List of Chief Secretaries of Singapore

Resident Councillors of Singapore

The Resident Councillor of Singapore was a high ranking government civil position in colonial Singapore during the Straits Settlements era. It was second only to the Governor of the Straits Settlements in the colonial government.

The position of Resident Councillor of Singapore was replaced by Colonial Secretary of Straits Settlements and Colonel Ronald MacPherson assumed the new post.

British Straits Settlements
№	Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of Office		Origin	Background or Previous Appointment	Governor (From–To)
			Took Office	Left Office
1		John Prince (1772-1848)	15 August 1826	18 November 1827	—	—	Robert Fullerton (1826-1830)
2		Kenneth Murchison (1794–1854)	29 November 1827	6 December 1833	Scotland	Employee at East India Company
							Robert Ibbetson (1830-1833)
3		Sir Samuel George Bonham (1803–1863)	7 December 1833	18 November 1836	Kent, England	Employee at East India Company	Kenneth Murchison (1833-1836)
4		Thomas Church (1798–1860)	4 March 1837	20 September 1856	Somerset, England	Assistant Resident of Pinang	Samuel George Bonham (1836-1843)
							William John Butterworth (1843-1855)
							Edmund Augustus Blundell (1855-1859)
5		Henry Somerset MacKenzie (1826–1904) [1][2]	22 September 1856	13 July 1859 [3]	—	—
							William Orfeur Cavenagh (1859-1867)
1 November 1858: East India Company and Board of Control replaced by India Office and Council of India in the Government of India Act 1858.
—		Colonel Ronald MacPherson (1817–1869)	10 March 1859 — 7 October 1859 As acting Resident Councillor		Island of Skye, Scotland	Resident Councillor of Malacca
6			8 October 1860	31 March 1867

Colonial Secretaries of the Straits Settlements (1867–1942)

Chief Secretary, Singapore
Style	The Honourable
Residence	Sri Temasek (1869–1959)
Seat	Government House
Appointer	Governor of the Straits Settlements (1867-1946) Governor of Singapore (1946-1959)
Term length	No fixed term
Precursor	Colonial Secretary of Straits Settlements Colonial Secretary of Singapore
Formation	1867
First holder	Colonel Ronald MacPherson
Final holder	E. B. David
Abolished	1959

The Chief Secretary, Singapore, known as the Colonial Secretary, Singapore, before 1955, and the Colonial Secretary, Straits Settlements, before 1946, was a high ranking government civil position in colonial Singapore (the Straits Settlements before 1946) between 1867 and 1959. It was second only to the Governor of Singapore (formerly the Governor of the Straits Settlements) in the colonial government.

