Jump to content

John Chancellor (colonial administrator): Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
internal link added for Ascot
m Added short description
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile app edit iOS app edit App description add
 
(40 intermediate revisions by 29 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|British soldier and colonial administrator}}
⚫
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}{{Use British English|date=October 2010}}
{{Infobox military person
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = Sir
| honorific_prefix = [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-Colonel]] Sir
| name = John Chancellor
| name = John Chancellor
| honorific_suffix = GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO
| honorific_suffix = [[Order of St Michael and St George|GCMG]], [[Royal Victorian Order|GCVO]], [[Order of the British Empire|GBE]], [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]]
| image = John Chancellor British High Commissioner 1931.jpg
| image = John Chancellor portrait (cropped).jpg
| image_size =
| image_size =
| alt =
| alt =
| caption = Chancellor in Palestine, 1931
| caption = John Chancellor in 1931
| native_name =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| native_name_lang =
Line 19: Line 21:
| placeofburial =
| placeofburial =
| placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| allegiance = British
| allegiance = [[United Kingdom|British]]
| branch = Army
| branch = [[British Army]]
| serviceyears =
| serviceyears =
| serviceyears_label =
| serviceyears_label =
| rank = Lieutenant Colonel
| rank = [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant Colonel]]
| rank_label =
| rank_label =
| servicenumber = <!-- Do not use data from primary sources such as service records -->
| servicenumber = <!-- Do not use data from primary sources such as service records -->
| unit = Corps of Royal Engineers
| unit = [[Corps of Royal Engineers]]
| commands =
| commands =
| battles_label =
| battles_label =
| battles =
| battles =
| awards = Distinguished Service Order, Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
| awards = [[Distinguished Service Order]], [[Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George]], [[Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]], [[Order of the British Empire|GBE]]
| memorials =
| memorials =
| spouse = <!-- Add spouse if reliably sourced -->
| spouse = <!-- Add spouse if reliably sourced -->
| laterwork = Colonial administrator
| laterwork = Colonial Administrator
| signature =
| signature =
| signature_size =
| signature_size =
Line 41: Line 43:
}}
}}


⚫
[[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-Colonel]] '''Sir John Robert Chancellor''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCMG|GCVO|GBE|DSO}} (20 October 1870 – 31 July 1952)<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=YAd8efHdVzIC&dq=Sir+John+Robert+Chancellor+1952&pg=PA260 Profile of Sir John Robert Chancellor]</ref> was a British soldier and [[colony|colonial]] administrator.
[[File:John Chancellor portrait.jpg|thumb|Detail]]

⚫
[[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant Colonel]] '''Sir John Robert Chancellor''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCMG|GCVO|GBE|DSO}} (20 October 1870 – 31 July 1952)<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=YAd8efHdVzIC&pg=PA260&dq=Sir+John+Robert+Chancellor+1952&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjavLyX2fXWAhWF6xoKHdIhBmwQ6AEIMDAC#v=onepage&q=Sir%20John%20Robert%20Chancellor%201952&f=false Profile of Sir John Robert Chancellor]</ref> was a British soldier and [[colony|colonial]] official.


==Biography==
==Biography==
Chancellor was the younger son of Edward Chancellor, of Woodhall House, [[Juniper Green]], [[Midlothian]], and Anne Helen (d. 1932), daughter of John Robert Tod, [[Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet|WS]]. The Chancellor family had held the lands of Shieldhill, [[Quothquan]] from 1432.<ref>Burke's Landed Gentry, eighteenth edition, vol. I, ed. Peter Townend, 1965, p. 130</ref>
Chancellor was the younger son of Edward Chancellor, of Woodhall House, [[Juniper Green]], [[Midlothian]], and Anne Helen Tod (d. 1932), daughter of John Robert Tod, [[Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet|WS]]. The Chancellor family had held the lands of Shieldhill, [[Quothquan]] from 1432.<ref name="autogenerated130">Burke's Landed Gentry, eighteenth edition, vol. I, ed. Peter Townend, 1965, p. 130</ref>
⚫
After a career in the [[British Army]]'s [[Corps of Royal Engineers]],<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26076|page=4283|date=5 August 1890}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26428|page=4356|date=1 August 1893}}</ref> which included service on the [[North-West Frontier Province (1901–1955)|North West Frontier]]<ref name=DSOGazette>{{London Gazette|issue=26968|page=3166|date=20 May 1898}}</ref> and being Secretary of the [[Colonial Defence Committee]],<ref name=CMGGazette>{{London Gazette|issue=28305|supp=y|page=8240|date=5 November 1909}}</ref> he became a colonial administrator serving as the 20th [[Governor of Mauritius|Governor]] of [[Mauritius]] from 13 September 1911<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28517|page=5632|date=28 July 1911}}</ref> to 28 January 1916,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Mauritius.htm |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2016-03-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/5hOqWZAh1?url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Mauritius.htm |archivedate= 9 June 2009 }}</ref> [[Trinidad and Tobago]] (1916<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29516|page=3065|date=21 March 1916}}</ref>&ndash;1921) and [[Southern Rhodesia]] (1923&ndash;1928). He also served as Principal Assistant Secretary to the [[Committee of Imperial Defence]] From 1922–1923.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32598|page=978|date=3 February 1922}}</ref>


