Charles Richard Swayne (1843 - 1921), born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, was the first

Resident Commissioner Resident commissioner was or is an official title of several different types of commissioners, who were or are representatives of any level of government. Historically, they were appointed by the British Crown in overseas protectorates (such ...

of the

Gilbert and Ellice Islands The Gilbert and Ellice Islands (GEIC as a colony) in the Pacific Ocean were part of the British Empire from 1892 to 1976. They were a protectorate from 1892 to 12 January 1916, and then a colony until 1 January 1976. The history of the colony w ...

protectorate, from 1892 to 1895. Swayne had spent more than 20 years as a Magistrate at

Lomaloma Lomaloma (; officially ''Lomaloma Tikina'', ) is a village at the south of the island of Vanua Balavu in the Lau archipelago of Fiji. The settlement is part of the tribal district of Tikina, Lomaloma and consists of 9 villages, 13 Yavusa (tribe ...

and then in

Lau Lau or LAU may refer to: People * Lau (surname) * Liu (劉/刘), a common Chinese family name transliterated Lau in Cantonese and Hokkien * Lau clan, one of the Saraswat Brahmin clans of Punjab * LAU (musician): Laura Fares Places * Lebane ...

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 ...

, before being seconded to the new two protectorates, where he spent the few years after. Sir

John Bates Thurston Sir John Bates Thurston (31 January 1836 – 7 February 1897) was a British colonial official who served Fiji in a variety of capacities, including Premier of the Kingdom of Viti (before the islands were ceded to the United Kingdom) and later ...

, as

High Commissioner for the Western Pacific The High Commissioner for the Western Pacific was the chief executive officer of the British Western Pacific Territories, a British colonial entity, which existed from 1877 until 1976. Numerous colonial possessions were attached to the Territorie ...

, appointed his friend Swayne in 1892, as the first Resident Commissioner in those territories, initially only for the separate protectorate of the

Ellice Islands Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-northea ...

, before extending one year later his mandate to the

Gilbert Islands The Gilbert Islands ( gil, Tungaru;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this n ...

. In 1892, Swayne first arrived in the

, then, from October 1893 to November 1895, he was in the

with central headquarters set in

Tarawa Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati
''

Betio Betio is the largest township of Kiribati's capital city, South Tarawa, and the country's main port. The settlement is located on a separate islet at the extreme southwest of the atoll. Betio Post Office opened on 5 April 1957 and closed in 1964. ...

in 1895. Swayne spent his Resident years in a peripatetic way, moving from island to island, by whatever commercial or naval vessels, returning to

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

when necessary. He faced a severe drought in the southern Gilberts, rendering impossible to collect the new capitation in those southernmost islands. He also faced the claims from traders, especially in

Butaritari Butaritari is an atoll in the Pacific Ocean island nation of Kiribati. The atoll is roughly four-sided. The south and southeast portion of the atoll comprises a nearly continuous islet. The atoll reef is continuous but almost without islets al ...

, all that reinforced suspicions of the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of col ...

that the protectorate had been an error.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swayne, Charles 1843 births 1921 deaths Governors of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands British colonial governors and administrators in Oceania

Further reading

References