Anthony Abell

Sir Anthony Foster Abell KCMG (11 December 1906 – 8 October 1994) was a British colonial official who was Governor of Sarawak and High Commissioner to Brunei.^[1]

Career

Abell (brother of George Abell, who became a civil servant) was educated at Repton School and Magdalen College, Oxford, though he failed to get a degree.^[2] He joined the then Colonial Administrative Service in 1929 and was posted to Nigeria. In 1942 he took part in Operation Postmaster, a successful raid on German and Italian ships in the port of Santa Isabella on Fernando Po, then a Spanish colony, although Spain was neutral in World War II.^[3][4] He was appointed Resident of Oyo Province in western Nigeria in 1949, but the following year he was offered the governorhip of Sarawak,^[5] where he was concurrently High Commissioner to Brunei.

Abell retired in 1959 but was a member of selection boards for both the Colonial Service and the police,^[2] and was also invited to sit on the Cobbold Commission on the future of North Borneo and Sarawak. He was Gentleman Usher of the Blue Rod 1972–79.^[6]

Abell was appointed CMG in 1950^[7] and knighted KCMG in the 1952 New Year Honours.^[8] In 1954 the Sultan of Brunei awarded him the Family Order of Brunei, First Class, "in recognition of valuable services rendered".^[9]

References

1. ABELL, Sir Anthony (Foster), Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2016 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014)
2. "Sir Anthony Abell" (obituary), The Times, London, 14 October 1994, page 23
3. Fernando Po Cutting out Expedition
4. Anthony Kirk-Greene, Symbol of Authority: The British District Officer in Africa (I.B. Tauris, 2006), p.116
5. The London Gazette: no. 38853. p. 1098. 3 March 1950.
6. The London Gazette: no. 45565. p. 99. 4 January 1972.
7. The London Gazette: no. 38843. p. 856. 17 February 1950.
8. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 39421. p. 4. 28 December 1951.
9. The London Gazette: no. 40205. p. 3542. 15 June 1954.