He attended the [[Royal Military Academy Sandhurst]], and after graduation was commissioned into the [[British Army]]'s [[Corps of Royal Engineers]] as a [[second lieutenant]] on 25 July 1890.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26076|page=4283|date=5 August 1890}}</ref> Promoted to [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] on 25 July 1893,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26428|page=4356|date=1 August 1893}}</ref> he took part in the 1896 [[Dongola Expedition]] under [[Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|Sir Herbert Kitchener]], and served in the 1897–98 [[Tirah campaign]] on the [[North-West Frontier Province (1901–1955)|North West Frontier]] of [[British Raj|British India]] as part of the Sirmoor Imperial Service Snappers.<ref>Hart′s Army list, 1903</ref> For his service in India he was [[mentioned in despatches]], received the [[India Medal]], and was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Order]] (DSO) in 1898.<ref name=DSOGazette>{{London Gazette|issue=26968|page=3166|date=20 May 1898}}</ref> He was promoted to [[Captain (BARM)|captain]] on 20 May 1901,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27501 |page=8440 |date=5 December 1902 }}</ref> and later served as Secretary of the [[Colonial Defence Committee]].<ref name=CMGGazette>{{London Gazette|issue=28305|supp=y|page=8240|date=5 November 1909}}</ref>
⚫
In 1898 he was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Order]] (DSO).<ref name=DSOGazette /> In 1909 he was appointed a [[Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George]].<ref name=CMGGazette /> He was knighted in the 1913 [[King's Birthday Honours]] when he was made a [[Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]] (KCMG).<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28724|page=3905|date=30 May 1913}}</ref> In the [[1922 Dissolution Honours List]] he was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG).<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32766|supp=y|page=8017|date=10 November 1922}}</ref> He was appointed a Knight of Justice in the [[Venerable Order of Saint John]] on 19 December 1928.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33453|page=49|date=1 January 1929}}</ref>


⚫
After a career in the Royal Engineers he became a colonial administrator serving as the 20th [[Governor of British Mauritius|Governor]] of [[Mauritius]] from 13 September 1911<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28517|page=5632|date=28 July 1911}}</ref> to 28 January 1916,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Mauritius.htm |title=Mauritius |accessdate=2016-03-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090602111905/http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Mauritius.htm |archivedate= 2 June 2009 }}</ref> [[Trinidad and Tobago]] (1916<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29516|page=3065|date=21 March 1916}}</ref>&ndash;1921) and [[Southern Rhodesia]] (1923&ndash;1928). He also served as Principal Assistant Secretary to the [[Committee of Imperial Defence]] From 1922 to 1923.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32598|page=978|date=3 February 1922}}</ref>
⚫
==High Commissioner==
⚫
In 1928, he became [[High Commissioner]] of the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate of Palestine]], where he was perceived as being cool to [[Zionism]] and the [[Jewish people]].<ref> {{cite book | author=Anita Shapira | title=Israel: A History | publisher=Brandeis University Press| year=2012 | page=79| isbn=9781611683523}}</ref> Though he admired some Zionist leaders, in particular [[Pinchas Rutenberg]], in general Chancellor's attitude towards Jews was negative.<ref name=Friesel/> He wrote to his son that "truly the Jews are an ungrateful race".<ref name=Friesel>{{cite journal | author = Evyatar Friesel | title = Through a Peculiar Lens: Zionism and Palestine in British Diaries, 1927-31 | journal = Middle Eastern Studies | year = 1993 | volume = 29 | issue = 3 | pages = 419–44 | doi=10.1080/00263209308700959}}</ref> His attitude towards Arabs was politically supportive but paternalistic; he wrote to his son "they are like children, and very difficult to help".<ref name=Friesel/>


