Edward Carlyon Eliot, (18 April 1870 – 1 January 1940) was a British

Colonial 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 ...

administrator.

Personal

Eliot was the son of Edward Eliot and Elizabeth Harriette (née Watling), and described as a neat, slim man of medium height with very black hair. His brother was Charles Eliot, who was Commissioner for British East Africa and

Ambassador to Japan The is the ambassador from the United States of America to Japan. History Since the opening of Japan by Commodore Matthew C. Perry, in 1854, the U.S. has maintained diplomatic relations with Japan, except for the ten-year period between the at ...

. Edward married, first, Clara Frances Paterson on 6 June 1899; and, second, Alice Marion Shand, granddaughter of

Henry Alfred Alford Nicholls Sir Henry Alfred Alford Nicholls (27 September 1851 – 9 February 1926) was a physician, disease specialist, horticulturist, zoologist and legislator in, and publicist for Dominica for over 50 years. He published on a wide variety of topics and ...

, in 1927, with whom he had a son, David, in 1935.

Career

*1888-1892 Cattle ranching in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

*1893-1895 Sugar planting in

Demerara Demerara ( nl, Demerary, ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state fro ...

*1895 Entered the Colonial Service. Among the posts he held were: ::1907-10 Provincial Commissioner,

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

::1911-13 Commissioner and Warden of

Tobago Tobago () is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trini ...

::1913-1919

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 ...

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 ...

Colony ::1916-17 Private secretary (temporary) to the Governor-General
of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

::1921-22 Acting Chief Secretary and Deputy Governor of

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

::1922 Acting Governor of

::1923-31 Administrator of Dominica During his time in the

he worked to improve conditions involved in the mining of phosphates. :Eliot ��was struggling at the time of our arrival to improve the conditions that governed the mining of phosphate on Ocean Island. His aims were to secure for the Banaban villagers an increase of the tonnage-royalties paid into a trust fund for their phosphate, and to set up guards against the premature encroachment of the diggings upon their villages. He won his fight eventually in the teeth of much official misunderstanding. Fifteen years later, as Resident Commissioner myself, I was called to add a little to the foundations he had laid, and others added more after me. But it was mainly due to his courage and foresight between 1913 and 1920 that the

Banabans The Micronesians or Micronesian peoples are various closely related ethnic groups native to Micronesia, a region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. They are a part of the Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, which has an Urheimat in Taiwan. Ethno ...

of 1945 found themselves in a position to buy an exquisite new home for themselves in the Fiji group and to migrate there in their own good time. Eliot was appointed CBE in the

1931 New Year Honours The 1931 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 30 December 1930. The recipients of honour ...

List

Selected works

Eliot's published writings encompass two works in three publications in one language and 56 library holdings. * ''Gilbert and Ellice Islands Protectorate. Report for 1912-1914: Presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of His Majesty.'' June, 1915. * ''Address to Legislative Council of Dominica'' (1928) * ''Broken Atoms'' (1938) * ''Ocean Island Affairs: Gilbert and Ellice Islands Protectorate (later Colony), 1913-20.'' (1938) ;Journals * *

Notes

References

* *

External links

* National Archives
Eliot, Edward Carlyon
1870 births 1940 deaths Colonial Administrative Service officers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Governors of Dominica Governors of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands {{UK-diplomat-stub