Sir Ernest Bickham Sweet-Escott, (20 August 1857 – 9 April 1941) was a British colonial administrator who was in turn governor of the British Seychelles,

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

British Leeward Islands The British Leeward Islands was a British colony from 1671 to 1958, consisting of the English overseas possessions, English (later British) overseas possessions in the Leeward Islands. It ceased to exist from 1816 to 1833, during which time it ...

and British Fiji.

Early years

Sweet-Escott was born at

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 ...

, the fifth son of the Rev. Hay Sweet-Escott, headmaster of Somersetshire College, Bath, and Rector of

Kilve Kilve is a village in Somerset, England, within the Quantock Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the first AONB to be established, in 1957. It lies on the A39 road, A39 almost exactly equidistant from Bridgwater to the east and Minehead t ...

, Somerset, by his wife Eliza, daughter of Rev. John Coombes Collins, Vicar of St John's Bridgwater. He was educated at the Royal Somersetshire College, Bath,

Bromsgrove School Bromsgrove School is a co-educational boarding and day school in the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove, England. Founded in 1553, it is one of the oldest public schools in Britain, and one of the 14 founding members of the Headmasters' Confer ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

. From 1881 he was professor of

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

at the Royal College of

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

.''SWEET-ESCOTT Sir Ernest Bickham 1857–1941''
. In 1886 he became assistant colonial secretary at Mauritius and was promoted in 1889 to acting colonial secretary. His next posting was in

from May 1893 until September 1898 when he returned to take up a post as acting government clerk at 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 ...

Colonial administrator

Sweet-Escott then became administrator of the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

in June 1899 and then

Governor of the Seychelles This is a list of colonial governors of Seychelles, an archipelago, archipelagic island country in the Indian Ocean. Seychelles was first History of Seychelles#French settlement and rule, colonised by the French in 1770, and captured by the Br ...

when the post was created from 1903 to 1904. He was knighted in 1904 and became Governor of British Honduras from 15 April 1904 to 13 August 1906. From 1906 until 1912 he was Governor of the Leeward Islands. Sweet-Escott became

Governor of Fiji Fiji was a British Crown colony from 1874 to 1970, and an independent dominion in the Commonwealth from 1970 to 1987. During this period, the head of state was the British monarch, but in practice the functions of the crown were normally exercis ...

on 25 July 1912 and was also High Commissioner and Consul General for the West Pacific region. During

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 ...

a German squadron under

Maximilian von Spee Maximilian Johannes Maria Hubert Reichsgraf von Spee (22 June 1861 – 8 December 1914) was a German naval officer in the Imperial German Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine)'', who commanded the East Asia Squadron during World War I. Spee entered the n ...

was a day away from Fiji. Sweet-Escott wired a message to the Australian fleet, then 2000 miles away, which the Germans intercepted and von Spee was convinced that he was heading for a trap, turned away and laughed at the "fool of a governor for giving the show away". Sweet-Escott's term of office ended on 10 October 1918.

Miscellaneous

Sweet-Escott instituted the ''Escott Shield'' as a rugby trophy in 1913, which was first won by the Pacific Club. Sweet-Escott married Mary Jane Hunt on 14 December 1881 and had five children. Sweet-Escott was appointed a

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 ...

in the 1895 Birthday Honours, and a Knight Companion of the Order in the 1904 Birthday Honours.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet-Escott, Ernest 1857 births 1941 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Colonial Administrative Service officers Governors of British Seychelles Governors of British Honduras Governors of the Leeward Islands Governors of Fiji Members of the Legislative Council of Fiji Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George People educated at Bromsgrove School People from Bath, Somerset High commissioners for the Western Pacific Academic staff of the University of Mauritius