charles Clifford (5 March 1866 – 18 December 1941) was a British colonial administrator who had held several governorships. Early life Clifford was born in Roehampton, London, the sixth of the eight children of Major-General Sir H ...

, during the latter's absence. The following year Harper proposed retiring from 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 ...

in order to join the Army but the Colonial Office decided that he could not be released from his post in the Gold Coast. In 1920 Harper was appointed Chief Commissioner of Ashanti. One of the most memorable events of Harper's career in Ashanti concerned the crisis that arose in 1921 when the

Golden Stool of Ashanti The Golden Stool ( Ashanti-; full title, Sika Dwa Kofi "the Golden Stool born on a Friday") is the royal and divine throne of kings of the Asante people and the ultimate symbol of power in Asante. According to legend, Okomfo Anokye, High Priest ...

, venerated by the Ashanti people as the symbol of the soul and spirit of their race, was discovered damaged and desecrated. Harper at once assembled the Chiefs and handed over to them the trial of the offenders, making it clear that the Government made no claim whatever to the Golden Stool. For his handling of this situation, he was awarded the CMG in 1921. He was appointed an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1919 and

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 1930. In 1925 Harper was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the island of

St. Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

(1925–1932) and he served with the

Ministry of Food Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

from 1939 to 1941.

Sources

*Obituary of Sir Charles Harper, ''The Times'', Wednesday, 31 May 1950; pg. 6; Issue 51705; col E {{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Charles 1876 births 1950 deaths People educated at Blundell's School Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Colonial Administrative Service officers British colonial political officers British colonial governors and administrators in Africa Governors of Saint Helena Civil servants in the Ministry of Food Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire English rugby union players England international rugby union players Oxford University RFC players Rugby union players from Barnstaple British expatriates in Gold Coast (British colony)