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Sir Walter Egerton, (1858 – 22 March 1947) was a British colonial administrator who was Governor of
Lagos Colony Lagos Colony was a British Empire, British colonial possession centred on the port of Lagos in what is now southern Nigeria. Lagos was Lagos Treaty of Cession, annexed on 6 August 1861 under the threat of force by Commander Beddingfield of HMS ...
from 1904 to 1906, Governor of Southern Nigeria from 1906 to 1912, and Governor of
British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...
from 1912 to 1917.


Early career

Egerton was born the only son of Walter Egerton, a
gentleman ''Gentleman'' (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man; abbreviated ''gent.'') is a term for a chivalrous, courteous, or honorable man. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire ...
of Exeter, Devon. After an education at
Tonbridge School Tonbridge School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for boys aged 13–18) in Tonbridge, Kent, England, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judde (sometimes spelt Judd). It is a member of the Eton Group and has clo ...
, in 1880 Egerton went out from England to the
Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements () were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under control of the ...
as a cadet'EGERTON, Sir Walter', in ''
Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...
'' (London: A. & C. Black, 1920–2014)
online edition
by Oxford University Press, April 2014, accessed 6 May 2014 (subscription site)
and for several years served there and in the protected states of Malaya. In 1880, aged about 21, he was a Magistrate at
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
; in 1883 he became Collector at
Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...
; he was next a Commissioner of the Court of Requests at Penang and was appointed Acting Resident there in 1894; In 1888, he was an acting First Magistrate at
Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...
, to which position he was later appointed. Egerton was admitted to the
Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...
on 27 April 1888 and was Called to the Bar on 17 June 1896. He acted as the Colonial Secretary for the Straits Settlements between 1899 and 1901. Egerton was Resident in the protected state of
Negeri Sembilan Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan''), historically spelled as Negri Sembilan, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia which lies on the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, wes ...
(1902–03). In this role, he got involved in the laws related to a form of servitude where a woman's illegitimate children were given into the custody of the local ruler. Egerton decided that this was contrary to
Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
law, and that the children belonged to their mothers. In this he was supported by the Sultan of
Perak Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...
. When Egerton became Governor of Lagos Colony in 1903 he already had more than twenty years of experience in the colonial service in the far east. Jalan Penghulu Cantik in Seremban was once named Egerton Road in his memory.


