List of heads of Colonial Singapore by education

Below is list of Colonial leaders who governed Singapore by university education. There has been a total of 36 heads as Residents, Governors, Mayors and Military administrator. 34 of them ruled under the United Kingdom (6 of them are Scottish) and two for the Empire of Japan.

By education, 11 were educated in Naval or Military training, 1 with medical training, 2 with legal studies, 1 in Finance and 8 with Master or Bachelor of Arts degree. Some of the leaders move up through the ranks after starting out as writers' in the East India Company (EIC) or attending civil service trainings in Ceylon or Malaya.

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List of colonial leaders of the Singapore by education

The Residents and Commandants of Singapore ruled the British colony that is today the Republic of Singapore. The men that held this position governed Singapore from 1819 to 1826, on behalf of the British East India Company.

Name	Nationality	Title	Term of office	University	Professional Training or Discipline	Highest Education	Profession	Position Prior to Appointment	Ref
Maj-Gen William Farquhar	Scottish	1st Resident of Singapore	1819 – 1823		Military Training		Major General	6th Resident of Malacca	[1]
Dr. John Crawfurd FRS	Scottish	2nd Resident of Singapore	1823 – 1826	University of Edinburgh	Medicine	Professional	Surgeon	Diplomat	[2]

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The Governors of the Straits Settlements ruled the Straits Settlements. The men that held this position governed the Straits Settlements from 1826 to 1946, on behalf of the British East India Company (until 1858), the India Office (until 1867) and the Colonial Office (until 1946).

Name	Nationality	Title	Term of office	University	Professional Training or Discipline	Highest Education	Profession	Position Prior to Appointment	Ref
Robert Fullerton	Scottish	1st Governor of the Straits Settlements	1826 – 1830				Employee of EIC	Governor of Penang	[3]
Robert Ibbetson	British	2nd Governor of the Straits Settlements	1830 – 1833				Employee of EIC	Resident Councillor of Prince of Wales Island (Penang)	[4]
Kenneth Murchison	Scottish	3rd Governor of the Straits Settlements	1833 – 1836				Employee of EIC	2nd Resident Councillor of Singapore	[5]
Sir Samuel George Bonham Bt KCB	British	4th Governor of the Straits Settlements	1836 – 1843				Employee of EIC, Politician	3rd Resident Councillor of Singapore	[6]
Maj-Gen William John Butterworth CB	British	5th Governor of the Straits Settlements	1843 – 1855		Military Training		Major General	38th Madras Regiment	[7]
Edmund Augustus Blundell	British	6th Governor of the Straits Settlements	1855 – 1859				Employee of EIC, Diplomat	Resident Councillor of Penang	[6]
Maj-Gen Sir William Orfeur Cavenagh KCSI	British	7th Governor of the Straits Settlements	1859 – 1867		Military Training		Major General	British Indian Army	[8]
Maj-Gen Sir Harry St. George Ord GCMG CB	British	8th Governor of the Straits Settlements	1867 – 1873		Military Training		Major General	Special Commissioner to West Africa	[9]
Maj-Gen Sir Edward Anson KCMG JP	British	Officer Adminstrating the Government	1871 – 1872, 1873, 1877, 1879 – 1880		Military Training		Major General	Lieutenant Governor of Penang	[10]
Lt-Gen Sir Andrew Clarke GCMG CB CIE	British	9th Governor of the Straits Settlements	1873 – 1875		Military Training		Lieutenant General	Director of Works at the Admiralty	[11]
Lt-Gen Sir William Jervois GCMG CB FRS	British	10th Governor of the Straits Settlements	1875 – 1877	Royal Military Academy, Woolwich			Lieutenant General	British Army	[12]
Sir William C. F. Robinson GCMG	British	11th Governor of the Straits Settlements	1877 – 1879				Politician	9th Governor of Western Australia	[13]
Sir Frederick Weld GCMG KPO	British	12th Governor of the Straits Settlements	1880 – 1887	University of Fribourg	Philosophy, Chemistry, Languages & Law		Politician	Governor of Tasmania	[14]
The Rt Hon Sir Cecil Clementi Smith GCMG PC	British	13th Governor of the Straits Settlements	1887 – 1893	Corpus Christi College, Cambridge		Master of Arts	Colonial Administrator	4th Colonial Secretary of Straits Settlements	[15]
Sir William Edward Maxwell KCMG	British	Officer Adminstrating the Government	1893 – 1894		Legal Studies		Legal Professional	6th Colonial Secretary of the Straits Settlements	[16]
Sir Charles Mitchell GCMG	British	14th Governor of the Straits Settlements	1894 – 1899 (died while in office)		Royal Marines		Lieutenant Colonel	Governor of Natal	[17]
Sir James Alexander Swettenham KCMG	British	Officer Adminstrating the Government	1899 – 1901	Clare College, Cambridge	Accounting		Accountant	7th Colonial Secretary of the Straits Settlements
Sir Frank Swettenham GCMG CH	British	15th Governor of the Straits Settlements	1901 – 1904				Colonial Administrator	Resident-General of the Federated Malay States	[18]
Sir John Anderson GCMG KCB JP	Scottish	16th Governor of the Straits Settlements	1904 – 1911	Aberdeen University	Mathematics	Master of Arts	Colonial Administrator	Secretary to the Colonial Conference	[19]
Sir Arthur Young GCMG KCB	Scottish	17th Governor of the Straits Settlements	1911 – 1920	Royal Military College, Sandhurst	Naval Training		Captain	Resident-General of the Federated Malay States	[20]
Sir Laurence Guillemard GCMG KCB	British	18th Governor of the Straits Settlements	1920 – 1927	Trinity College, Cambridge	Finance		Colonial Administrator	Chairman of the Board of Custom and Excise	[21]
Sir Hugh Clifford GCMG GBE	British	19th Governor of the Straits Settlements	1927 – 1929				Colonial Administrator	24th Governor of British Ceylon	[22]
Sir John Scott CMG KBE	British	Officer Adminstrating the Government	1929 – 1930	King's College, Cambridge		Bachelor of Arts	Colonial Administrator	16th Colonial Secretary of Straits Settlements	[23]
Sir Cecil Clementi GCMG KStJ FRGS	British	20th Governor of Straits Settlements	1930 – 1934	Magdalen College, Oxford	Classics	Master of Arts	Colonial Administrator	17th Governor of Hong Kong	[24]
Sir Andrew Caldecott GCMG CBE KStJ FRAS FRSA	British	Officer Adminstrating the Government	1934	Exeter College, Oxford	Classics	Bachelor of Arts	Colonial Administrator	17th Colonial Secretary of Straits Settlements	[25]
Sir Shenton Thomas GCMG GCStJ	British	21st Governor of the Straits Settlements	1932 – 1942, 1945 – 1946	Queens' College, Cambridge		Master of Arts	Colonial Administrator	Governor of the Gold Coast	[26]

