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Sir Robert Thorne Coryndon, (2 April 1870 – 10 February 1925) was a
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
colonial administrator, a former secretary of
Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes ( ; 5 July 185326 March 1902) was an English-South African mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. He and his British South Africa Company founded th ...
who became Governor of the colonies of Uganda (1918–1922) and Kenya (1922–1925). He was one of the most powerful of colonial administrators of his day.


Early years

Robert Thorne Coryndon was born to English parents in
Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...
, South Africa on 2 April 1870. He was educated at St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown, and at
Cheltenham College Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...
in England. In 1889 he returned to South Africa to serve his articles as a lawyer with his uncles's firm, Caldecott and Bell of
Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...
. Unhappy with office work, after a few months he joined the Bechuanaland Border Police run by the
British South Africa Company The British South Africa Company (BSAC or BSACo) was chartered in 1889 following the amalgamation of Cecil Rhodes' Central Search Association and the London-based Exploring Company Ltd, which had originally competed to capitalize on the expecte ...
(BSAC) which
Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes ( ; 5 July 185326 March 1902) was an English-South African mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. He and his British South Africa Company founded th ...
had formed in 1889. In 1890 he was a member of the Pioneer Force occupying
Mashonaland Mashonaland is a region in northeastern Zimbabwe. It is home to nearly half of the population of Zimbabwe. The majority of the Mashonaland people are from the Shona tribe while the Zezuru and Korekore dialects are most common. Harare is the larg ...
. In 1893 and 1896 he served in campaigns in
Matabeleland Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi ...
. In 1896 Coryndon was appointed private secretary to Cecil Rhodes, and served in that role during the 1896 Parliamentary Inquiry into the Jameson Raid. In summer of 1897 he was sent by Rhodes to be the BSAC representative in
Barotseland Barotseland (Lozi language, Lozi: ''Mubuso Bulozi'') is a region between Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe including half of north-western province, southern province, and parts of Lusaka Province, Lusaka, Central Province, Zambia, Central, ...
. In October 1897 he reached King
Lewanika Lewanika (c. 1842–1916) (also known as Lubosi, Lubosi Lewanika or Lewanika I) was the Lozi Litunga (King) of Barotseland from 1878 to 1916 (with a break in 1884-5). A detailed, although biased, description of King 'Lubossi' (the spelling used) c ...
's capital, Lealui, where he was given a cool reception. Lewanika could not accept that Coryndon could represent both a company and the government. In November 1899
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
signed an order in council that established company rule in Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia, and in September 1900 Coryndon was appointed commissioner. He held this post until 1907. He then became Resident Commissioner in Swaziland, and was chairman of the Southern Rhodesian Native Reserves Commission of 1914–1915. In 1916 he was appointed Resident Commissioner in
Basutoland Basutoland was a British Crown colony that existed from 1884 to 1966 in present-day Lesotho, bordered with the Cape Colony, Natal Colony and Orange River Colony until 1910 and completely surrounded by South Africa from 1910. Though the Basot ...
.


Colonial governor


Uganda

In 1917 Coryndon was given the position of Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Uganda, taking office in 1918. As Governor, he was involved in a crisis over the East African rupee, which had been pegged to the Indian rupee. The settlers were in favour of devaluing the currency and then pegging it to the British pound, while investors strongly objected to the loss that they would incur as a result. One effect of the change would be to devalue the coinage, almost entirely held by African cotton growers. Some officials calculated that the loss incurred by the average family would be small, but others including Coryndon were concerned about the destruction of trust in the government that would result. Coryndon wrote "I do not think you can properly estimate the effect of a measure of this sort by a calculation of average loss per head". Coryndon liked Uganda because there was "no settler problem" meaning there were no European settlers. Coryndon's administration was praised for taking numerous measures to improve the economic well-being of Africans who were part of the cash economy. Coryndon was governor of Uganda at a time of rapid economic expansion, and he was noted to ensure that the colony's indigenous African population benefited from the economy's expansion. Coryndon eliminated unpopular taxes and forgave all African debts for fines owed to the colonial government. Coryndon also raised wages for all Africans employed by the British government on the grounds that the wages needed to be adjusted for inflation.Robert Thorne Coryndon: Proconsular Imperialism in Southern and Eastern Africa, 1897–1925 by Christopher P. Youé


