Governor of Southern Rhodesia | |
---|---|
Style | His Excellency The Right Honourable |
Residence | Government House, Salisbury (now Harare) |
Appointer | Monarch of the United Kingdom |
Formation | 1 October 1923 |
First holder | Sir John Chancellor |
Final holder | The Lord Soames |
Abolished | 18 April 1980 |
The governor of Southern Rhodesia was the representative of the British monarch in the self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia from 1923 to 1980. The governor was appointed by the Crown and acted as the local head of state, receiving instructions from the British Government.
Rhodesia's 1965 Unilateral Declaration of Independence resulted in the Rhodesian government ceasing to recognise the authority of the governor, and the 1969 Rhodesian constitutional referendum resulted in Rhodesia declaring itself a republic, independent from the British monarchy. Britain still considered the territory its colony and continued to maintain the office, albeit allowing it be vacant from 1969–1979. Following the Lancaster House Agreement the office was filled from December 1979 until April 1980 whereupon Britain formally recognised the territory as the independent republic of Zimbabwe, and the office of governor was thereafter abolished.
The governor was also commander-in-chief of the armed forces and as such, in theory at least, exercised considerable influence over the running of the colony and its government, but in practice, the governor's main function was to maintain a satisfactory relationship between the British and Southern Rhodesian Governments and acted in an advisory capacity most of the time. From 1951, however, in contrast to other colonies, the British government was represented in Southern Rhodesia by a High Commissioner in Salisbury (now Harare). [1]
When Southern Rhodesia was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, the position of the governor remained unchanged, but as Salisbury became the capital of the Federation, the governor general resided at Government House, previously the governor's official residence. [2] During this time, the governor of Southern Rhodesia resided at Governor's Lodge in the suburb of Highlands. [3]
Following the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965, the government of Ian Smith ceased to recognise the authority of the then governor, Sir Humphrey Gibbs, and appointed Clifford Dupont to exercise the governor's powers as Officer Administering the Government. [4]
However, Gibbs continued to occupy Government House, asserting his position as the Queen's de jure representative, and did not resign from the post until June 1969, following the decision of white voters in a referendum to approve a new constitution declaring Rhodesia, as Southern Rhodesia had become more commonly known, a republic. [5]
In 1977, Field Marshal The Lord Carver was designated Resident Commissioner for Rhodesia, but he resigned fourteen months later. [6]
The office of governor remained vacant until 11 December 1979, when Lord Soames assumed the post, following the signing of the Lancaster House Agreement, under which Southern Rhodesia would achieve de jure independence as Zimbabwe on 18 April 1980.
In common with most other British colonies, the flag used by the governor, as the Sovereign's representative in Southern Rhodesia, was initially a Union Flag with a white roundel in the centre, charged with the shield from the colony's arms granted on 11 August 1924. Unique among the flags of the governors of British colonies, this shield of Arms was not surrounded by the customary wreath. This flag was adopted on 1 October 1924 and was flown until 30 July 1951.
On 31 July 1951, a new flag was put into use for the governor of Southern Rhodesia. This was dark blue and charged in the centre with a Royal Crown, its height being four-sevenths of the hoist. Initially the Tudor Crown would have been used, but after her accession to the throne in 1952, Elizabeth II indicated her preference for St Edward's Crown, and this version would have been used thereafter. Although the colony had attained 'Responsible Government' in 1923, it was never a fully fledged Dominion, and so did not have a governor-general, whose flag in other Dominions would be dark blue, charged in the centre with the Royal Crest above a Crown, with the name of the Dominion written in a yellow scroll below.
