Sir Cecil Hamilton Armitage (8 October 1869 – 10 March 1933) was a British colonial officer who served as

Governor of the Gambia This is a list of colonial governors and administrators in the Gambia from the establishment of a British settlement on St Mary's Island, now known as Banjul Island, in 1816, through to the Gambia Colony and Protectorate's independence from the U ...

from 1920 to 1927. He established the Armitage School and the Gambia Department of Agriculture.

Military career

Armitage was an officer with the 3rd Battalion of the

South Wales Borderers The South Wales Borderers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for 280 years. It came into existence in England in 1689, as Sir Edward Dering's Regiment of Foot, and afterwards had a variety of names and headquarters. In ...

. In April 1894, he sailed from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

, having been seconded from his regiment to serve with the Hausa Constabulary on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

. He held the rank of Captain at the time and served in the

Anglo-Ashanti wars The Anglo-Ashanti wars were a series of five conflicts that took place between 1824 and 1900 between the Ashanti Empire—in the Akan interior of the Gold Coast—and the British Empire and its African allies. Though the Ashanti emerged victorio ...

under Sir Francis Scott from 1895 to 1896. Afterwards, he was dispatched to survey a trade route from Geji to

Gambaga Gambaga is the capital of the East Mamprusi Municipal Assembly in the North East Region of Ghana. Once a residence of Mamprusi-kings it is still the capital of East Mamprusi Municipal Assembly, a municipality in the North East Region of Ghana. ...

, in the north of the Gold Coast. Upon arriving in Gambaga county, he offered the protection of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

to the local chief at

Tamale A tamale, in Spanish tamal, is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa, a dough made from nixtamalized corn, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf. The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating or used as a plate. Tamale ...

. However, that evening, the chief and the residents deserted the village, leaving Armitage and his police officers under siege in Tamale for a week.

Colonial career

In 1899, Armitage became the private secretary to Sir Frederick Hodgson, then the

Governor of the Gold Coast This is a list of colonial administrators in the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) from the start of English presence in 1621 until Ghana's independence from the United Kingdom in 1957. In addition to the Gold Coast Colony, the governor of the Gold Coast ...

. He accompanied Hodgson during the Siege of

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is the ...

from April to June 1900, when he was Acting Resident. When the British forces were able to break out of Kumasi, Armitage led the advance force. Armitage later became Commissioner in Ashanti, and in 1910 he was appointed Chief Commissioner of the Northern Territories, a position he held until 1920. That year, he became

, succeeding Sir Edward Cameron. As Governor, Armitage founded the Gambia Agricultural Department in 1924, and also the Armitage School in 1927. Upon his retirement in 1927, Armitage commented to the ''

Western Morning News The ''Western Morning News'' is a daily regional newspaper founded in 1860, and covering the West Country including Devon, Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and parts of Somerset and Dorset in the South West of England. Organisation The ''Western Mo ...

'': "I feel very much the severance of the association of almost a lifetime. I have always been absorbed in my official duties in Africa, and now the time has come when I come home, probably for the last time."

Legacy

Armitage is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of West African lizard, '' Chalcides armitagei''.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Armitage", p. 11).

Books

* *

References

External links

Portrait
in the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

1869 births 1933 deaths Governors of the Gambia Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Distinguished Service Order {{UK-politician-stub