Robert Sidney Foster

For the American Civil War general, see Robert Sanford Foster.

Sir Robert Sidney Foster GCMG KCVO

20th High Commissioner for the Western Pacific
In office 16 June 1964 – 6 March 1969
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	David Trench
Succeeded by	Donald Luddington
4th Governor of the Solomon Islands
In office 16 June 1964 – 6 March 1969
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	David Trench
Succeeded by	Donald Luddington
22nd Governor of Fiji
In office December 1968 – 10 October 1970
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Chief Minister	Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara
Preceded by	Sir Derek Jakeway
Succeeded by	Himself as Governor-General of Fiji
1st Governor-General of Fiji
In office 10 October 1970 – 13 January 1973
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara
Preceded by	Himself as Governor of Fiji
Succeeded by	Ratu Sir George Cakobau
Personal details
Born	(1913-11-08)8 November 1913
Died	12 October 2005(2005-10-12) (aged 91) Cambridge, United Kingdom
Citizenship	British
Spouse(s)	Madge Walker 1947 - 1991 (her death)

Sir Robert Sidney Foster GCMG KCVO (11 August 1913 – 12 October 2005) was a British colonial administrator, best remembered as the last colonial Governor of Fiji and the first Governor-General of the Dominion of Fiji. He had previously served as Governor of the Solomon Islands and as High Commissioner for the Western Pacific (positions that briefly overlapped with his tenure as Governor of Fiji).

Colonial service

Foster entered the administrative service in 1936 in Northern Rhodesia. He remained there, and in Nyasaland (now Malawi) until 1964, serving first as a cadet until 1938, and then as a District Officer until 1940. From 1957 to 1960, he was a Major Provincial Commissioner, before serving as Secretary to the Ministry of Native Affairs from 1960 to 1961, when he became Chief Secretary of Nyasaland, a position he held until 1963. He was Deputy Governor of Nyasaland from 1963 to 1964.

In 1964, he left Africa for the Pacific Islands to become High Commissioner of the Western Pacific. In this capacity, he had overall responsibility for the British colonies and protectorates in the region, namely the Solomon Islands, the Gilbert and Ellice Islands (now Kiribati and Tuvalu), and over the British participation in the Anglo-French Condominium of the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu). He remained High Commissioner until December 1968, when he became Governor of Fiji. When Fiji became independent on October 10, 1970, he assumed the new position of Governor-General. His role was little changed, except that he now acted on the advice of the Fijian Cabinet rather than the British government. He retired on 13 January 1973, ending a 37-year career in the colonial service. He was succeeded as Governor-General by Ratu Sir George Cakobau, a patrilineal descendant of King Seru Epenisa Cakobau, who had ceded Fiji to the United Kingdom in 1874.

Personal life and honours

Foster married Madge Walker in 1947. She died in 1991.

A number of honours were awarded to Foster during his lifetime. He received the CMG in 1961, the KCMG in 1964, and the GCMG in 1970.

Foster died in Cambridge, England on 12 October 2005.

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Government offices
Preceded by David Clive Crosbie Trench	High Commissioner for the Western Pacific 1964–1968	Succeeded by Michael David Irving Gass
Preceded by David Clive Crosbie Trench	Governor of the Solomon Islands 1964–1968	Succeeded by Michael David Irving Gass
Preceded by Sir Francis Derek Jakeway	Governor of Fiji 1968–1970	Post abolished
New creation	Governor-General of Fiji 1970–1973	Succeeded by Ratu Sir George Cakobau

Governors of Fiji

Sir Hercules Robinson Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon Sir William Des Vœux Sir Charles Mitchell Sir John Bates Thurston Sir George Thomas Michael O'Brien Sir William Allardyce Sir Henry Moore Jackson Sir Everard im Thurn Sir Charles Henry Major Sir Francis Henry May Sir Ernest Bickham Sweet-Escott Sir Cecil Hunter-Rodwell Sir Eyre Hutson Sir Murchison Fletcher Sir Cecil Barton Sir Arthur Richards Sir Harry Luke Sir Philip Euen Mitchell Sir John Rankine John Ferns Nicoll Sir Alexander Grantham Sir Brian Freeston Sir Ronald Garvey Sir Kenneth Maddocks Sir Derek Jakeway Sir Robert Sidney Foster

Governors-General of Fiji

Sir Robert Sidney Foster Ratu Sir George Cakobau Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau

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