Sir Francis Derek Jakeway (6 June 1915 – 6 November 1993) was a British

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

administrator, who was instrumental in preparing several British colonies for self-government, and who played a key role in preparing a somewhat unwilling

Colonial Fiji The Colony of Fiji was a Crown colony that existed from 1874 to 1970 in the territory of the present-day nation of Fiji. London declined its first opportunity to annex the Kingdom of Fiji in 1852. Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau had offered to ce ...

for independence.

Career

Jakeway spent seventeen years with 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 ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

(1937 - 1954); during this time, he was seconded to the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

from 1946 to 1949, and 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 ...

from 1949 to 1951. He served in

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

from 1959 to 1963. He became

Governor of Fiji Fiji was a British Crown colony from 1874 to 1970, and an independent dominion in the Commonwealth from 1970 to 1987. During this period, the head of state was the British monarch, but in practice his or her functions were normally exercised loca ...

in 1964, serving until 1968. It was during his tenure that a measure of self-government was introduced to Fiji in 1964, followed by

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...

1967, in preparation for the granting of independence in 1970. The first part of this two-stage process involved appointing members of the Legislative Council to oversee government departments. Only 18 of the 37 Legislative Council members were popularly elected; these eighteen were equally divided between the three principal ethnic groups -

Fijians Fijians ( fj, iTaukei, lit=Owners (of the land)) are a nation and ethnic group native to Fiji, who speak Fijian and share a common history and culture. Fijians, or ''iTaukei'', are the major indigenous people of the Fiji Islands, and live in ...

Indo-Fijians Indo-Fijians or Indian-Fijians (also known as Fiji Indians) are Fijian citizens of Indian descent, and include people who trace their ancestry to various regions of the Indian subcontinent.Girmit by Suresh Prasad Although Indo-Fijians constitu ...

, and

Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common genetic ancestry, common language, or both. Pan and Pfeil (2004) ...

. The six elected members of each ethnic group were allowed to nominate two of their own members to serve on the Executive Council. This "Member system", as it was known, did not introduce a

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

in the modern sense: Members so appointed were responsible only to the Governor, not to the Legislative Council. But it was a crucial stepping stone to the second stage: following elections in 1966 - to a reconstituted Legislative Council that was, for the first time, wholly elected (except for two members nominated by the

Great Council of Chiefs The Great Council of Chiefs ''(Bose Levu Vakaturaga'' in Fijian) was a constitutional body in Fiji from 1876 to March 2012. In April 2007, the council was suspended, due to an unworkable relationship with Frank Bainimarama, leader of an "interi ...

) - responsible government was introduced, with a

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

and a

responsible to the Legislative Council. Jakeway appointed

Ratu ''Ratu'' () is an Austronesian title used by male Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, ''adi'' (pronounced ), is used by females of chiefly rank. In the Malay language, the title ''ratu'' is also the traditional honorific title to re ...

Kamisese Mara Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, (6 May 1920 – 18 April 2004) was a Fijian politician, who served as Chief Minister from 1967 to 1970, when Fiji gained its independence from the United Kingdom, and, apart from one brief interruption in 1987, the fi ...

, leader of the Alliance Party, which had handily won the election, as Chief Minister. Jakeway was succeeded as Governor by Sir

Robert Sidney Foster Sir Robert Sidney Foster (11 August 1913 – 12 October 2005) was a British colonial administrator, best remembered as the last colonial Governor of Fiji and the first Governor-General of the Dominion of Fiji. He had previously served as Gov ...

in 1968 and retired to

Exmouth, Devon Exmouth is a port town, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the 5th most populous settlement in Devon. Histor ...

, where he became Chairman of the British Health Authority, from which he retired in 1977.

Personal life

Jakeway married Phyllis Watson in 1941. Together they had three sons.

Honours

Jakeway was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1948 and was created a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1956. In 1963, he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jakeway, Derek 1915 births 1993 deaths Colonial Administrative Service officers Governors of Fiji Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Exmouth British expatriates in Nigeria British expatriates in Fiji People of colonial Nigeria