Sir Alexander Theodore Newboult, {{Post-nominals, country=GBR, KBE, CMG, MC, ED, sep=,, size=100% (3 January 1896 – 5 January 1964) was a British colonial administrator. He was
Chief Secretary of the
Federation of Malaya
The Federation of Malaya ( ms, Persekutuan Tanah Melayu; Jawi script, Jawi: ) was a federation of what previously had been British Malaya comprising eleven states (nine Malay states and two of the British Empire, British Straits Settlements, P ...
from 1946 to 1950. During that period, he was
Officer Administering the Government of Malaya from July to October 1948 after the death of
Sir Edward Gent
Sir Edward James Gent (28 October 1895 – 4 July 1948) was the first appointed Governor of the Malayan Union in 1946. He was most famous for heading early British attempts to crush a pro-independence uprising in Malaya led by the Malayan Com ...
.
Newboult was the elder son of the Rev. A. W. Newboult. His younger brother was the mathematician Harold Oliver Newboult. He was educated at
Oakwood School and
Kingswood School and
Exeter College, Oxford. During the
First World War, he served with the
Royal Naval Division and the
Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, being awarded the
Military Cross in 1918. He then joined the
Colonial Administrative Service
The Colonial Service, also known as His/Her Majesty's Colonial Service and replaced in 1954 by Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS), was the British government service that administered most of Britain's overseas possessions, under the aut ...
, beginning his service in Malaya in 1920. He went to
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
as
Colonial Secretary in 1942, after the
Japanese invasion of Malaya, and remained in the colony until his return in Malaya. He retired from the service in 1950.
References
* "Sir Alexander Newboult", ''The Times'', 6 January 1964, p. 12.
* https://www.ukwhoswho.com/display/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-52429
Chief secretaries (British Empire)
1964 deaths
Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
Recipients of the Military Cross
1896 births
Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford