Sir Henry Conway Belfield, (29 November 1855 – 8 January 1923) was an English colonial administrator. The son of John Belfield, JP, of Primley Hill,

South Devon South Devon is the southern part of Devon, England. Because Devon has its major population centres on its two coasts, the county is divided informally into North Devon and South Devon.For exampleNorth DevonanSouth Devonnews sites. In a narrower se ...

, and of Eliza Conway Bridges, daughter of Captain George Bridges, RN, Belfield was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

and

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

. He was called to the bar by the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1880 and joined the Western circuit. In 1884 he joined the

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...

Civil Service as a magistrate, becoming Chief Magistrate of Selangor in 1888 and Senior Magistrate of

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...

in 1892. On the federation of the Malay States in 1896 he became First Commissioner of Lands and Mines, and acted as British

Resident Resident may refer to: People and functions * Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country * Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training * Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceuti ...

of Selangor on several occasions. Belfield was British Resident of

Negri Sembilan Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia which lies on the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It bor ...

in 1901, British Resident of Selangor from 1902 to 1912, acting British Resident of

in 1904, acting Resident-General of the Federated Malay States in May 1908, and British Resident of Perak in 1911. In 1912 he was sent to the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

and Ashanti to report on legislation concerning the alienation of native lands. Belfield was appointed

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the

East Africa Protectorate East Africa Protectorate (also known as British East Africa) was an area in the African Great Lakes occupying roughly the same terrain as present-day Kenya from the Indian Ocean inland to the border with Uganda in the west. Controlled by Britai ...

(now Kenya) in 1912, and concurrently High Commissioner of

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...

in 1914. He served as Governor until 1917. His tenure was marked by his championing of European settlers' interests over those of the native population, notably through the Crown Lands Ordinance of 1915, which deprived natives of their land rights. His perceived lack of interest in the East African Campaign led to discontent, and after two unsuccessful attempts he was forced into retirement by 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 ...

. He retired to England, where he was a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. Belfield was appointed a CMG in 1909 and promoted KCMG in 1914. In 1884 Belfield married Florence Rathborne, daughter of the Rev James Rathborne; they had one son and two daughters.

Works

*''Report Upon the Present Condition of Affairs in Labuan and Brunei'' (1905) *''Handbook of the Federated Malay States'' (1906) *''Gold Coast. Report Legislation Governing Alienation Native Lands Gold Coast Colony Ashanti'' (1912)

References

Sir Henry Conway Belfield

Government and Labour in Kenya, 1895–1963BELFIELD, Sir Henry Conway
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2015; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 1855 births 1923 deaths History of Perak Administrators in British Malaya Colonial governors and administrators of Kenya People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford English justices of the peace Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of the Inner Temple British Kenya people {{UK-gov-bio-stub