⚫
In 1898 he was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Order]] (DSO).<ref name=DSOGazette /> In 1909 he was appointed a [[Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George]].<ref name=CMGGazette /> He was knighted in the 1913 [[King's Birthday Honours]] when he was made a [[Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]] (KCMG).<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28724|page=3905|date=30 May 1913}}</ref> In the [[1922 Dissolution Honours List]] he was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG).<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32766|supp=y|page=8017|date=10 November 1922}}</ref> He was appointed a Knight of Justice in the [[Venerable Order of Saint John]] on 19 December 1928.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33453|page=49|date=1 January 1929}}</ref>
⚫
While he was in London in 1929, Arab riots protesting Jewish immigration broke out. On his return, he initially condemned Arab attacks but was subsequently less critical. He helped write the Lord Passfield's [[Passfield white paper|White Paper]] of 1930, which aimed to reinterpret the [[Balfour Declaration of 1917|Balfour Declaration]] in order to back away from a commitment to the creation of a Jewish state. He left Palestine in 1931.


⚫
==High Commissioner of Palestine==
⚫
In 1931, [[Jerusalem]]'s [[Straus Street]] was renamed Chancellor Avenue in his honour. The street reverted to its original name after the [[1948 Arab-Israeli War]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wherewhatwhen.com/archive/2011/10/impressions-of-visit-israel/ |title=Pizza, Shnitzel and the Fog of War: Some Impressions of a Recent Visit to Israel |first=D. |last=Katz |date=1 October 2011 |accessdate=31 January 2012 |publisher=wherewhatwhen.com |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.is/20130209070421/http://www.wherewhatwhen.com/archive/2011/10/impressions-of-visit-israel/ |archivedate=9 February 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/ArtsAndCulture/Books/Article.aspx?id=1612 |title=The Life and Death of Jaffa Road |last=Ronnen |first=Meir |work=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |accessdate=31 January 2012}}</ref>
[[File:John Chancellor British High Commissioner 1931.jpg|thumb|Chancellor in Palestine, 1931.]]
[[File:ירושלים - קבלת פני הנציב החדש צ'נסלור-JNF035711.jpeg|thumb|Chancellor installed as High Commissioner, 6 December 1928.]]
[[File:ראשון לציון - ביקור צ'נסלור-JNF044372.jpeg|thumb|High Commissioner Chancellor visiting [[Rishon Lezion]], 1931.]]
⚫
In 1928, he became [[High Commissioner]] of the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate of Palestine]], where he was perceived as being cool to [[Zionism]] and the [[Jewish people]].<ref>{{cite book | author=Anita Shapira | title=Israel: A History | publisher=Brandeis University Press| year=2012 | page=79| isbn=9781611683523}}</ref> Though he admired some Zionist leaders, in particular [[Pinhas Rutenberg]], in general Chancellor's attitude towards Jews was negative.<ref name=Friesel/> He wrote to his son that "truly the Jews are an ungrateful race".<ref name=Friesel>{{cite journal | author = Evyatar Friesel | title = Through a Peculiar Lens: Zionism and Palestine in British Diaries, 1927-31 | journal = Middle Eastern Studies | year = 1993 | volume = 29 | issue = 3 | pages = 419–44 | doi=10.1080/00263209308700959}}</ref> His attitude towards Arabs was politically supportive but paternalistic; he wrote to his son: "they are like children, and very difficult to help".<ref name=Friesel/>

⚫
While he was in London in 1929, [[1929 Palestine riots|riots]] broke out in Jerusalem stemming from Muslims protesting Jews' use of the [[Western Wall]]. On his return, he initially condemned Arab attacks but was subsequently less critical. He helped write Lord Passfield's [[Passfield white paper|White Paper]] of 1930, which aimed to reinterpret the [[Balfour Declaration]]. He left Palestine in 1931.

