Albert Rubidge Washington Stumbles, (20 January 19042 August 1978) was a Southern Rhodesian lawyer and politician. After serving as a minister under Garfield Todd and

Edgar Whitehead Sir Edgar Cuthbert Fremantle Whitehead, (8 February 1905 – 22 September 1971) was a Rhodesian politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia from 1958 to 1962. He had a long and varied political career, serving ...

, Stumbles became the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Southern Rhodesia (

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

from 1970) in 1964, a post he held until 1972. As Speaker, Stumbles is best remembered for his acceptance of Southern Rhodesia's

Unilateral Declaration of Independence A unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) or "unilateral secession" is a formal process leading to the establishment of a new state by a subnational entity which declares itself independent and sovereign without a formal agreement with the ...

in 1965.

Biography

Stumbles was born in

Fort Beaufort Fort Beaufort ( Xhosa: iBhofolo), officially renamed KwaMaqoma in March 2023, is a town in the Amatole District of South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, and had a population of 25,668 in 2011. The town was established in 1837 and became a mun ...

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 ...

, the son of Robert Washington Stumbles, a bank manager and a distant relative of

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

. In 1913, he moved with his family from

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

, where they settled in

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...

. He was educated at the Milton High School in Bulawayo and St. Andrew's School, Bloemfontein. After a short spell in the Southern Rhodesian civil service as a clerk, Stumbles was admitted to practice law in Southern Rhodesia in 1926. He moved with his parents to

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

in 1928, where he continued his legal practice. In the 1946 Southern Rhodesian general election, Stumbles entered the Legislative Assembly of Southern Rhodesia for Avondale as a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, but he was defeated in 1948. He was returned to the Assembly unopposed for Avondale in 1953 as a member of Garfield Todd's United Rhodesia Party, which became the

United Federal Party The United Federal Party (UFP) was a political party in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. History The UFP was formed in November 1957 by a merger of the Federal Party (Rhodesia and Nyasaland), Federal Party, which had operated at the fed ...

in 1957. Stumbles was appointed Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs in 1954, Minister of Local Government and Minister of Native Education in 1957, Minister of Roads, Irrigation and Lands in 1958, and Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs, Minister of Law and Order, and Minister of Roads in 1962. In 1958, he and his Cabinet colleagues resigned in order to oust Todd, whose moderate native policy alienated them. Having previously served as Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the Committees, Stumbles was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in 1964, whereupon he resigned his seat. As Speaker, his most momentous decision was his recognition of the legitimacy of

Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) was a statement adopted by the Cabinet of Rhodesia on 11 November 1965, announcing that Rhodesia (previously Southern Rhodesia), a British crown colony in southern Africa that had respon ...

in 1965. The United Kingdom government had passed an

order-in-council An Order in Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom, this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' ...

which forbade the Legislative Assembly from meeting after 11 November, but Stumbles, a supporter of UDI, decided to ignore the prohibition. When the Assembly met again on 25 November, Stumbles ruled that those members who considered themselves bound by the British order-in-council forbidding the sitting should not be present at all. When Dr

Ahrn Palley Ahrn Palley (13 February 1914 – 6 May 1993) was an Independent (politician), independent politician in Rhodesia who criticised the Ian Smith, Smith administration and the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Rhodesia), Unilateral Declarati ...

, an opponent of UDI, opposed the ruling, Stumbles named him and he was excluded from the Assembly.

Awards

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Family

Stumbles married Mary Dallas Atherstone, a descendant of the

1820 Settlers The 1820 Settlers were several groups of British colonists from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, settled by the government of the United Kingdom and the Cape Colony authorities in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820. Origins After th ...

, in 1932. They had two sons, Robert Atherstone Stumbles (19342010) and James Rubidge Washington Stumbles (born 1939). Robert Stumbles was a prominent Zimbabwean lawyer and opponent of racial discrimination; as Chancellor of the Diocese of Harare, Stumbles became famous for his attempts to bring to trial the disgraced Bishop of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga.

Biography

Awards

Family

References

Further reading