Herbert Richmond Palmer
Encyclopedia
Sir Herbert Richmond Palmer KCMG
CBE
(20 April 1877 – 22 May 1958) was an English
barrister, who became a colonial supervisor for Britain during the inter-World War period. He served as a Lieutenant Governor in Nigeria, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of The Gambia and Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Cyprus.
, Westmorland
to Robert Palmer of The Bank House. He was educated at Oundle School
in Northamptonshire
, being recorded in 1895 as an exceptional batsman. He went up to Trinity Hall, Cambridge
in 1896 as a scholar reading Classics. He was awarded his BA
in 1899, and his Bachelor of Laws
a year later.
While at Cambridge, he played club rugby
for Cambridge University
and was awarded a Blue, playing wing three-quarter, in 1899 in the rugby Varsity match against Oxford. In 1899 he became a member of Percy Carpmael's
invitational touring team, The Barbarians
.
He worked his passage to San Francisco as a stoker in 1903 to explore opportunities in mining.
He was called to The Bar on 15 June 1904 and was admitted to the Middle Temple
. He was awarded Master of Arts in 1910.
. His first posting was under Lugard, High Commissioner of the Northern Nigeria Protectorate
, a position held by Lugard until 1906.
Palmer was appointed an assistant Resident
in the Provinces of Nigeria
in 1904. One of his early acts was to work towards the abolition of slavery that was still to be found in the Northern Provinces.
The appointment of Palmer as Resident in 1905 was a turning point in the history of British rule in Katsina
. When he assumed office, the first task which Palmer accomplished was the re-organization of districts, in which nineteen new districts were created. Each of these was placed under the jurisdiction of a district head responsible to the Emir. The newly created districts were further divided into sub-districts, to allow for proper administration of the Emirate from the grassroots. Palmer installed Muhammadu Dikko as Emir of Katsina in 1906 largely due to his cooperation with the British administration. This was an early example of Palmer adopting the Lugard doctrine of Indirect Rule.
He was one of the most prominent of the band of political officers who guarded and guided the destinies of the Northern Nigerian Emirates and other political units, in the formative years round about 1910. By 1911, Palmer was Commissioner of Native Revenue in the north of the country. Their planning was accepted and confirmed by Lugard on his return.
In 1912, Lugard returned from Hong Kong to Nigeria as Governor of the northern and southern protectorates. Lugard's main mission was to complete the amalgamation into one colony. Although controversial in Lagos, where it was opposed by a large section of the political class and the media, the amalgamation did not arouse passion in the rest of the country. From 1914 to 1919, Lugard was Governor General of the now combined Colony of Nigeria
.
Palmer acted as Resident of Kano Province
between 1915 and 1916 and, in 1917, was promoted to Resident of Bornu Province
.
He maintained the relationships which Lugard has established with the Sokoto Caliphate and the Sultan of Sokoto and, as Lugard, worked through Nigerian traditional rulers
. Palmer was a staunch advocate of the principles of Indirect Rule or devolved colonial administration which had been devised by Lugard and his successors in the government of Northern Nigeria. It greatly enhanced the prestige and influence of the traditional Muslim emirs and contributed to the rapid spread of Islam during the colonial era. The position of the Emirs was supported by Palmer and he strongly opposed the work of Christian missionaries, for example in Bornu, contrary to the views of the Governor, Sir Hugh Clifford
.
Owing to the Great War, the duties of senior administrative officers in Northern Nigeria were especially arduous at that time. By the end of 1917 some 6,600 troops had been dispatched to East Africa to take part in the operations against
Von Lettow's
forces, and a further 1,800 were awaiting transport - a serious depletion of the garrison of the country. Palmer carefully considered the effects of the War on the Muslim provinces and was highly critical of the French Administration in their colony nearby
Palmer studied the culture, languages and literature of Africa becoming an outstanding Hausa and Arabic scholar and an acknowledged authority on civilisation and literature of Hausa
and Fulani
.
Throughout the Northern Province of Nigeria there were then thousands of Muslim schools in which practically the entire time of the pupils was occupied in learning by heart and in writing portions of the Koran. Palmer, who was deeply interested in education, was anxious to improve this system and it was natural that he should turn his eyes towards the
Gordon College
at Khartoum, where important steps had been taken to improve Muslim education in the Sudan
. He therefore made an arduous and adventurous journey in 1918 across Central Africa from Bornu by way of Wadai and Darfur
to the Sudan
. This visit bore fruit when a training college for Muslim teachers was opened in 1922 at Katsina
and attracted a promising number of candidates.