Kenya

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
was secretary of state for the colonies in the early 1920s. In 1922 he appointed Coryndon Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Kenya and High Commissioner of Zanzibar. The previous governor Edward Northey had written in 1919: "I believe there is a great future for this country, but only if a steady flow of natives out of the Reserves, working willingly for a good wage, well-housed and fed, under European control and supervision, can be properly organized". However, Northey's policies had brought the colony near to bankruptcy. Between 1913 and 1920 native production had actually fallen. Coryndon was expected to introduce a new policy that supported expansion of African production. In a letter to Churchill soon after arriving in Kenya, Coryndon said "I believe I shall be able to handle the settlers: largely by laughing at them a little and by getting them to use a sense of proportion in their outlook. I shall push native development and native crops. I am confident as to the future on the whole". Coryndon defined a "dual policy" to correct the problems that stemmed from excessive bias toward settler demands, while avoiding the idea that native interests were paramount. In September 1923 Coryndon said the interest of Europeans and natives were complementary, and that if given the proper incentives and guidance the native population would become Kenya's greatest asset. The administration should pay attention to the native's moral welfare, sense of responsibility to the state, health and material well-being. The natives should be given education suitable to their needs. The dual policy later became the official basis for administering the colony. Churchill gave Coryndon the mandate of solving the "Indian question" in Kenya. Churchill was in favour of white settlement, although not of self-government. However, he saw a need for Indian settlers to act as merchants. There was a growing influx of Indians into Nairobi's city center in the 1920s, working as shopkeepers, railway workers, government clerks and small-scale manufacturers. In response, the whites moved out to the Upper Nairobi western suburbs. The Indians were pressing for similar political rights to those of the white settlers. The Imperial government response was to seek a way to set educational and property or income qualifications that would result in about 10% of Indians getting the vote, and defining qualifications for candidates that would ensure a solid majority of Europeans while allowing some Indian elected officials. Coryndon presented these proposals at a meeting of representatives of the European community in Nairobi, who unanimously rejected them. Before agreeing to put the matter to the vote in the legislature, they insisted that measures had to be enacted to restrict further Indian immigration. Coryndon was appointed CMG in 1911 and KCMG in 1919. He died in
Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...
on 10 February 1925. On 17 February 1925 the Kenyan Legislative Council granted an annual allowance of 500 pounds to Lady Coryndon for life or until she remarried, two hundred pounds to each of his three sons until they reached the age of 21, and one hundred pounds to his daughter until she married or reached the age of 21.


Postscript

Coryndon was one of Cecil Rhodes's "twelve apostles", and owed much to Rhodes' teachings. His private secretary later described him as a "simple man with simple ideas". He believed in a policy of indirect rule, to "build up a more modern society on the traditions of the people". In 1929 the Kenyan colonial government allocated land in Nairobi for a museum. The Coryndon Museum was officially opened on 22 September 1930. It became the Nairobi National Museum after independence in 1963. The , 800 ton steamer SS Robert Coryndon, built by J Thorneycroft & Co of Southampton, was in service on Lake Albert between 1930 and 1964. The ship provided operated a Class A ferry service from Butiaba to the Congo, through
Pakwach Pakwach is a town in the Northern Region, Uganda, Northern Region of Uganda. It is the main commercial, political and administrative center of Pakwach District. In the 19th century the town came under brief occupation by the Ottoman Empire, Ottom ...
in
Pakwach District Pakwach District is a Districts of Uganda, district in the Northern Region of Uganda. The town of Pakwach is the location of the district headquarters. Location Pakwach District is bordered by Nebbi District to the west, Madi Okolo District to ...
.
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...
, who had stop in Butiaba after his plane crashed when he was on a hunting safari, described the ship as "magnificence on water". The ship sank in 1964. All that remains is an abandoned hulk.


References

Sources * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coryndon, Robert 1870 births 1925 deaths Alumni of St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown British Kenya people Colonial governors and administrators of Kenya Governors of Uganda Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George People educated at Cheltenham College Resident commissioners in Basutoland Resident commissioners in Swaziland