Arthur Grimble

Arthur Grimble
Resident Commissioner of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands
In office Apr 1919 (then replaced by Herbert Reginald McClure from Feb 1922 to Jan 1925 – Dec 1933
Preceded by	Edward Carlyon Eliot
Succeeded by	Jack Barley
Personal details
Born	11 June 1888 Hong Kong, British Colony
Died	13 December 1956 London
Nationality	British
Alma mater	University of Cambridge
Occupation	Colonial Service

Sir Arthur Francis Grimble, KCMG (Hong Kong, 11 June 1888 – London, 13 December 1956) was a British civil servant and writer.

Biography

Grimble was educated at Chigwell School and Magdalene College, Cambridge. He then went to France and Germany for postgraduate studies. After joining the Colonial Office in 1914 he became the very first cadet administrative officer in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, of which he later became Resident Commissioner in 1926. He is the best known of all the Resident Commmissioners and the progenitor of many's impressions of those islands, through his 1950s radio broadcast on BBC and his bestseller book, A Pattern of Islands. He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) on 1 January 1930. He learned the Gilbertese language and became a specialist in the myths and oral traditions of the Kiribati people. He remained in the islands until 1933, after which he served as Governor of the Seychelles (1936–1942) and then of the Windward Islands (1942–1948).

Literary career

After retiring and moving to Britain in 1948 Grimble became a writer and broadcaster. He wrote A Pattern of Islands (London, John Murray 1952, published in the United States as We Chose the Islands) and Return to the Islands (1957), both of which were bestsellers. Pacific Destiny, a film based on his experiences, was released in 1956. Grimble's scholarly work on Gilbertese culture is covered in Henry Evans Maude's book Tungaru Traditions: Writings on the Atoll Culture of the Gilbert Islands (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1989, ISBN 0-8248-1217-4).

Coat of arms of Kiribati

He is credited with designing in 1932 the coat of arms for the Gilbert and Ellice Islands British colony, which was adapted in 1979 to become the current flag of Kiribati.