Palmer acted as Lieutenant Governor
of Northern Nigeria
from 1921, and was promoted to the substantive appointment in 1925 based in Kaduna
.
He was a first class administrator described as "capax imperii"
, capable of (ruling the) Empire, with his understanding and study of languages and was referred to locally as "Judgey", being the highest judicial authority.
In 1919 steps had already been taken to develop the important cotton and ground-nut industries, and experimental work in tobacco cultivation had been started. Later, in 1926, work was begun on a scheme for utilizing the waters of the Kaduna River for the supply of the town. Progress was also made in the construction of new European hospitals at Enugu
, Jos
and Kano
in the province. Another important event was the journey undertaken by Palmer from Lagos
to Lake Chad
in March and April, this being the first occasion on which the entire distance had been traversed by motor transport.
During the 26 years spent by Palmer in various part of Northern Nigeria much of his leisure was occupied in attempts to find data for the completion of a true history of the more important units of ruling races, such as the Fulbe
and Kanuri of Bornu. In his journey across Africa in 1918, he was able to obtain first-hand information on matters connected with this subject. The results of these studies were embodied in a work entitled Sudanese Memoirs, the last volume of which was published in 1928. This work was supplemented by a book entitled The Bornu Sahara and Sudan and published in 1936.
In December 1929, Palmer argued strongly for decentralisation of funding in order to leave discretion of expenditure to be determined within the Northern Provinces. He was not able to persuade the Governor Sir Graeme Thomson
nor the Secretary of State of the merits of allowing an overall budget to be allocated to the Lieutenant Governor. This issue remains a matter of debate to this day. It may be that this dispute prompted his move to The Gambia.
His departure from Nigeria was announced in February 1930.
. In this colony he was naturally faced with problems on a smaller scale than in the vast territories of Northern Nigeria, but in 1931 he was called upon to deal with a serious outbreak of rinderpest
and
pleuropneumonia
among the native cattle. In 1932 he effected more continuity in the administration of the Protectorate by the establishment of a definite administrative headquarters in each of the four provinces with provincial offices which were to remain open for business throughout the Year.
On 12 April 1933, he left Africa.
. Cyprus had been annexed by Britain when Turkey joined with Germany and Austro-Hungary in World War I and, in 1925, had become a British Crown Colony. In 1931, there had been serious riots of Greek Cypriots demanding Enosis
, the union with Greece. Government House in Nikosia had been burned down.
He also arrived in the middle of a two years' drought which brought the Cypriots to the brink of famine, destroyed a great proportion of their crops and livestock, and added to their heavy burden of debt.
Palmer therefore found himself having to govern at a difficult time of high tensions in the island with Cypriots seeking self determination.
One of the causes was failure of Colonial officials in too many cases to learn Greek or Turkish, the languages of the island, and of their consequent lack of touch with the inhabitants. Palmer insisted upon a knowledge of these languages.
His rule in Cyprus was a strict one and his style of leadership was known to the people of Cyprus as Palmerocracy.
There he completed the scheme for the improvement of the port of Famagusta. A scheme for the reconstruction and development of the port was started in May, 1931, and all work under contract was completed in March, 1933. Subsidiary work on the scheme was completed in 1935, and the new harbour, which could not previously take ships of more than 2,000 tons, was enlarged to accommodate ships of from 8,000 to 9,000 tons.
He retired on 4 July 1939.
in 1922, C.B.E
in 1924 and K.C.M.G
in 1933. He was also a Knight of Grace of the Order of St. John
.
He wrote extensively about his African experiences in retirement.
He wrote the Foreword and arranged the publication of The Occupation of the Hausaland: Being a Translation of Arabic letters found in the House of the Wazir of Sokoto, in 1903, collected by Major G Merrick and translated and edited by Mr H F Backwell, Lagos (1927).
He also contributed to anthropological journals:
(Cosmo Gordon Lang) officiating. They had two daughters.