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Mayor of Syonan Special Municipality are civilian administrator that are appointed by the Japanese Government to administrate with the military administrators.

Name	Nationality	Title	Term of office	University	Professional Training or Discipline	Highest Education	Profession	Position Prior to Appointment	Ref
Odate Shigeo	Japanese	Mayor of Syonan	1942 – 1943	Tokyo Imperial University	Legal Studies		Bureaucrat, Politician	Bureaucrat in the Home Ministry	[27]
Naito Kanichi	Japanese	Mayor of Syonan	1943 – 1945	Tokyo Imperial University			Military Administrator	Chief Military Administrator and Head of The Gunsei (Military Administration)	[28]

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Continuation of British rule under the British Military Administration of the Straits Settlements.

Name	Nationality	Title	Term of office	University	Professional Training or Discipline	Highest Education	Profession	Position Prior to Appointment	Ref
The Rt Hon The Lord Louis Mountbatten KG GCB OM GCSI GCIE GCVO DSO PC FRS	British	British Military Administration of the Straits Settlements	1945 – 1946	Royal Naval College, Osborne	Naval Training		Admiral	Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command	[29]

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The Governors of Singapore ruled Singapore. The men that held this position governed the Crown Colony of Singapore from 1946 to 1959, on behalf of the Colonial Office until Singapore gained self-governance in 1959 in where the Office of the Governor was abolished.