⚫
In 1931, [[Jerusalem]]'s [[Straus Street]] was renamed Chancellor Avenue in his honour. The street reverted to its original name after the [[1948 Arab-Israeli War]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wherewhatwhen.com/archive/2011/10/impressions-of-visit-israel/ |title=Pizza, Shnitzel and the Fog of War: Some Impressions of a Recent Visit to Israel |first=D. |last=Katz |date=1 October 2011 |accessdate=31 January 2012 |publisher=wherewhatwhen.com |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130209070421/http://www.wherewhatwhen.com/archive/2011/10/impressions-of-visit-israel/ |archivedate=9 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/ArtsAndCulture/Books/Article.aspx?id=1612 |title=The Life and Death of Jaffa Road |last=Ronnen |first=Meir |work=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |date=14 May 2010 |accessdate=31 January 2012}}</ref>


In 1937 he was appointed chairman of the [[Livestock Commission]], which was set up following the passing of the [[Livestock Industry Act, 1937]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34420|page=4743|date=23 July 1937}}</ref> In the 1947 King's Birthday Honours he was created a [[Order of the British Empire|Knight Grand Cross in the Civil Division of the Order of the British Empire]] (GBE) for services to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37977|supp=y|page=2582|date=6 June 1947}}</ref>
In 1937 he was appointed chairman of the [[Livestock Commission]], which was set up following the passing of the [[Livestock Industry Act, 1937]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34420|page=4743|date=23 July 1937}}</ref> In the 1947 King's Birthday Honours he was created a [[Order of the British Empire|Knight Grand Cross in the Civil Division of the Order of the British Empire]] (GBE) for services to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37977|supp=y|page=2582|date=6 June 1947}}</ref>


== Family ==
== Family ==
In 1903, Chancellor married Mary Elizabeth Howard (1881–1976), daughter of George Rodie Thompson, [[Deputy lieutenant|DL]], [[Magistrate (England and Wales)|JP]], of Lynwood, [[Ascot, Berkshire]].<ref>Burke's Landed Gentry, eighteenth edition, vol. I, ed. Peter Townend, 1965, p. 130</ref> They had two children: a son, Christopher John Howard Chancellor (1904–1989), who married Sylvia Mary Paget in 1926; and a daughter, Elizabeth Rosemary Alice Chancellor (1906–1971), known as Rosemary, who married Air Chief Marshall [[William Elliot (RAF officer)|William Elliot]] in 1931. Christopher and Sylvia had two children: John Paget Chancellor and [[Alexander Chancellor]]; Rosemary and William also had two children: Louise Elliot (Halsey) and Simon Elliot.
In 1903, Chancellor married Mary Elizabeth Howard (1881–1976), daughter of George Rodie Thompson, [[Deputy lieutenant|DL]], [[Magistrate (England and Wales)|JP]], of Lynwood, [[Ascot, Berkshire]].<ref name="autogenerated130"/> They had three children: [[Christopher Chancellor|Christopher John Howard Chancellor]] (1904–1989), who married Sylvia Mary Paget in 1926; Robert Duff (Robin) Chancellor (1921-2010); and a daughter, Elizabeth Rosemary Alice Chancellor (1906–1971), known as Rosemary, who married Air Chief Marshall [[William Elliot (RAF officer)|William Elliot]] in 1931. Christopher and Sylvia had four children: John Paget Chancellor, Teresa Chancellor (Married Peter Gatacre then John Wells), Susanna Maria Chancellor (married Nicholas Johnston) and [[Alexander Chancellor]]; Rosemary and William also had two children: Louise Elliot (Halsey) and Simon Elliot.


== Legacy ==
== Legacy ==
Line 70: Line 76:


==External links==
==External links==

{{Commons category|John Chancellor (colonial administrator)}}
{{Commons category|John Chancellor (colonial administrator)}}
⚫
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090602111905/http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Mauritius.htm World Statesmen - Mauritius]

⚫
*[https://www.webcitation.org/5hOqWZAh1?url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Mauritius.htm World Statesmen - Mauritius]
*[http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Israel.htm World Statesmen - Israel]
*[http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Israel.htm World Statesmen - Israel]
⚫
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2012}}{{Use British English|date=October 2010}}


