Sir John Anderson (23 January 1858 – 24 March 1918) was a Scottish colonial administrator who served as

Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The Governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonialism, colonial powers: Portuguese Ceylon * List of Captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551) * List of Captain-majors of ...

between 1916 and 1918, and

Governor of the Straits Settlements The governor of the Straits Settlements was appointed by the British East India Company until 1867, when the Straits Settlements became a Crown colony. Thereafter the governor was appointed by the Colonial Office. The position existed from 1826 ...

between 1904 and 1911.

Education

He was the only son of John Anderson, the Superintendent of the Gordon Mission,

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. Before he was twenty, he graduated MA at

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

, gaining a first class in mathematics and being awarded the gold medal of the year.

Career

Two years after graduating, he entered 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 ...

as a second class clerk. In 1887, he was Bacon Scholar of

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...

, and in the following year, he was the

Inns of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have ...

student. He proceeded with Sir

John Frederick Dickson Sir John Frederick Dickson (17 September 1835 – 21 December 1891), was a British colonial administrator in Singapore. He was also President of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society from 1886 to 1891. He translated and edited th' ...

in 1891 to

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, in order to inquire into the matters connected with the Registry of the Supreme Court. He was next appointed as the private secretary to Sir R. Meade, Permanent Under-Secretary of the State for the Colonies, in 1892 he served as the British Agent for

Bering Sea Arbitration The Bering Sea Arbitration of 1893 arose out of a fishery dispute between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United States in the 1880s. The United States Revenue Cutter Service, today known as the United States Coast Guard, cap ...

. From 1883 to 1897 he edited the Colonial Office List, later he appointed as the principal clerk. He became the secretary to the Conference between

Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually served as a leading imperialist in coalition with the C ...

and the Colonial Premiers in that year he had considerable opportunities of gaining an intimate knowledge of the feelings of the self-governing colonies. For the second time, he was despatched to

in 1899, on this occasion to inquire into the rates of pay of the Civil Service there. He returned to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in the same year and remained until 1901, where Chamberlain chose him as

representative to accompany T.R.H. the Prince and Princess of Wales, then the Duke and Duchess of York, on their famous tour around

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

on board HMS ''Ophir''. It was during that trip that Sir John saw for the first time the colony over which he would preside. In 1902, again he acted as the secretary to the Colonial Conference, and in 1903, he received thanks of the Canadian Government and the Confederation medal for services rendered in connection with the Alaska Boundary question and other matters. In 1904, he was appointed as Governor of Straits Settlements where he served till 1911. In 1916, he was appointed as

Governor of British Ceylon The governor of Ceylon was the representative in Ceylon of the British Crown from 1795 to 1948. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in Ceylon. The governor was th ...

. In Ceylon, he played a major role in settling many problems and riots that started in 1915 and suppressed harshly by the British. He suddenly fell ill at Queens Cottage,

Nuwara Eliya Nuwara Eliya ( si, නුවර එළිය ; ta, நுவரெலியா) is a city in the hill country of the Central Province, Sri Lanka. Its name means "city on the plain (table land)" or "city of light". The city is the administrativ ...

in 1918 and died on 24 March 1918. It is recorded that his

Maha Mudaliyar The Maha Mudaliyar ( ''Head Mudaliyar'' or මහ මුදලි) was a colonial title and office in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Head Mudaliyar functioned as the head of the low country native headmen and native aide-de-camp to the Governor of Ceyl ...

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Solomon Dias Bandaranaike Sir Solomon Dias Abeywickrema Jayatilleke Senewiratna Rajakumaruna Kadukeralu Bandaranaike, ( Sinhala: සොලමන් ඩයස් අබේවික්‍රම ජයතිලක සෙනෙවිරත්න රාජකුමාරු ...

, who happened to be at his bedside, wrote:

Honours

He was appointed as a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1898, and a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1901 when he was due to accompany the Duke and Duchess of York. In 1906, he was awarded

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

from his former alma mater. Anderson School in Ipoh, Malaysia was named after the then High Commissioner of the Malay States, Sir John Anderson, the school was formally opened on 6 February 1909. Anderson Road and Anderson bridge in Singapore was also named in his honour.

References

Daily News
* Arnold Wright, Twentieth Century Impressions of British Malaya, 1908 {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, John 1858 births 1918 deaths People from Marr Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Governors of British Ceylon Governors of the Straits Settlements Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for the Colonies Scottish justices of the peace Scottish colonial officials Scottish knights Scottish Roman Catholics Administrators in British Singapore