Name	Nationality	Title	Term of office	University	Professional Training or Discipline	Highest Education	Profession	Position Prior to Appointment	Ref
Sir Franklin Gimson KCMG KStJ	British	1st Governor of Singapore	1946 – 1952	Balliol College, Oxford		Bachelor of Arts	Colonial Administrator	Acting Governor of Hong Kong	[30]
Wilfred Lawson Blythe CMG	British	Officer Administrating the Government	1952	Liverpool University			Colonial Administrator	2nd Colonial Secretary of Singapore	[31]
Sir John Fearns Nicoll KCMG KStJ	British	2nd Governor of Singapore	1952 – 1955	University of Oxford			Colonial Administrator	18th Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong	[32]
Sir Robert Black GCMG OBE	British	3rd Governor of Singapore	1955 – 1957	University of Edinburgh		Master of Arts	Colonial Administrator	19th Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong	[33]
Sir William Goode GCMG KStJ	British	4th Governor of Singapore	1957 – 1959	Worcester College, Oxford			Colonial Administrator	1st Chief Secretary of Singapore	[34]

Reference

1. "William Farquhar". nlb.gov.sg. 2016.
2. "John Crawfurd". nlb.gov.sg. 2018.
3. Prinsep, Charles Campbell (1885) Record of services of the Honourable East India Company's civil servants in the Madras presidency, from 1741 to 1858. London. Trübner. Page 57
4. "Robert Ibbetson". The Friends of Highland Road Cemetery. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
5. Corfield, Justin (2 December 2010). Historical Dictionary of Singapore. Scarecrow Press. pp. 212–213. ISBN   9780810873872.
6. Corfield, Justin (2 December 2010). Historical Dictionary of Singapore. Scarecrow Press, Inc. pp. 71–73. ISBN   9780810873872.
7. Corfield, Justin (2 December 2010). Historical Dictionary of Singapore. Scarecrow Press, Inc. pp. 79–81. ISBN   9780810873872.
8. "Local". Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser. 18 August 1859. p. 5.
9. Peter Boyce (1974). "Ord, Sir Harry St George (1819–1885)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. 5. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
10. "Major General Archibald Edward Harbord Anson". 22 May 2004. Archived from the original on 2 February 2010.
11. Betty Malone (1969). "Clarke, Sir Andrew (1824–1902)]". Australian Dictionary of Biography. 3. Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
12. Winks, Robin. "Jervois, Sir William Francis Drummond (1821–1897)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
13. Crowley, F. K. (1976). "Robinson, Sir William Cleaver Francis (1834–1897)". Australian Dictionary of Biography . 6. Australian National University. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
14. Graham, Jeanine. "Weld, Frederick Aloysius". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Ministry for Culture and Heritage . Retrieved 24 July 2013.
15. "Smith, Cecil Clementi (SMT859CC)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
16. "Maxwell, William Edward".
17. "The New Governor". Daily Advertiser. 19 January 1894. p. 2.
18. "Frank Swettenham". nlb.gov.sg. 15 May 2014.
19. "85th Death Anniversary of Governor Sir John Anderson : A British Governor who loved Sri Lanka". Daily News. 26 March 2003. Archived from the original on 18 May 2010.
20. "Our New Colonial Secretary". The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser. 29 June 1906. p. 2.
21. "Laurence Nunns Guillemard". nlb.gov.sg. 23 April 2014.
22. "Sir Hugh Charles Clifford". britannica.
23. "Death of John Scott". The Straits Times. 23 January 1946. p. 3.
24. "Cecil Clementi". nlb.gov.sg. 1999.
25. doi : 10.1093/ref:odnb/32244
26. "Thomas, Thomas Shenton Whitelegge (THMS898TS)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
27. "Odachi, Shigeo". National Diet Library. 2013.
28. "Kanichi Naito Named Mayor Of Syonan". Syonan Shimbun. 20 July 1943. p. 1.
29. Heathcote (2002) , p. 183
30. "GIMSON, Sir Franklin Charles". ukwhoswho. 1 December 2007.
31. "Mr. W. L. Blythe". Malaya Tribune. 18 January 1937. p. 19.
32. "John Fearns Nicoll". nlb.gov.sg.
33. Sir Robert BlackTough Scot sorting out the end of Britain's empire
34. Rahman, Nor. "William A. C. Goode". NLB Infopedia.

External sources

• Singapore: The Encyclopedia. Singapore: EDM. 2006. ISBN   981-4155-63-2.
• "Countries:Se-So - Rulers.org" . Retrieved 17 April 2008.
• WorldStatesmen - Singapore
• Historical Dictionary of Singapore (Justin Corfield) ISBN   9780810873872