John Hawley Glover

An 1873 illustration of Glover as a captain

Sir John Hawley Glover (24 February 1829 – 30 September 1885) was a captain in the British Royal Navy and later a colonial governor. He entered the service in 1841 and passed his examination as lieutenant in 1849, but did not receive a commission till May 1851.

He served on various stations, and was wounded severely in an action with the Burmese at Donabew (4 February 1853). During his years of service as lieutenant in the navy he gained considerable experience of the coast of Africa, and took part in the expedition of Dr WB Baikie up the Niger. On 21 April 1863 he was appointed administrator of the government of Lagos Colony, and in that capacity, or as colonial secretary, he remained there till 1872.

Establishing the forerunner of the Nigerian Army and Police

Glover (then a Lieutenant) formed the nucleus of present-day Nigeria's Army and Police with 10 Hausa runaway slaves on June 1, 1863.^[1] The group was known as Glover's Hausas or 'Glover's Forty Thieves'.^[2]

Activities in colonial West Africa

During this period Glover had been much employed in repelling the incursions of the Ashantis. When the Third Anglo-Ashanti War broke out in 1873, Captain Glover undertook the task of organizing the native people, whose hatred of the Ashantis might be expected to make them favourable to the British authorities—to the extent at least to which their fears would allow them to act. His services were accepted, and in September 1873 he landed at Cape Coast, and, after forming a small trustworthy force of Hausa, marched to Accra. His influence sufficed to gather a numerous native force, but neither he nor anybody else could overcome the native people's abject terror of the Ashantis to the extent of making them fight.

In January 1874 Captain Glover was able to render some assistance in the taking of Kumasi, but it was at the head of a Hausa force. His services were acknowledged by the thanks of parliament and by his appointment to the Order of St Michael and St George. In 1875 he was appointed governor of Newfoundland and held the post till 1881, when he was transferred to the Leeward Islands. He returned to Newfoundland in 1883 as governor again, and died in London on 30 September 1885. Lady Glover's Life of her husband appeared in 1897.

See also

• Governors of Newfoundland
• List of people of Newfoundland and Labrador

References

•  Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney, eds. (1890). "Glover, John Hawley". Dictionary of National Biography 22. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Glover, Sir John Hawley". Encyclopædia Britannica 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

1. Ayoade & Akinsanya. Nigeria's Critical Election, 2011. Rowman & Littlefield, 2013. p. 23. ISBN 9780739175880.
2. Anderson & Killingray. Policing the Empire: Government, Authority, and Control, 1830-1940. Manchester University Press,1991. p. 107. ISBN 9780719030352.

External links

• Biography at Government House The Governorship of Newfoundland and Labrador
• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online