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Monarch | Prime Minister | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
1 | Sir John Chancellor (1870–1952) | 1 October 1923 | 15 June 1928 | 4 years, 258 days | George V | Coghlan Moffat | |
– | Sir Murray Bisset (1876–1931) Acting | 15 June 1928 | 24 November 1928 | 162 days | Moffat | ||
2 | Sir Cecil Hunter-Rodwell (1874–1953) | 24 November 1928 | 1 May 1934 | 5 years, 158 days | Moffat Mitchell Huggins | ||
– | Fraser Russell (1876–1952) Acting | 1 May 1934 | 8 January 1935 | 252 days | Huggins | ||
3 | Sir Herbert Stanley (1872–1955) | 8 January 1935 | 8 January 1942 | 7 years, 0 days | George V Edward VIII George VI | ||
– | Fraser Russell (1876–1952) Acting | 8 January 1942 | 10 December 1942 | 336 days | George VI | ||
4 | Sir Evelyn Baring (1903–1973) | 10 December 1942 | 26 October 1944 | 1 year, 321 days | |||
– | Sir Robert James Hudson (1885–1963) Acting | 26 October 1944 | 20 February 1945 | 117 days | |||
5 | Sir Campbell Tait (1886–1946) [a] | 20 February 1945 | 2 February 1946 | 347 days | |||
– | Sir Fraser Russell (1876–1952) Acting [b] | 2 February 1946 | 19 July 1946 | 167 days | |||
– | Sir Robert James Hudson (1885–1963) Acting | 19 July 1946 | 14 January 1947 | 179 days | |||
6 | Sir John Noble Kennedy (1893–1970) | 14 January 1947 | 21 November 1953 | 6 years, 311 days | George VI Elizabeth II | Huggins Todd | |
– | Sir Robert Clarkson Tredgold (1899–1977) Acting | 21 November 1953 | 26 November 1954 | 1 year, 5 days | Elizabeth II | Todd | |
7 | Sir Peveril William-Powlett (1898–1985) | 26 November 1954 | 28 December 1959 | 5 years, 32 days | Todd Whitehead | ||
8 | Sir Humphrey Gibbs (1902–1990) [c] | 28 December 1959 | 24 June 1969 | 9 years, 178 days | Whitehead Field Smith | ||
Position vacant (24 June 1969 – 11 December 1979) [d] | |||||||
9 | The Lord Soames (1920–1987) | 11 December 1979 | 18 April 1980 | 129 days | Position abolished |
For continuation after independence, see: President of Zimbabwe
Rhodesia, officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979. During this fourteen-year period, Rhodesia served as the de facto successor state to the British colony of Southern Rhodesia, and in 1980 it became modern day Zimbabwe.
Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked, 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 Zambesia until annexation by Britain, at the behest of Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company. The bounding territories were Bechuanaland (Botswana), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Portuguese Mozambique (Mozambique) and the Transvaal Republic.
Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) was a statement adopted by the Cabinet of Rhodesia on 11 November 1965, announcing that Rhodesia a British territory in southern Africa that had governed itself since 1923, now regarded itself as an independent sovereign state. The culmination of a protracted dispute between the British and Rhodesian governments regarding the terms under which the latter could become fully independent, it was the first unilateral break from the United Kingdom by one of its colonies since the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776. The UK, the Commonwealth, and the United Nations all deemed Rhodesia's UDI illegal, and economic sanctions, the first in the UN's history, were imposed on the breakaway colony. With the help of the Commonwealth Secretariat, members of the Commonwealth were able to cooperate and advise Rhodesian Africans on policy. Amid near-complete international isolation, Rhodesia continued as an unrecognised state with the assistance of South Africa and Portugal.
Sir Roland "Roy" Welensky was a Northern Rhodesian politician and the second and last Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
Clifford Walter Dupont was a British-born Rhodesian politician who served in the internationally unrecognised positions of officer administrating the government and president. Born in London and qualifying as a solicitor, Dupont served during the Second World War as an officer of the British Royal Artillery in North Africa before first visiting Southern Rhodesia in 1947. He returned a year later, started a ranch and emigrated full-time during the early 1950s, by which time the country had become a territory of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
Sir Humphrey Vicary Gibbs,, was the penultimate Governor of the colony of Southern Rhodesia, from 24 October 1964 described by its internationally unrecognised government simply as Rhodesia, who served until, and opposed, the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965.
Winston Joseph Field was a Rhodesian politician who served as the seventh Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia. Field was a former Dominion Party MP who founded the Rhodesian Front political party with Ian Smith.
The flag of Rhodesia changed with political developments in the country. At independence in 1965 the recently adopted flag of Southern Rhodesia was used, until a new flag was adopted in 1968. The 1968 flag remained in use following the declaration of the republic in 1970 and thus is associated with the end of the crown in Rhodesia. It was also initially the flag of Zimbabwe Rhodesia until a new flag was adopted in September 1979.
Sir Edgar Cuthbert Fremantle Whitehead, 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 as a longstanding member of the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly and in a variety of minister posts over the course of nearly three decades. simultaneously serving in a variety of government position posts. His work was frequently interrupted by recurring health problems; he suffered from poor eyesight and later experienced deafness whilst in office. An ally of Sir Roy Welensky, he was Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia from 1958 to 1962. His government was defeated in the 1962 general election by the Rhodesian Front.
The Rhodesian Air Force (RhAF) was an air force based in Salisbury which represented several entities under various names between 1935 and 1980: originally serving the British self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia, it was the air arm of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland between 1953 and 31 December 1963; of Southern Rhodesia once again from 1 January 1964; and of the unrecognised nation of Rhodesia following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from Britain on 11 November 1965.
