Sir de Symons Montagu George Honey, (1 November 1872 – January 1945) was a South African-born colonial administrator. He served as Resident Commissioner in Swaziland, from 1917 to 1928 and as

Governor of the Seychelles This is a list of colonial governors of Seychelles, an archipelago, archipelagic island country in the Indian Ocean. Seychelles was first History of Seychelles#French settlement and rule, colonized by the French in 1770, and captured by the Bri ...

from 1928 to 1933.

Life and career

Honey was born in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

, the son of J. W. Honey, retired Civil Commissioner and Resident Magistrate, Cape Service. He was educated at Carnarvon Public School. He then joined the

British South Africa Police The British South Africa Police (BSAP) was, for most of its existence, the police force of Rhodesia (renamed Zimbabwe in 1980). It was formed as a paramilitary force of mounted infantrymen in 1889 by Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company, from ...

and took part in the

Pioneer Column The Pioneer Column was a force raised by Cecil Rhodes and his British South Africa Company in 1890 and used in his efforts to annex the territory of Mashonaland, later part of Zimbabwe (once Southern Rhodesia). Background Rhodes was anxious t ...

which occupied

Mashonaland Mashonaland is a region in northern Zimbabwe. Currently, Mashonaland is divided into four provinces, * Mashonaland West * Mashonaland Central * Mashonaland East * Harare The Zimbabwean capital of Harare, a province unto itself, lies entirely ...

. He served in the British Central Africa Administration and took part in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

. In 1901 he joined the Transvaal Civil Service under

Lord Milner Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, (23 March 1854 – 13 May 1925) was a British statesman and colonial administrator who played a role in the formulation of British foreign and domestic policy between the mid-1890s and early 1920s. From De ...

. He specialised in

Swaziland Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

affairs, and in 1904 was appointed Secretary to the Governor of the Transvaal for Swaziland affairs. In 1907 he became Government Secretary of Swaziland, and in 1910 he was made Deputy

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 Swaziland. From 1917 to 1928 he served as Resident Commissioner in Swaziland. In 1928 he was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Seychelles, retiring in 1933. As Governor, Honey obtained loans for the development of infrastructure, mainly roads, on Mahé,

Praslin Praslin () is the second largest island (38.5 km2) of the Inner Seychelles, lying northeast of Mahé in the Somali Sea. Praslin has a population of around 7,533 people and comprises two administrative districts: Baie Sainte Anne and Gra ...

and

La Digue La Digue is the third most populated island of the Seychelles, and fourth largest by land area, lying east of Praslin and west of Felicite Island. In size, it is the fourth-largest granitic island of Seychelles after Mahé, Praslin and Silhouett ...

. He also inaugurated the World War Memorial in the

Mont Fleuri Mont Fleuri () is an administrative district of Seychelles with its main part located on the island of Mahé. It also includes the six islands of the Sainte Anne Marine National Park and two islets further east ( Beacon Island ( Île Seche) and Ha ...

Cemetery. He died in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

in 1945. Honey was appointed a CMG in 1919 and a

knight bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

in 1932.

Family

Honey married Violet Marguerite, daughter of Charles Jones of

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

, in 1904; they had two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Honey, De Symons 1872 births 1945 deaths British colonial governors and administrators in Africa British colonial governors and administrators in Asia British South Africa Police officers Governors of British Seychelles People from the Eastern Cape Resident Commissioners in Swaziland South African civil servants South African Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George South African Knights Bachelor