{{S-start}}
{{S-start}}
Line 81: Line 84:
{{succession box|
{{succession box|
before=[[Cavendish Boyle|Sir Cavendish Boyle]]|
before=[[Cavendish Boyle|Sir Cavendish Boyle]]|
title=[[Governor of Mauritius]]|
title=[[Governor of British Mauritius|Governor of Mauritius]]|
years=1911&ndash;1916|
years=1911&ndash;1916|
after=[[Henry Hesketh Joudou Bell|Sir Henry Hesketh Joudou Bell]]
after=[[Henry Hesketh Joudou Bell|Sir Henry Hesketh Joudou Bell]]
Line 103: Line 106:
after=Sir [[Mark Aitchison Young]] (acting)
after=Sir [[Mark Aitchison Young]] (acting)
}}
}}
{{S-end}}{{British High Commissioners of Palestine}}{{Authority control}}
{{S-end}}

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Chancellor, John}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chancellor, John}}
[[Category:1870 births]]
[[Category:1870 births]]
[[Category:1952 deaths]]
[[Category:1952 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Royal Engineers officers]]
[[Category:Royal Engineers officers]]
[[Category:Anti-Zionism in Mandatory Palestine]]
[[Category:Anti-Zionism in Mandatory Palestine]]
[[Category:Colonial Administrative Service officers]]
[[Category:Colonial Administrative Service officers]]
[[Category:Mandatory Palestine]]
[[Category:British people in Mandatory Palestine]]
[[Category:British High Commissioners of Palestine]]
[[Category:British High Commissioners of Palestine]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
Line 123: Line 124:
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Civil servants from Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Chancellor family|J]]
[[Category:19th-century British Army personnel]]
[[Category:20th-century British Army personnel]]

Latest revision as of 17:26, 15 December 2024

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir

John Chancellor

GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO
John Chancellor in 1931
Born(1870-10-20)20 October 1870
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Died31 July 1952(1952-07-31) (aged 81)
Shieldhill Castle, Lanarkshire, United Kingdom
AllegianceBritish
Service / branchBritish Army
RankLieutenant Colonel
UnitCorps of Royal Engineers
AwardsDistinguished Service Order, Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, GBE
Other workColonial Administrator

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir John Robert Chancellor GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO (20 October 1870 – 31 July 1952)[1] was a British soldier and colonial administrator.

Biography

[edit]

Chancellor was the younger son of Edward Chancellor, of Woodhall House, Juniper Green, Midlothian, and Anne Helen Tod (d. 1932), daughter of John Robert Tod, WS. The Chancellor family had held the lands of Shieldhill, Quothquan from 1432.[2]

He attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and after graduation was commissioned into the British Army's Corps of Royal Engineers as a second lieutenant on 25 July 1890.[3] Promoted to lieutenant on 25 July 1893,[4] he took part in the 1896 Dongola Expedition under Sir Herbert Kitchener, and served in the 1897–98 Tirah campaign on the North West Frontier of British India as part of the Sirmoor Imperial Service Snappers.[5] For his service in India he was mentioned in despatches, received the India Medal, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1898.[6] He was promoted to captain on 20 May 1901,[7] and later served as Secretary of the Colonial Defence Committee.[8]

After a career in the Royal Engineers he became a colonial administrator serving as the 20th Governor of Mauritius from 13 September 1911[9] to 28 January 1916,[10] Trinidad and Tobago (1916[11]–1921) and Southern Rhodesia (1923–1928). He also served as Principal Assistant Secretary to the Committee of Imperial Defence From 1922 to 1923.[12]

In 1898 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).[6] In 1909 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George.[8] He was knighted in the 1913 King's Birthday Honours when he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG).[13] In the 1922 Dissolution Honours List he was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG).[14] He was appointed a Knight of Justice in the Venerable Order of Saint John on 19 December 1928.[15]

High Commissioner of Palestine

[edit]
Chancellor in Palestine, 1931.
Chancellor installed as High Commissioner, 6 December 1928.
High Commissioner Chancellor visiting Rishon Lezion, 1931.

In 1928, he became High Commissioner of the British Mandate of Palestine, where he was perceived as being cool to Zionism and the Jewish people.[16] Though he admired some Zionist leaders, in particular Pinhas Rutenberg, in general Chancellor's attitude towards Jews was negative.[17] He wrote to his son that "truly the Jews are an ungrateful race".[17] His attitude towards Arabs was politically supportive but paternalistic; he wrote to his son: "they are like children, and very difficult to help".[17]

While he was in London in 1929, riots broke out in Jerusalem stemming from Muslims protesting Jews' use of the Western Wall. On his return, he initially condemned Arab attacks but was subsequently less critical. He helped write Lord Passfield's White Paper of 1930, which aimed to reinterpret the Balfour Declaration. He left Palestine in 1931.