A double referendum was held in Rhodesia on 20 June 1969, in which voters were asked whether they were in favour of or against a) the adoption of a republican form of government, and b) the proposals for a new Constitution, as set out in a white paper and published in a Gazette Extraordinary on 21 May 1969. Both proposals were approved. The country was subsequently declared a republic on 2 March 1970.
During the 1960s, many independence movements emerged in countries near Rhodesia, which had significant effects on political affairs and social conditions within Rhodesia.
The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation (CAF), was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the self-governing British colony of Southern Rhodesia and the British protectorates of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. It existed between 1953 and 1963.
The president of Rhodesia was the head of state of Rhodesia from 1970 to 1979. As Rhodesia reckoned itself a parliamentary republic rather than a presidential republic at the time, the president's post was almost entirely ceremonial, and the real power continued to be vested in Rhodesia's prime minister, Ian Smith. Two individuals held the office of president, while two others served as acting presidents. Most were of British descent, but Clifford Dupont, the longest-serving, was of Huguenot stock.
The modern political history of Zimbabwe starts with the arrival of white people to what was dubbed Southern Rhodesia in the 1890s. The country was initially run by an administrator appointed by the British South Africa Company. The prime ministerial role was first created in October 1923, when the country achieved responsible government, with Sir Charles Coghlan as its first Premier. The third premier, George Mitchell, renamed the post prime minister in 1933.
The flag of Southern Rhodesia was a blue ensign, later changed to a sky-blue ensign, with the coat of arms of Southern Rhodesia on it. The flag was in use in Southern Rhodesia from 1924 to 1953 and from 1963 to 1965. It was also used by the unrecognised Rhodesia from 1965 to 1968. The flag was initially used unofficially internally before being approved for use outside of the colony by the Colonial Office in 1937. The colour was changed to sky blue in 1964 to protest the treatment of Southern Rhodesia after its inclusion in the failed Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
Sir Thomas Hugh William Beadle, was a Rhodesian lawyer, politician and judge who served as Chief Justice of Southern Rhodesia from March 1961 to November 1965, and as Chief Justice of Rhodesia from November 1965 until April 1977. He came to international prominence against the backdrop of Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from Britain in November 1965, upon which he initially stood by the British Governor Sir Humphrey Gibbs as an adviser; he then provoked acrimony in British government circles by declaring Ian Smith's post-UDI administration legal in 1968.
Queen of Rhodesia was the title asserted for Elizabeth II as Rhodesia's constitutional head of state following the country's Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom. However, the position only existed under the Rhodesian constitution of 1965 and remained unrecognised elsewhere in the world. The British government, along with the United Nations and almost all governments, regarded the declaration of independence as an illegal act and nowhere else was the existence of the British monarch having separate status in Rhodesia accepted. With Rhodesia becoming a republic in 1970, the status or existence of the office ceased to be contestable.
State House, formerly known as Government House, is the official residence of the President of Zimbabwe and is located in Harare, Zimbabwe. It was previously used by the Administrator of Southern Rhodesia, Governor of Southern Rhodesia and the Governor-General of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in addition to being occupied by the internationally unrecognised Rhodesian Officer Administering the Government and later President of Rhodesia. It was constructed in 1910 to a design by Detmar Blow in the Cape Dutch revival style.
Rhodesia, was a self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa. Until 1964, the territory was known as Southern Rhodesia, and less than a year before the name change the colony formed a part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and hosted its capital city, Salisbury. On 1 January 1964, the three parts of the Federation became separate colonies as they had been before the founding of the Federation on 1 August 1953. The demise of the short-lived union was seen as stemming overwhelmingly from black nationalist movements in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and both colonies were fast-tracked towards independence - Nyasaland first, as Malawi, on 6 July 1964 and Northern Rhodesia second, as Zambia, on 24 October. Southern Rhodesia, by contrast, stood firmly under white government, and its white population, which was far larger than the white populations elsewhere in the erstwhile Federation, was, in general, strongly opposed to the introduction of black majority rule. The Southern Rhodesian prime minister, Winston Field, whose government had won most of the federation's military and other assets for Southern Rhodesia, began to seek independence from the United Kingdom without introducing majority rule. However, he was unsuccessful and his own party, the Rhodesian Front, forced him to resign. Days prior to his resignation, on Field's request, Southern Rhodesia had changed its flag to a sky blue ensign defaced with the Rhodesian coat of arms, becoming the first British colony to use a sky blue ensign instead of a dark blue one.