Sir Ernest Bickham Sweet-Escott (20 August 1857 – 9 April 1941) was a British colonial administrator who was in turn governor of the

British Seychelles The history of Seychelles dates back to the fourth of the Portuguese India Armadas led by Vasco da Gama, though Seychelles was likely already known to Arab navigators and other sailors for many centuries. On 15 March 1503, the scrivener Thomé ...

British Honduras British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,

British Leeward Islands The British Leeward Islands was a British colony from 1671 to 1958, consisting of the English (later British) overseas possessions in the Leeward Islands. It ceased to exist from 1816 to 1833, during which time it was split into two separate ...

and British Fiji.

Early years

Sweet-Escott was born at Bath, the fifth son of the Rev. Hay Sweet-Escott, headmaster of Somersetshire College, Bath, and Rector of Kilve, Somerset, by his wife Eliza, daughter of Rev. John Coombes Collins, Vicar of St John's Bridgwater. He was educated at the Royal Somersetshire College, Bath,

Bromsgrove School Bromsgrove School is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove, England. Founded in 1553, it is one of the oldest public schools in Britain, and one of the 14 founding members of the Headmaste ...

and Balliol College, Oxford. From 1881 he was professor of classics at the Royal College of

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

. In 1886 he became assistant colonial secretary at Mauritius and was promoted in 1889 to acting colonial secretary. His next posting was in

British Honduras British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,

from May 1893 until September 1898 when he returned to take up a post as acting government clerk at 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 c ...

Colonial administrator

Sweet-Escott then became administrator of 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, ...

in June 1899 and then

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 ...

when the post was created from 1903 to 1904. He was knighted in 1904 and became Governor of British Honduras from 15 April 1904 to 13 August 1906. From 1906 until 1912 he was Governor of the Leeward Islands. Sweet-Escott 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 ...

on 25 July 1912 and was also High Commissioner and Consul General for the West Pacific region. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

a German squadron under

Maximilian von Spee Maximilian Johannes Maria Hubert Reichsgraf von Spee (22 June 1861 – 8 December 1914) was a naval officer of the German ''Kaiserliche Marine'' (Imperial Navy), who commanded the East Asia Squadron during World War I. Spee entered the navy in ...

was a day away from Fiji. Sweet-Escott wired a message to the Australian fleet, then 2000 miles away, which the Germans intercepted and Von Spee was convinced that he was heading for a trap, turned away and laughed at the "fool of a governor for giving the show away". Sweet-Escott's term of office ended on 10 October 1918.

Miscellaneous

Sweet-Escott instituted the ''Escott Shield'' as a rugby trophy in 1913, which was first won by the Pacific Club. Sweet-Escott married Mary Jane Hunt on 14 December 1881 and had five children named Kathleen, Stanley Bickham, Norah Muriel, Hugh Bevil and Leslie Wingfield. Sweet-Escott was appointed a Order of St Michael and St George in the 1895 Birthday Honours, and a Knight Companion of the Order in the 1904 Birthday Honours.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet-Escott, Ernest 1857 births 1941 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Colonial Administrative Service officers Governors of British Seychelles Governors of British Honduras Governors of the Leeward Islands Governors of Fiji Members of the Legislative Council of Fiji Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George People educated at Bromsgrove School British expatriate academics People from Bath, Somerset High Commissioners for the Western Pacific University of Mauritius faculty