Brigadier-General Sir William Henry Manning, (19 July 1863 – 1 January 1932) was a British Indian Army officer and colonial administrator.

Early life

Manning was educated at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

as a non-collegiate student and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

and was commissioned a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in the

South Wales Borderers The South Wales Borderers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for 280 years. It came into existence in England in 1689, as Sir Edward Dering's Regiment of Foot, and afterwards had a variety of names and headquarters. I ...

in 1886. In 1888 he transferred to the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

, and served in the 51st Sikhs. He was wounded in the

Second Burmese War The Second Anglo-Burmese War or the Second Burma War ( my, ဒုတိယ အင်္ဂလိပ် မြန်မာ စစ် ; 5 April 185220 January 1853) was the second of the three wars fought between the Burmese Empire and British Em ...

and also served in the First Miranzai Expedition and the Hazara Expedition on the North-West Frontier in 1891. He commanded the Mlanja and Chirad-Zulu expeditions in British Central Africa in 1893–1894.

Diplomatic and military service in Africa

In 1897 he was appointed Deputy Commissioner and

Consul-General A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

for British Central Africa and commander of its Armed Forces with the local rank of

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

, and served as Acting Commissioner for nearly two years. He commanded the operations against Chief Mpezeni in North-East Rhodesia in 1898, for which he was promoted brevet major in 1898 and brevet

in 1899. Manning raised and commanded the

Central Africa Regiment Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and was the first

Inspector-General An inspector general is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is "inspectors general". Australia The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (Australia) (IGIS) is an independent statutory of ...

of the

King's African Rifles The King's African Rifles (KAR) was a multi-battalion British colonial regiment raised from Britain's various possessions in East Africa from 1902 until independence in the 1960s. It performed both military and internal security functions within ...

from 1901 to 1907, with the local rank of brigadier-general (although his substantive rank was still captain). During Spring 1902 he undertook an official tour through

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

and the East African Protectorate, returning to England in June that year. He was supposed to undertake a second tour of inspecting garrisons in British Somaliland,

British Central Africa Protectorate The British Central Africa Protectorate (BCA) was a British protectorate proclaimed in 1889 and ratified in 1891 that occupied the same area as present-day Malawi: it was renamed Nyasaland in 1907. British interest in the area arose from vis ...

, British East Africa and Uganda later the same year, but shortly after arrival in Africa was re-directed to join the force gathered in Somaliland to fight the Mad Mullah. He was in Somaliland by the middle of November 1902, and in late December was appointed in command of the Somaliland Field Force. From 1903 to 1904 he commanded its 1st Brigade. In April 1903 he fought against the Mad Mullah's army in battle, inflicting 2,000 casualties. For services in Somaliland he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1903 and Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1904. In February 1904 he was promoted brevet

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

and in August 1904 he was finally promoted to the substantive rank of major.

Commissioner of Somaliland and Governor of Nyasaland

In February 1910 Manning was appointed Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief of the Somaliland Protectorate and in November 1910 Governor and C-in-C of the

Nyasaland Protectorate Nyasaland () was a British protectorate located in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasalan ...

, where the border post Fort Manning (now Mchinji,

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

) was named after him. He retired from the Indian Army in December 1910.

Governor of Jamaica and Governor of Ceylon

In February 1913 he became Governor of Jamaica and was granted the perpetual honorary rank of brigadier-general, which he had held for most of his service since 1901. In September 1918 he was appointed

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 ...

. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1918 and

Knight Grand Cross 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, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

(GCMG) in the 1921 New Year Honours. He retired in 1925. The

Manning Cup The Manning Cup Football Competition (also currently known as the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Gatorade/Digicel Manning Cup football competition for sponsorship reasons) is an annual football (soccer) contest among Secondary ...

school football competition in Jamaica was named after him.

References

*Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', 4 January 1932

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manning, William 1863 births 1932 deaths Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst South Wales Borderers officers British Indian Army generals British Army personnel of the Second Anglo-Burmese War Governors of Jamaica Governors of British Ceylon Governors of Nyasaland Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Bath King's African Rifles officers British military personnel of the Third Somaliland Expedition Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Governors of British Somaliland British military personnel of the Hazara Expedition of 1888 Members of the Legislative Council of Ceylon