British Straits Settlements
№	Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of Office		Origin	Background or Previous Appointment	Governor (From–To)
			Took Office	Left Office
1 April 1867: Control passed from Bengal to the Colonial Office in London and the Straits Settlements became a Crown colony.
Colonial Secretary of the Straits Settlements
1		Colonel Ronald MacPherson (1817–1869)	1 April 1867	6 December 1869 (Died in office)	Island of Skye, Scotland	Resident Councillor of Singapore	Sir Harry St. George Ord (1867-1871)
—		E W Shaw Acting[4]	7 December 1869	5 June 1870	—	Colonial administrator
2		James Wheeler Woodford Birch (1826–1875)	6 June 1870	4 November 1874	—	Colonial administrator
							Edward Anson (1871-1872) 1st time Acting
							Sir Harry St. George Ord (1872-1873)
							Edward Anson (1873) 2nd time Acting
							Sir Andrew Clarke (1873-1875)
—		Thomas Braddell (1823–1891) Acting	4 November 1874	17 February 1876	County Wicklow, Ireland	Attorney-General of Singapore
		William Willans (d. 1905)[5] Acting			—	Colonial Treasurer of Straits Settlements
							Sir William Jervois (1875-1877)
		Charles John Irving (1831–1917) Acting			London, England	Auditor-General of Straits Settlements
3		Sir John Douglas (1836–1885)	17 February 1876	17 August 1878	Limerick, Ireland	Accountant General and Controller of Revenue
							Edward Anson (1877) 3rd time Acting
							Sir William Cleaver Francis Robinson (1877-1879)
4		Sir Cecil Clementi Smith (1840–1916)	3 September 1878	17 November 1885	London, England	Colonial Treasurer of Hong Kong
							Edward Anson (1879-1880) 4th time Acting
							Sir Frederick Weld (1880-1887)
5		Sir John Frederick Dickson (1835–1891)	17 November 1885 [6]	31 August 1891 [7][8]	—	Colonial administrator
							Sir Cecil Clementi Smith (1887-1893)
—		Arthur Philip Talbot (b. 18?? – d. 19 December 1898)[9] Acting	31 August 1891 [7][8]	9 March 1892 [10]	—	Colonial administrator
6		William Edward Maxwell (1846–1897)	9 March 1892 [10]	11 February 1895	—	British Resident of Selangor
							William Edward Maxwell (1893-1894) Acting
							Sir Charles Mitchell (1894-1899)
7		James Alexander Swettenham (1846–1933)	11 February 1895	7 December 1899	Derbyshire, England	Accountant General and Controller of Revenue
—		Sir Walter Egerton (c. 1858–1947) Acting	7 December 1899	5 July 1901	—	Colonial administrator	James Alexander Swettenham (1899-1901) Acting
		Charles Walter Sneyd Kynnersley (b. 25 September 1849 - d. 11 July 1904)[11][12] Acting[13]			—	Colonial administrator
8		Sir William Thomas Taylor (1848–1931)	5 July 1901	31 December 1904	—	Accountant General and Controller of Revenue	Sir Frank Swettenham (1901-1904)
							Sir John Anderson (1904-1911)
9		Frederick George Penney (c. 1856–1928)	1 January 1905	13 April 1905	—	Resident Councillor of Malacca
—		Edward Lewis Brockman (1865–1943) Acting	13 April 1905	29 June 1906	—	Assistant Colonial Secretary of Straits Settlements
10		Sir Arthur Young (1854–1938)	29 June 1906	31 January 1911 [14]	—	Colonial administrator Navy officer
11		Edward Lewis Brockman (1865–1943)	1 February 1911 [14]	4 September 1911 [15]	—	Resident of Pahang
12		Richard James Wilkinson (1867–1941)	4 September 1911 [15][16]	February 1916	Salonika, Greece	British Resident at Negeri Sembilan	Sir Arthur Young (1911-1920)
—		William George Maxwell (1871–1959) Acting	February 1916 [17]	April 1916	Malacca, Straits Settlements	British Adviser for Kedah
13		Sir Frederick Seton James (1870–1934)	April 1916	19 March 1924	UK	Colonial administrator
							Sir Laurence Guillemard (1920-1927)
—		George Hemmant (1880–1964) Acting 1st time Acting	19 March 1924	2 April 1924	—	Colonial administrator
14		Edward Shaw Hose (1871–1946)	2 April 1924	21 November 1925	Surrey, England	British Resident of Negri Sembilan
15		Sir Hayes Marriott (1873–1929)	21 November 1925	16 December 1928	—	General Adviser to Johore
							Sir Hugh Clifford (1927-1929)
—		George Hemmant (1880–1964) 2nd time Acting	16 December 1928	12 February 1929	—	Colonial administrator
16		Sir John Scott (1878–1946)	12 February 1929	23 May 1933	—	Chief Secretary of Tanganyika Territory
							Sir John Scott (1929-1930) Acting
							Sir Cecil Clementi (1930-1934)
17		Sir Andrew Caldecott (1884–1951)	23 May 1933	7 December 1935	Kent, England	Chief Secretary of Federated Malaya States (FMS)
							Sir Shenton Thomas (1934-1942) & (1945-1946)
18		Sir Alexander Sym Small (1887–1944)	7 December 1935	19 January 1940	North Lanarkshire, Scotland	Treasurer of Straits Settlements
19		Stanley Wilson Jones (1888–1962)	19 January 1940	27 January 1942	—	British Resident of Selangor
—		Hugh Fraser (1891–1944) Acting	27 January 1942	15 February 1942	—	Colonial administrator
Japanese occupation of Singapore From 15 February 1942 to 12 September 1945.
British Military Administration of the Straits Settlements From 12 September 1945 to 31 March 1946.
Singapore became a separate Crown Colony From 1 April 1946.
Colonial Secretary of Singapore
20		Sir Patrick Alexander Bruce McKerron (1896–1964)	1 April 1946	29 April 1950	Aberdeen, Scotland	Deputy Chief Civil Affairs Officer	Sir Franklin Charles Gimson (1946-1952)
—		J D M Smith Acting	29 April 1950 [18]	30 June 1950 [19][20]	—	Colonial administrator
		Wilfred Lawson Blythe (1896–1975)	30 June 1950	30 July 1953	—	Colonial administrator
21
							Wilfred Lawson Blythe (1952) Acting
							Sir John Fearns Nicoll (1952-1955)
22		William Allmond Codrington Goode (1907–1986)	30 July 1953	February 1955	Middlesex, England	Colonial administrator
Chief Secretary of Singapore
22		William Allmond Codrington Goode (1907–1986)	February 1955	1957	Middlesex, England	Colonial Secretary of Singapore	William Goode (1955) Acting
							Sir Robert Brown Black (1955-1957)
							William Goode (1957-1959)
23		Edgeworth Beresford David (1908–1965)	1958	2 June 1959	London, England	Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong
Singapore is granted self-governance in 1959 within the British Empire
Singapore merges with the Federation of Malaya on 16 September 1963 to form Malaysia
Singapore declares independence from Malaysia on 9 August 1965