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(20 April 1877 – 22 May 1958) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
barrister, who became a colonial supervisor for Britain during the inter-World War period. He served as a Lieutenant Governor in Nigeria, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of The Gambia and Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Cyprus.
Early Life
Palmer was born in 1877 in Kirkby LonsdaleKirkby Lonsdale
Kirkby Lonsdale is a small town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, on the River Lune. Historically within Westmorland, it is situated south east of Kendal along the A65. The parish had a population of 1,771 recorded in the 2001 census.Notable buildings include St...
, Westmorland
Westmorland
Westmorland is an area of North West England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974, after which the entirety of the county was absorbed into the new county of Cumbria.-Early history:...
to Robert Palmer of The Bank House. He was educated at Oundle School
Oundle School
Oundle School is a co-educational British public school located in the ancient market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire. The school has been maintained by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City of London since its foundation in 1556. Oundle has eight boys' houses, five girls' houses, a day...
in Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
, being recorded in 1895 as an exceptional batsman. He went up to Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is the fifth-oldest college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich.- Foundation :...
in 1896 as a scholar reading Classics. He was awarded his BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1899, and his Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
a year later.
While at Cambridge, he played club rugby
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
for Cambridge University
Cambridge University R.U.F.C.
The Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club, or CURUFC, is the rugby union club of Cambridge University, and plays Oxford University in the annual Varsity Match at Twickenham stadium every December. CURUFC players wear light blue and white hooped jerseys with a red lion crest...
and was awarded a Blue, playing wing three-quarter, in 1899 in the rugby Varsity match against Oxford. In 1899 he became a member of Percy Carpmael's
William Percy Carpmael
William Percy Carpmael was the founder and first president of the rugby union Barbarian Football Club. Carpmael was born the eldest of eight in Briscobel, Stretham in England.-Education and early career:...
invitational touring team, The Barbarians
Barbarian F.C.
The Barbarian Football Club, usually referred to as the Barbarians and nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", is an invitational rugby union team based in Britain...
.
He worked his passage to San Francisco as a stoker in 1903 to explore opportunities in mining.
He was called to The Bar on 15 June 1904 and was admitted to the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
. He was awarded Master of Arts in 1910.
Nigeria
Palmer spent the greater part of his long official service in NigeriaNigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
. His first posting was under Lugard, High Commissioner of the Northern Nigeria Protectorate
Northern Nigeria Protectorate
Northern Nigeria was a British protectorate formed in 1900. The basis of the protectorate was the 1885 Treaty of Berlin which broadly granted Northern Nigeria to Britain, on the basis of their protectorates in Southern Nigeria...
, a position held by Lugard until 1906.
Palmer was appointed an assistant Resident
Resident (title)
A Resident, or in full Resident Minister, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of indirect rule....
in the Provinces of Nigeria
Provinces of Nigeria
The Provinces of Nigeria are a former administrative division in Nigeria, which were in use in Colonial Nigeria and shortly after independence; from 1900 to 1967. They were altered many times through their history. They were divided into divisions, some of these were further subdivided into native...
in 1904. One of his early acts was to work towards the abolition of slavery that was still to be found in the Northern Provinces.
The appointment of Palmer as Resident in 1905 was a turning point in the history of British rule in Katsina
Katsina
Katsina is a city , and a Local Government Area in northern Nigeria, and is the capital of Katsina State. Katsina is located some 160 miles east of the city of Sokoto, and 84 miles northwest of Kano, close to the border with Niger. As of 2007, Katsina's estimated population was 459,022...
. When he assumed office, the first task which Palmer accomplished was the re-organization of districts, in which nineteen new districts were created. Each of these was placed under the jurisdiction of a district head responsible to the Emir. The newly created districts were further divided into sub-districts, to allow for proper administration of the Emirate from the grassroots. Palmer installed Muhammadu Dikko as Emir of Katsina in 1906 largely due to his cooperation with the British administration. This was an early example of Palmer adopting the Lugard doctrine of Indirect Rule.
He was one of the most prominent of the band of political officers who guarded and guided the destinies of the Northern Nigerian Emirates and other political units, in the formative years round about 1910. By 1911, Palmer was Commissioner of Native Revenue in the north of the country. Their planning was accepted and confirmed by Lugard on his return.
