William Manning (colonial administrator)

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

Brigadier-General Sir William Henry Manning GCMG KBE CB
Captain. W. H. Manning (photo taken from 'British Central Africa' by Sir Harry Johnston 1897)
23rd Governor of British Ceylon
In office 10 September 1918 – 1 April 1925
Monarch	George V
Preceded by	Reginald Edward Stubbs (Acting governor)
Succeeded by	Cecil Clementi (Acting governor)
Commissioner of British Somaliland
In office February 1910 – November 1910
Preceded by	Harry Edward Spiller Cordeaux
Succeeded by	Horace Byatt
Governor of Nyasaland (acting)
In office 6 February 1911 – 23 September 1913
Preceded by	Henry Richard Wallis (acting)
Succeeded by	George Smith
Governor of Jamaica
In office 7 March 1913 – 11 May 1918
Monarch	Edward VII
Preceded by	Philip Clark Cork
Succeeded by	Robert Johnstone
Personal details
Born	19 July 1863
Died	1 January 1932 (aged 68)
Citizenship	British

Manning was educated at the University of Cambridge as a non-collegiate student[1] and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and was commissioned a Lieutenant in the South Wales Borderers in 1886.[2] In 1888 he transferred to the Indian Army,[3] and served in the 51st Sikhs. He was wounded in the Second Burmese War 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.

In 1897 he was appointed Deputy Commissioner and Consul-General for British Central Africa and commander of its Armed Forces with the local rank of Lieutenant-Colonel,[4] 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[5] and Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel in 1899.[6]

Manning raised and commanded the Central Africa Regiment and was the first Inspector-General of the King's African Rifles from 1901 to 1907, with the local rank of Brigadier-General (although his substantive rank was still Captain).[7] During Spring 1902 he undertook an official tour through Uganda and the East African Protectorate, returning to England in June that year.[8] He undertook a second tour of inspecting garrisons in Somaliland, British Central Africa Protectorate, British East Africa and Uganda from October 1902 until June 1903.[9] From December 1902[10] to 1903 he also commanded the Somaliland Field Force and from 1903 to 1904 he commanded its 1st Brigade. In April 1903 he defeated 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[11] and Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1904.[12] In February 1904 he was promoted Brevet Colonel[13] and in August 1904 he was finally promoted to the substantive rank of Major.[14]

In February 1910 Manning was appointed Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief of the Somaliland Protectorate[15] and in November 1910 Governor and C-in-C of the Nyasaland Protectorate,[16] where the border post Fort Manning (today Mchinji, Malawi) was named after him. He retired from the Indian Army in December 1910.[17]

In February 1913 he became Governor of Jamaica[18] and was granted the perpetual honorary rank of Brigadier-General,[19] which he had held for most of his service since 1901. In September 1918 he was appointed Governor of Ceylon. 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 (GCMG) in the 1921 New Year Honours.[20] He retired in 1925.

The Manning Cup school football competition in Jamaica was named after him.

References

• Obituary, The Times, 4 January 1932

Footnotes

1. "Manning, William Henry (MNN883WH)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
2. "No. 25619". The London Gazette. 24 August 1886. p. 4131.
3. "No. 25864". The London Gazette. 9 October 1888. p. 5544.
4. "No. 26897". The London Gazette. 5 October 1897. p. 5444.
5. "No. 27045". The London Gazette. 24 January 1899. p. 463.
6. "No. 27122". The London Gazette. 3 October 1899. p. 6005.
7. "No. 27376". The London Gazette. 12 November 1901. p. 7294.
8. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36797). London. 18 June 1902. p. 14.
9. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36893). London. 8 October 1902. p. 4.
10. "No. 27531". The London Gazette. 3 March 1903. p. 1418.
11. "No. 27584". The London Gazette. 7 August 1903. p. 4982.
12. "No. 27711". The London Gazette. 6 September 1904. p. 5776.
13. "No. 27743". The London Gazette. 13 December 1904. p. 8561.
14. "No. 27742". The London Gazette. 9 December 1904. p. 8455.
15. "No. 28342". The London Gazette. 22 February 1910. p. 1326.
16. "No. 28436". The London Gazette. 11 November 1910. p. 8073.
17. "No. 28454". The London Gazette. 6 January 1911. p. 133.
18. "No. 28691". The London Gazette. 18 February 1913. p. 1238.
19. "No. 28687". The London Gazette. 4 February 1913. p. 846.
20. "No. 32178". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1921. p. 5.