Ronald Edwards Wraith (born 1908, date of death unknown) was a British

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...

on public and

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

administration. He was chairman of the

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

Federal Electoral Commission in the late 1950s.George Bennett. Book Reviews: Race & Class, 1 1964; vol. 5: pp. 103 104. Wraith was head of the electoral commission that organized the registration and conduct of the 1959 parliamentary and regional elections.

Life

Wraith was born in

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; his father worked for the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

. He studied economics at

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

. He spent two years in Australia and New Zealand before becoming the warden at a

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community center managed by the Tyneside Council of Social Services when the worst of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

was over. In 1938, he joined the Education Department of the Borough of Southampton as the Secretary of Youth Services and served in the position through World War II. In 1945, he was the head of the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

's department involved in colonial studies, also known as the Colonial Social Science Certificate Course that was previously headed by

Audrey Richards Audrey Isabel Richards, CBE, FRAI, FBA (8 July 1899 – 29 June 1984), was a pioneering British social anthropologist. She produced notable ethnographic studies. The most famous of which is ''Chisingu: A Girl's initiation ceremony among the B ...

. In 1946, he visited Africa and worked with the Housing and Social Services Department of

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 ...

. In 1947, he was placed in charge of another course, the Post War Devonshire Courses for colonial and West African administrators. Wraith later published a book on local government, comparing the West African and the English local government systems and expressing doubt about the transferability of the English model to West Africa. He was a researcher with the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 196 ...

before his appointment as the only expatriate in the Nigerian electoral commission. Wraith went on to write several books on corruption, local government and

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

in developing countries. He was also a member of the research staff of the Institute of Local Government, Birmingham University.

Personal

Wraith married his wife, Jane in 1933. Both were members of the

Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

Works

*Administrative tribunals. Allen & Unwin. *East African citizen. Oxford University Press, 1960. *Local Administration in West Africa. Holmes & Meier, 1972. *Corruption in developing countries. Allen & Unwin, 1963. *Open Government: The British Interpretation.

References

Academics of the London School of Economics Year of death missing 1908 births {{UK-writer-stub