In 1912, Lugard returned from Hong Kong to Nigeria as Governor of the northern and southern protectorates. Lugard's main mission was to complete the amalgamation into one colony. Although controversial in Lagos, where it was opposed by a large section of the political class and the media, the amalgamation did not arouse passion in the rest of the country. From 1914 to 1919, Lugard was Governor General of the now combined Colony of Nigeria
Colonial Nigeria
Colonial Nigeria ran from 1800 till October 1, 1960 when it gained independence. Up until the amalgamation of 1914, the country's constituting parts existed as separate British protectorates.-Abolition of the Slave Trade:...
.
Palmer acted as Resident of Kano Province
Kano
Kano is a city in Nigeria and the capital of Kano State in Northern Nigeria. Its metropolitan population is the second largest in Nigeria after Lagos. The Kano Urban area covers 137 sq.km and comprises six Local Government Area - Kano Municipal, Fagge, Dala, Gwale, Tarauni and Nassarawa - with a...
between 1915 and 1916 and, in 1917, was promoted to Resident of Bornu Province
Bornu Empire
The Bornu Empire was an African state of Nigeria from 1396 to 1893. It was a continuation of the great Kanem Empire founded centuries earlier by the Sayfawa Dynasty...
.
He maintained the relationships which Lugard has established with the Sokoto Caliphate and the Sultan of Sokoto and, as Lugard, worked through Nigerian traditional rulers
Nigerian traditional rulers
Nigerian traditional rulers often derive their titles from the rulers of independent states or communities that existed before the formation of modern Nigeria...
. Palmer was a staunch advocate of the principles of Indirect Rule or devolved colonial administration which had been devised by Lugard and his successors in the government of Northern Nigeria. It greatly enhanced the prestige and influence of the traditional Muslim emirs and contributed to the rapid spread of Islam during the colonial era. The position of the Emirs was supported by Palmer and he strongly opposed the work of Christian missionaries, for example in Bornu, contrary to the views of the Governor, Sir Hugh Clifford
Hugh Clifford
Sir Hugh Charles Clifford, GCMG, GBE was a British colonial administrator.-Early life:Clifford was born in Roehampton, London, the sixth of the eight children of Major-General Sir Henry Hugh Clifford and his wife Josephine Elizabeth, née Anstice; his grandfather was Hugh Clifford, 7th Baron...
.
Owing to the Great War, the duties of senior administrative officers in Northern Nigeria were especially arduous at that time. By the end of 1917 some 6,600 troops had been dispatched to East Africa to take part in the operations against
Von Lettow's
Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck
Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck was a general in the Imperial German Army and the commander of the German East Africa campaign. For four years, with a force that never exceeded about 14,000 , he held in check a much larger force of 300,000 British, Belgian, and Portuguese troops...
forces, and a further 1,800 were awaiting transport - a serious depletion of the garrison of the country. Palmer carefully considered the effects of the War on the Muslim provinces and was highly critical of the French Administration in their colony nearby
Palmer studied the culture, languages and literature of Africa becoming an outstanding Hausa and Arabic scholar and an acknowledged authority on civilisation and literature of Hausa
Hausa people
The Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. They are a Sahelian people chiefly located in northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger, but having significant numbers living in regions of Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Chad and Sudan...
and Fulani
Fula people
Fula people or Fulani or Fulbe are an ethnic group spread over many countries, predominantly in West Africa, but found also in Central Africa and Sudanese North Africa...
.
Throughout the Northern Province of Nigeria there were then thousands of Muslim schools in which practically the entire time of the pupils was occupied in learning by heart and in writing portions of the Koran. Palmer, who was deeply interested in education, was anxious to improve this system and it was natural that he should turn his eyes towards the
Gordon College
Gordon Memorial College
Gordon Memorial College is an educational institution in Sudan. It was built between 1899 and 1902 as part of Lord Kitchener's wide-ranging educational reforms....
at Khartoum, where important steps had been taken to improve Muslim education in the Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
. He therefore made an arduous and adventurous journey in 1918 across Central Africa from Bornu by way of Wadai and Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
to the Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
. This visit bore fruit when a training college for Muslim teachers was opened in 1922 at Katsina
Katsina
Katsina is a city , and a Local Government Area in northern Nigeria, and is the capital of Katsina State. Katsina is located some 160 miles east of the city of Sokoto, and 84 miles northwest of Kano, close to the border with Niger. As of 2007, Katsina's estimated population was 459,022...
and attracted a promising number of candidates.
