Sir Percy Wyn-Harris

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

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(24 August 1903 – 25 February 1979) was an English

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

, colonial administrator, and

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sman. He worked in the

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 ...

in Africa and served as

Governor of the Gambia This is a list of colonial governors and administrators in the Gambia from the establishment of a British settlement on St Mary's Island, now known as Banjul Island, in 1816, through to the Gambia Colony and Protectorate's independence from the U ...

from 1949 to 1958.

Early life and mountaineering

Wyn-Harris was born in

Acton Acton may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Acton Australia * Acton, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Acton, Tasmania, a suburb of Burnie * Acton Park, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, formerly known as Acton Canada ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

on 24 August 1903 as Percy Wynne Harris (he formally changed his name to Percy Wyn-Harris in 1953). He was the son of a company director and was educated at

Gresham's School Gresham's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Bac ...

Holt Holt or holte may refer to: Natural world *Holt (den), an otter den * Holt, an area of woodland Places Australia * Holt, Australian Capital Territory * Division of Holt, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives in Vic ...

, and

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

. As an undergraduate, he was a member of the University Mountaineering Club. In 1925, he made the

first ascent In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...

without guides of the Brouillard Ridge on

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and i ...

. In 1929, he met mountaineer

Eric Shipton Eric Earle Shipton, CBE (1 August 1907 – 28 March 1977), was an English Himalayan mountaineer. Early years Shipton was born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1907 where his father, a tea planter, died before he was three years old. When he was eigh ...

and together they climbed the twin peaks of

Mount Kenya Mount Kenya (Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba, ''Ki Nyaa'') is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian (), Nelion () and Point Lenana (). Mount Kenya is locat ...

, making the first ascent of Nelion, the secondary summit. A member of

Hugh Ruttledge Hugh Ruttledge (24 October 1884 – 7 November 1961) was an English civil servant and mountaineer who was the leader of two expeditions to Mount Everest in 1933 and 1936. Early life The son of Lt.-Colonel Edward Butler Ruttledge, of the Indian M ...

's 1933 Mount Everest expedition, Wyn-Harris reached

Edward Norton Edward Harrison Norton (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award and three Academy Award nominations. Born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised ...

's record height of 8,573 m (28,126 feet). At around 8,460 m (27,920 ft), he discovered an ice axe, which was almost certainly a remnant of

Mallory Mallory is an Irish surname derived from the Goidelic languages, Gaelic ''Ó Mallairígh''. Spelling variants include Mallary, Mallery, Malorie, Mallorie, Mallerie and Mallorey. Mallory and Mallerie are also given names derived from the surname. ...

and

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's ill-fated attempt at the first ascent in 1924. Wyn-Harris returned to Everest in 1936, in an expedition again led by Hugh Ruttledge.

Colonial Service

Kenya

Wyn-Harris joined the Colonial Service in Kenya in 1926. Originally a district officer, in 1939 to 1940 he served as Settlement Officer for Kikuyu Land Claims. He was the District Commissioner of Nyeri from 1941 to 1943, Labour Liaison Officer from 1943 to 1944, and Labour Commissioner from 1944 to 1945. He became Provincial Commissioner of the Central Province in 1946, serving for a year. He became Chief Native Commissioner and Minister for African Affairs in 1947, and served in this role until 1949. Lewis claims that, in his time in Kenya, Wyn-Harris viewed it as "overpopulated and desperately needing urbanization, birth control, and secondary industries."

The Gambia

Wyn-Harris was appointed as

in December 1949. His time in office coincided with a growth of nationalist sentiment in West Africa. It was his belief that the Gambia should not progress towards self-government; rather, it should maintain a permanent link with the United Kingdom and be administered locally: what he termed the '

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

option'. Wyn-Harris was also opposed to the development of political parties in the Gambia. His first constitution in 1951 increased the number of elected members of the Legislative Council from two to three. After the 1951 election, he also rose the number of unofficial members of the Executive Council and did so again with his 1953 constitution. Two of these were granted specific portfolios and termed Ministers. Despite these reforms, Wyn-Harris was not popular among the Bathurst populace, particularly after he dismissed P. S. N'Jie from the Executive Council in January 1956. However, he was more popular in the Protectorate, having undertaken a determined effort to improve conditions there. Wyn-Harris left the Gambia in April 1958, having so upset the Bathurst population that he did so by slipping across the border to Senegal rather than doing so in a public ceremony. After his time in the Gambia, he was a member of the Devlin Commission of Enquiry into the Nyasaland disturbances in 1959 and served as the Administrator of the North Cameroons from October 1960 to June 1961. The North Cameroons was a region of

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

that had been a

League of Nations mandate A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administ ...

but had become a

United Nations Trust Territory United Nations trust territories were the successors of the remaining League of Nations mandates and came into being when the League of Nations ceased to exist in 1946. All of the trust territories were administered through the United Natio ...

overseen by the United Kingdom. A United Nations

plebiscite A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

on the region's future conducted during his tenure resulted in the region formally becoming part of Nigeria at the end of May 1961. Kirk-Greene, A. H. M.
Harris, Sir Percy Wyn (1903–1979)
in ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' online (subscription required), also published in book form by

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, 2004

Retirement and death

Between 1962 and 1969, Wyn-Harris circumnavigated the globe in his

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

''Spurwing'', a Gunning Grundel. He died in

Petersfield, Hampshire Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth a ...

, aged 75.

Honours

*1941: Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(MBE) *1949: Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG) *1950: Knight of the Order of St John (KStJ) *1952: Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyn-Harris, Percy 1903 births 1979 deaths English mountain climbers Colonial Administrative Service officers Governors of the Gambia People educated at Gresham's School Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George English explorers Knights of the Order of St John British Kenya people British colonial people in Cameroon Military history of the Gambia Members of the Order of the British Empire