References

1. "Untitled". The Straits Times. 12 March 1859. p. 2.
2. Corfield, Justin (2 December 2010). Historical Dictionary of Singapore. Scarecrow Press. p. 195. ISBN 9780810873872.
3. "The Overland Singapore Free Press". Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser. 14 July 1859. p. 5.
4. "Straits Settlement Government Gazette".
5. "Legislative Council". The Straits Times. 8 May 1875. p. 2.
6. "Death of Sir Frederick Dickson". The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (Weekly). 29 December 1891. p. 1.
7. "Departure of Sir Frederick Dickson". The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (Weekly). 1 September 1891. p. 6.
8. "Gazette Notifications". The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (Weekly). 1 September 1891. p. 10.
9. "Special Telegram". The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser. 14 January 1899. p. 2.
10. "Local and General". Straits Times Weekly Issue. 15 March 1892. p. 2.
11. "Death of Mr C. W. S. Kynnersley, C.M.G." The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (Weekly). 21 July 1904. p. 37.
12. "Kynnersley, Charles Walter Sneyd-, (1849–11 July 1904), Resident Councillor at Penang, Straits Settlements, from 1897". ukwhoswho. 1 December 2007.
13. "Gazette Notifications". The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (Weekly). 14 December 1899. p. 7.
14. "The Governor's Trip". The Straits Times. 31 January 1911. p. 7.
15. "Mr. and Mrs. Brockman". The Straits Times. 5 September 1911. p. 7.
16. "No. 28527". The London Gazette. 1 September 1911. p. 6453.
17. "Legislative Council Changes". The Straits Times. 11 February 1916. p. 8.
18. "Mr. J.D.M. Smith". Malaya Tribune. 2 May 1950. p. 5.
19. "Mr. Blythe Back For New Post". The Straits Times. 30 June 1950. p. 7.
20. "Leaves Tomorrow". The Straits Times. 1 July 1950. p. 7.

External links

• WorldStatesmen - Singapore
• Historical Dictionary of Singapore (Justin Corfield) ISBN 9780810873872
• Past and present leaders of Singapore