Palmer acted as Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
of Northern Nigeria
Northern Nigeria
Northern Nigeria is a geographical region of Nigeria. It is more arid and less densely populated than the south. The people are largely Muslim, and many are Hausa...
from 1921, and was promoted to the substantive appointment in 1925 based in Kaduna
Kaduna
Kaduna is the state capital of Kaduna State in north-central Nigeria. The city, located on the Kaduna River, is a trade center and a major transportation hub for the surrounding agricultural areas with its rail and road junction. The population of Kaduna is at 760,084 as of the 2006 Nigerian census...
.
He was a first class administrator described as "capax imperii"
Lucius Arruntius
Lucius Arruntius was a Roman admiral. He saw action during the War with Sextus Pompeius, and the war of Mark Antony and Augustus. He is most notable for his participation during the Battle of Actium, where he was in command of victorious Augustus' central division...
, capable of (ruling the) Empire, with his understanding and study of languages and was referred to locally as "Judgey", being the highest judicial authority.
In 1919 steps had already been taken to develop the important cotton and ground-nut industries, and experimental work in tobacco cultivation had been started. Later, in 1926, work was begun on a scheme for utilizing the waters of the Kaduna River for the supply of the town. Progress was also made in the construction of new European hospitals at Enugu
Enugu
Enugu is the capital of Enugu State in Nigeria. It is located in the southeastern area of Nigeria and is largely populated by members of the Igbo ethnic group. The city has a population of 722,664 according to the 2006 Nigerian census. The name Enugu is derived from the two Igbo words Enu Ugwu...
, Jos
Jos
Jos is a city in the Middle Belt of Nigeria.The city has a population of about 1.5 million residents. Popularly called "J-town" or "Jesus Our Saviour" by the residents, it is the administrative capital of Plateau State....
and Kano
Kano
Kano is a city in Nigeria and the capital of Kano State in Northern Nigeria. Its metropolitan population is the second largest in Nigeria after Lagos. The Kano Urban area covers 137 sq.km and comprises six Local Government Area - Kano Municipal, Fagge, Dala, Gwale, Tarauni and Nassarawa - with a...
in the province. Another important event was the journey undertaken by Palmer from Lagos
Lagos
Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
to Lake Chad
Lake Chad
Lake Chad is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Africa, whose size has varied over the centuries. According to the Global Resource Information Database of the United Nations Environment Programme, it shrank as much as 95% from about 1963 to 1998; yet it also states that "the 2007 ...
in March and April, this being the first occasion on which the entire distance had been traversed by motor transport.
During the 26 years spent by Palmer in various part of Northern Nigeria much of his leisure was occupied in attempts to find data for the completion of a true history of the more important units of ruling races, such as the Fulbe
Fula people
Fula people or Fulani or Fulbe are an ethnic group spread over many countries, predominantly in West Africa, but found also in Central Africa and Sudanese North Africa...
and Kanuri of Bornu. In his journey across Africa in 1918, he was able to obtain first-hand information on matters connected with this subject. The results of these studies were embodied in a work entitled Sudanese Memoirs, the last volume of which was published in 1928. This work was supplemented by a book entitled The Bornu Sahara and Sudan and published in 1936.
In December 1929, Palmer argued strongly for decentralisation of funding in order to leave discretion of expenditure to be determined within the Northern Provinces. He was not able to persuade the Governor Sir Graeme Thomson
Graeme Thomson
Sir Graeme Thomson G.C.M.G. K.C.B. was a British Civil Servant in the Admiralty, who served as a colonial civil servant and then governor in several British colonies.-Civil Servant:...
nor the Secretary of State of the merits of allowing an overall budget to be allocated to the Lieutenant Governor. This issue remains a matter of debate to this day. It may be that this dispute prompted his move to The Gambia.
His departure from Nigeria was announced in February 1930.
The Gambia
In September 1930, Palmer was promoted to Governor and Commander-in-Chief of The GambiaThe Gambia
The Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia , is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west....