Nigeria

Egerton became Governor of Lagos Colony, covering most of the Yoruba lands in the southwest of what is now Nigeria, in 1903. The colonial office wanted to amalgamate the Lagos Colony with the protectorate of Southern Nigeria, and in August 1904 also appointed Egerton as High Commissioner for the
Southern Nigeria Protectorate Southern Nigeria was a British protectorate in the coastal areas of modern-day Nigeria formed in 1900 from the union of the Niger Coast Protectorate with territories chartered by the Royal Niger Company below Lokoja on the Niger River. The L ...
. He held both offices until 28 February 1906. On that date the two territories were formally united and Egerton was appointed Governor of the new Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, holding office until 1912. In the new Southern Nigeria, the old Lagos Colony became the Western Province, and the former Southern Nigerian Protectorate was split into a Central Province with capital at
Warri The city of Warri is an oil hub within South-South Nigeria and houses an annex of the Delta State Government House. Warri City is one of the major hubs of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. Warri, Udu, Okpe and Uvwie are the commercial ...
and an Eastern Province with capital at
Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari, Cali and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, as the Efik people dominate this area. The city is adjac ...
. When his predecessor in Southern Nigeria, Sir Ralph Denham Rayment Moor, resigned, a large part of the southeast of Nigeria was still outside British control. On taking office, Egerton began a policy of sending out annual pacification patrols, which generally obtained submission through the threat of force without being required to actually use force. Egerton had a somewhat abrupt manner in his dealings with the Colonial Office. In a letter of 1910 he wrote a letter describing the salary of one of his employees as " niggardly". The recipient was highly offended, and said he should be called to order. When Egerton became Governor of Lagos he enthusiastically endorsed the extension of the
Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...
railway onward to Oshogbo, and the project was approved in November 1904. Construction began in January 1905 and the line reached Oshogbo in April 1907. He favored rail over river transport, and pushed to have the railway further extended to Kano by way of
Zaria Zaria is a List of Nigerian cities by population, metropolitan city in Nigeria, located at present time within four local government areas in Kaduna State. It serves as the capital of the Zazzau Emirate Council and is one of the original sev ...
. He also sponsored extensive road construction, building on the legislative foundation laid by his predecessor Moor which enabled use of unpaid local labor. Egerton shared Moor's views on the damage that was being done to the Cross River trade by the combination of indigenous middlemen and traders based in
Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari, Cali and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, as the Efik people dominate this area. The city is adjac ...
. The established traders at first got the Colonial Office to pass rules inhibiting competition from traders willing to set up bases further inland, but with some difficulty Egerton persuaded the officials to reverse their ruling. Egerton was a strong advocate of colonial development. He believed in deficit financing at certain periods of a colony's growth, which was reflected in his budgets from 1906 to 1912. He had a constant struggle to obtain approval for these budgets from the colonial office. As early as 1908, Egerton supported the idea of "a properly organized Agricultural Department with an energetic and experienced head", and the Department of Agriculture came into being in 1910. Egerton endorsed the development of rubber plantations, a concept familiar to him from his time in Malaya, and arranged for land to be leased for this purpose. This was the foundation of a highly successful industry. He also thought there could be great potential in the tin fields near
Bauchi Bauchi (Fula: ''Leydi Bauchi'' 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤦𞤢𞤵𞤷𞥅𞤭) is a States of Nigeria, state in the North East (Nigeria), North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria. It is bordered by Jigawa State, Jigawa to the north, Yobe State, Y ...
, and thought that if proven a branch line to the tin fields would be justified. Egerton came into conflict with the administration of Northern Nigeria on a number of issues. There was debate over whether Ilorin should be incorporated into Southern Nigeria since the people were Yoruba, or remain in Northern Nigeria since the ruler was Muslim and for some time Ilorin had been subject to the Uthmaniyya Caliphate. There was argument about the administration of duties on goods landed on the coast and carried into Northern Nigeria. And there was dispute over whether railway lines from the north should terminate at Lagos or should take alternative routes to the
Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mali, Nige ...
and the coast. Egerton had reason on his side in objecting to the proposed line terminating at Baro on the Niger, since navigation southward to the coast was restricted to the high water season, and even then was uncertain. It is said that the Old Secretariat, Marina is built in an E-shape manner in honour of him. Egerton's administration imposed policies that tended towards segregation of Europeans and Africans. These included excluding Africans from the West African Medical Service and saying that no European should take orders from an African, which had the effect of ruling out African doctors from serving with the army. Egerton himself did not always approve of these policies, and they were not strictly upheld. The legal relationship between the Lagos government and the Yoruba states of the Lagos Colony was not clear, and it was not until 1908 that Egerton persuaded the Obas to accept the establishment of the Supreme Court in the main towns.


Later career

In 1912, Egerton was replaced by Frederick Lugard, who was appointed Governor-General of both Southern and Northern Nigeria with the mandate to unite the two. Egerton was appointed Governor of British Guiana as his next posting, clearly a demotion, which may have been connected to his fights with the Colonial Office officials. He was Governor of British Guiana from 1912 until 1917. In May 1914 it was reported that Egerton had a plan to build a railway from the coast to the Brazilian border, a distance of . The new line would open up gold and diamond fields as well as supporting timber extraction and development of arable land. The main problem was obtaining the funding. Years later, Egerton said "if you ask what my policy is, I should say 'open means of communication' and if you wish for additional information, I would reply 'open more of them!'"


Honours and private life

Egerton was appointed a
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 I ...
(CMG) in November 1901, and in 1905 became a Knight Commander (KCMG) of the same order. In 1911, he received the honorary degree of
Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...
from the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
. In 1905, Egerton married Ada Maud Sneyd-Kynnersley OBE, a daughter of the Rev. George Lloyd Nash and the widow of C. W. Sneyd-Kynnersley CMG. After his retirement to England, Egerton became a member of the Junior Carlton and the
Royal Automobile Club The Royal Automobile Club is a British private Club (organization)#Country or sports club, social and athletic club. It has two clubhouses: one in London at 89 Pall Mall, London, Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, ne ...
. His wife died on 20 December 1934, and Egerton survived her until 22 March 1947. At the time of his death, his address was stated in ''
Who's Who A Who's Who (or Who Is Who) is a reference work consisting of biographical entries of notable people in a particular field. The oldest and best-known is the annual publication ''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'', a reference work on contemporary promin ...
'' as "Fair Meadow, Mayfield, Sussex".


References

Sources * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Egerton, Walter 19th-century English politicians 20th-century English politicians 1858 births 1947 deaths British governors and governors-general of Nigeria Governors of British Guiana Governors of the Dominion of Newfoundland Governors of the Lagos Colony Governors of the Territory of Papua Governors of Newfoundland Colony People educated at Tonbridge School Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Chief secretaries of Singapore People from Mayfield, East Sussex