Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

Andrew Skeen ( – 11 May 1984) was a British Army officer, and Rhodesian politician who served as the last High Commissioner from Rhodesia to the United Kingdom.

Early life and career

Born in India, Skeen was the son of General Sir Andrew Skeen. He was commissioned into the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in 1926, rising to the rank of Brigadier. He retired from the British Army in 1947 and moved to the self-governing colony of

Southern Rhodesia 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 kno ...

and settled in Vumba in Umtali district. Skeen opposed the creation of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1953, as he saw it as not in the best interests of the white community in Southern Rhodesia, and by 1962, Skeen had joined the Rhodesian Front party of

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1 ...

High Commissioner

Skeen served as the High Commissioner for Rhodesia in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

from 22 July to 12 November 1965. His total tenure lasted 115 days. On 11 November 1965, when Rhodesia announced its

Unilateral Declaration of Independence A unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) 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 state which it is secedin ...

(UDI), Skeen was summoned by the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations,

Arthur Bottomley Arthur George Bottomley, Baron Bottomley, OBE, PC (7 February 1907 – 3 November 1995) was a British Labour politician, Member of Parliament and minister. Early life Before entering parliament he was a trade union organiser of the Nationa ...

, for a meeting at 1.15pm, who ordered Skeen to denounce the UDI or face being declared with the removal of all privileges and expulsion from 13 November. Skeen refused and departed London voluntarily the following day on 12 November 1965, although

Rhodesia House Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

(the High Commission) continued to function as a representative office with no official diplomatic status. Skeen's functions were assumed by Sydney Brice, who was officially regarded as "The Southern Rhodesian Representative" by the

British Foreign Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...

Later life

On his return from London, Skeen was elected unopposed to the

Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Rhodesia was the legislature of Southern Rhodesia and then Rhodesia from 1924 to 1970. Background In 1898, the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council, Southern Rhodesia's first elected representative body, was foun ...

(the

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 gove ...

from 1970) seat of Arundel in the 14 January 1966

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

caused by the resignation of

Clifford Dupont Clifford Walter Dupont, GCLM, ID (6 December 1905 – 28 June 1978) was a British-born Rhodesian politician who served in the internationally unrecognised positions of officer administrating the government (from 1965 until 1970) and president ...

who had been appointed

Officer Administering the Government An administrator (administrator of the government or officer administering the government) in the constitutional practice of some countries in the Commonwealth is a person who fulfils a role similar to that of a governor or a governor-general. ...

after the UDI.Wood, J.R.T. (2012), p.25 He was re-elected for a second term at the 1970 general election but stood down at the 1974 general election and was succeeded by another former serviceman, Air Marshal Archibald Wilson.

Honours

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skeen, Andrew 1900s births 1984 deaths British Army officers British Army personnel of World War II Officers of the Order of the British Empire White Rhodesian people High Commissioners of Rhodesia to the United Kingdom Members of the Legislative Assembly of Southern Rhodesia Members of the Parliament of Rhodesia Rhodesian expatriates in the United Kingdom Rhodesian Front politicians Rhodesian politicians