. In this colony he was naturally faced with problems on a smaller scale than in the vast territories of Northern Nigeria, but in 1931 he was called upon to deal with a serious outbreak of rinderpest
Rinderpest
Rinderpest was an infectious viral disease of cattle, domestic buffalo, and some other species of even-toed ungulates, including buffaloes, large antelopes and deer, giraffes, wildebeests and warthogs. After a global eradication campaign, the last confirmed case of rinderpest was diagnosed in 2001...
and
pleuropneumonia
Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia
Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia , is a contagious bacterial disease that afflicts the lungs of cattle, buffalo, zebu, and yaks....
among the native cattle. In 1932 he effected more continuity in the administration of the Protectorate by the establishment of a definite administrative headquarters in each of the four provinces with provincial offices which were to remain open for business throughout the Year.
On 12 April 1933, he left Africa.
Cyprus
On 8 November 1933, Palmer became Governor and Commander-in Chief of CyprusCyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
. Cyprus had been annexed by Britain when Turkey joined with Germany and Austro-Hungary in World War I and, in 1925, had become a British Crown Colony. In 1931, there had been serious riots of Greek Cypriots demanding Enosis
Enosis
Enosis refers to the movement of the Greek-Cypriot population to incorporate the island of Cyprus into Greece.Similar movements had previously developed in other regions with ethnic Greek majorities such as the Ionian Islands, Crete and the Dodecanese. These regions were eventually incorporated...
, the union with Greece. Government House in Nikosia had been burned down.
He also arrived in the middle of a two years' drought which brought the Cypriots to the brink of famine, destroyed a great proportion of their crops and livestock, and added to their heavy burden of debt.
Palmer therefore found himself having to govern at a difficult time of high tensions in the island with Cypriots seeking self determination.
One of the causes was failure of Colonial officials in too many cases to learn Greek or Turkish, the languages of the island, and of their consequent lack of touch with the inhabitants. Palmer insisted upon a knowledge of these languages.
His rule in Cyprus was a strict one and his style of leadership was known to the people of Cyprus as Palmerocracy.
There he completed the scheme for the improvement of the port of Famagusta. A scheme for the reconstruction and development of the port was started in May, 1931, and all work under contract was completed in March, 1933. Subsidiary work on the scheme was completed in 1935, and the new harbour, which could not previously take ships of more than 2,000 tons, was enlarged to accommodate ships of from 8,000 to 9,000 tons.
He retired on 4 July 1939.
Honours
He was awarded several honours throughout his career, being appointed C.M.GOrder of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
in 1922, C.B.E
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1924 and K.C.M.G
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
in 1933. He was also a Knight of Grace of the Order of St. John
Venerable Order of Saint John
The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...
.
Later life
Palmer returned to Langham House, Oakham in Rutland. In July 1940, after his family were evacuated to the United States of America, he went to live in Keswick to practice law providing legal aid.He wrote extensively about his African experiences in retirement.
Publications
He wrote a number of translations of Arabic texts associated with the countries in which he worked:- History of the First Twelve Years of the Reign of Mai Idris Alooma of Bornu, Lagos (1926) reprinted London (1970)
- Sudanese Memoirs: Being Mainly Translations of a Number of Arabic Manuscripts Relating to the Central and Western Sudan, 3 volumes, Lagos (1928), reprinted London (1967)
- The Bornu, Sahara and Sudan, London (1936)
He wrote the Foreword and arranged the publication of The Occupation of the Hausaland: Being a Translation of Arabic letters found in the House of the Wazir of Sokoto, in 1903, collected by Major G Merrick and translated and edited by Mr H F Backwell, Lagos (1927).
He also contributed to anthropological journals:
- Notes on some Asben records, Journal of the African Society vol 9 - 1909-10, - pp. 388–400
- An early Fulani conception of Islam, Journal of African Society XIV, - 1914-15, - pp. 53–59
- Western Sudan history : the Raudthât'ul Alfâri, Journal of the African Society15 - , 1915–16, - pp. 261–73
- History of Katsina, Journal of the African Society, 26, 103, - April 1927, - pp. 216–236
- The Kano Chronicle, Journal of the Anthropological Institute, 38 - 1909 - pp. 58–98
Family
He married Margaret Isabel Abel-Smith on 7 June 1924 at St Michael and All Angles in Waterford, the Archbishop of YorkArchbishop of York
The Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man...
(Cosmo Gordon Lang) officiating. They had two daughters.