Studying Singapore's Past: C.M. Turnbull and the History of Modern Singapore

Chapter 8: A Colonial Progress: Franklin Gimson in Ceylon, Hong Kong and Singapore

A Colonial Progress 171 8 ~ A Colonial Progress: Franklin Gimson in Ceylon, Hong Kong and Singapore A.J. Stockwell MARY TURNBULL WAS THE IDEAL SCHOLAR TO write the life of Franklin Gimson and at the time of her death she was about to embark on it for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. I was subsequently invited to take on the assignment. This chapter, which is a greatly expanded version of the Oxford DNB entry, is written in Mary’s memory. ✻ ✻ ✻ FRANKLIN GIMSON WAS A PRIVATE MAN DEDICATED to public service in Britain’s eastern colonies. He was not a flyer to be fast-tracked to promotion , but a typical recruit to the Ceylon Civil Service where he remained for 27 years making steady, if unspectacular, progress. At the age of 51 and approaching retirement, he was transferred from Ceylon to be colonial secretary of Hong Kong only to be imprisoned in a Japanese internment camp. When, on the restoration of British rule in East and Southeast Asia, he was appointed governor of Singapore, his scope was curtailed by the daunting tasks of post-war rehabilitation, the paucity of resources at his disposal and the control which London now exerted over colonial governors. At first sight, Gimson’s record and legacy may not appear especially noteworthy. His career repays inspection, however, for two principal 171 172 A.J. Stockwell reasons. First of all, it illustrates the links between British rule in three territories, which for years the Colonial Office had grouped together in the so-called Eastern Cadetship. It identifies their differences and similarities , and it indicates how an administrator’s experience in one of them shaped his approach to the others. Second, closer examination of his life reveals Gimson to have been representative of a generation of progressive officials who emerged in the 1930s and were promoted in the 1940s in order to implement a “new colonialism”. During the interwar period, Ceylon was the most politically dynamic and constitutionally advanced of the three eastern colonies. Here, Gimson acquired the skill of administering through representative institutions. In addition, his approach to labour relations won him the reputation of a moderniser. He was then sent to Hong Kong specifically to introduce long-overdue constitutional and social reforms, and, although these were frustrated by war, he left his mark on the colony’s history in other ways, notably the pivotal role he played in the restoration of British sovereignty. Finally, as Singapore’s first post-war governor, he initiated schemes of social welfare and constitutional change, and, although their implementation suffered from administrative inefficiency, Gimson’s commitment to local self-government never wavered. Early Life, 1890–19141 Franklin Charles Gimson was born on 10 September 1890 in the Leicestershire village of Barrow-upon-Soar. He was the son of the Reverend Charles Keightley Gimson and his wife Mary Ann Rebecca (formerly Dyson). The Gimsons had their roots in Leicestershire. In the 1840s, one branch, led by Josiah and his brother Benjamin, had set up an iron foundry and engineering firm which became one of the largest employers in the town of Leicester. Brought up a Baptist, Josiah later became a major figure in the Leicester Secular Society. He was also a town councillor. Ernest, one of Josiah’s 11 children, would be a prominent architectdesigner in the Arts and Crafts movement instigated by William Morris. So far as we can tell, however, the Reverend Charles Keightley was not closely related to Josiah; unlike Josiah, Charles was an Anglican, not a lapsed non-conformist, and his family appears to have had no business inclinations. At any rate, the Reverend Gimson was not listed among the mourners at Josiah’s funeral in September 1883.2 At the time of Franklin’s birth, his father was headmaster of Barrow Grammar School. He later moved to the curacy of Holy Trinity Church, Cheltenham and A Colonial Progress 173 then to Bradden in Northamptonshire where he served as rector. The Reverend Gimson died in Bradden on 16 November 1939 at the age of 79, his wife having predeceased him. Franklin, who became known to his friends as Jimmy, had one brother, Frederick, and four sisters, Dora, Kathleen, Edna and Betty.3 Franklin Gimson was brought up in the Anglican tradition and would remain an unostentatious but devout Christian. He was educated at Cheltenham Grammar School and in 1908 won a...