In 1931, Jerusalem's Straus Street was renamed Chancellor Avenue in his honour. The street reverted to its original name after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.[18][19]

In 1937 he was appointed chairman of the Livestock Commission, which was set up following the passing of the Livestock Industry Act, 1937.[20] In the 1947 King's Birthday Honours he was created a Knight Grand Cross in the Civil Division of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) for services to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.[21]

Family

[edit]

In 1903, Chancellor married Mary Elizabeth Howard (1881–1976), daughter of George Rodie Thompson, DL, JP, of Lynwood, Ascot, Berkshire.[2] They had three children: Christopher John Howard Chancellor (1904–1989), who married Sylvia Mary Paget in 1926; Robert Duff (Robin) Chancellor (1921-2010); and a daughter, Elizabeth Rosemary Alice Chancellor (1906–1971), known as Rosemary, who married Air Chief Marshall William Elliot in 1931. Christopher and Sylvia had four children: John Paget Chancellor, Teresa Chancellor (Married Peter Gatacre then John Wells), Susanna Maria Chancellor (married Nicholas Johnston) and Alexander Chancellor; Rosemary and William also had two children: Louise Elliot (Halsey) and Simon Elliot.

Legacy

[edit]

Chancellor Avenue in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, now Harare, Zimbabwe, was named after him and still bears his name.[22] However, his grandson, Alexander Chancellor, suggested that it be changed on account of it now being the street on which Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe lived.[23]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Profile of Sir John Robert Chancellor
  2. ^ a b Burke's Landed Gentry, eighteenth edition, vol. I, ed. Peter Townend, 1965, p. 130
  3. ^ "No. 26076". The London Gazette. 5 August 1890. p. 4283.
  4. ^ "No. 26428". The London Gazette. 1 August 1893. p. 4356.
  5. ^ Hart′s Army list, 1903
  6. ^ a b "No. 26968". The London Gazette. 20 May 1898. p. 3166.
  7. ^ "No. 27501". The London Gazette. 5 December 1902. p. 8440.
  8. ^ a b "No. 28305". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 November 1909. p. 8240.
  9. ^ "No. 28517". The London Gazette. 28 July 1911. p. 5632.
  10. ^ "Mauritius". Archived from the original on 2 June 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  11. ^ "No. 29516". The London Gazette. 21 March 1916. p. 3065.
  12. ^ "No. 32598". The London Gazette. 3 February 1922. p. 978.
  13. ^ "No. 28724". The London Gazette. 30 May 1913. p. 3905.
  14. ^ "No. 32766". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 November 1922. p. 8017.
  15. ^ "No. 33453". The London Gazette. 1 January 1929. p. 49.
  16. ^ Anita Shapira (2012). Israel: A History. Brandeis University Press. p. 79. ISBN 9781611683523.
  17. ^ a b c Evyatar Friesel (1993). "Through a Peculiar Lens: Zionism and Palestine in British Diaries, 1927-31". Middle Eastern Studies. 29 (3): 419–44. doi:10.1080/00263209308700959.
  18. ^ Katz, D. (1 October 2011). "Pizza, Shnitzel and the Fog of War: Some Impressions of a Recent Visit to Israel". wherewhatwhen.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  19. ^ Ronnen, Meir (14 May 2010). "The Life and Death of Jaffa Road". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  20. ^ "No. 34420". The London Gazette. 23 July 1937. p. 4743.
  21. ^ "No. 37977". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 June 1947. p. 2582.
  22. ^ Notebook, The Spectator, 30 September 1983, page 5
  23. ^ Despite Mugabe's hatred of British colonialism, the road he lives in is still named after my grandfather, The Guardian, 27 June 2008
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Chancellor (colonial administrator).
Government offices
Preceded by Governor of Mauritius
1911–1916 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Governor of Trinidad and Tobago
1916–1921 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Percy Donald Leslie Flynn (acting administrator)
 Governor of Southern Rhodesia
1923–1928 		Succeeded by
Murray Bisset (acting)
Preceded by High Commissioner of Palestine
1928–1931 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=John_Chancellor_(colonial_administrator)&oldid=1263262299"