Career Richard James Wilkinson

1 career

1.1 straits settlements civil service
1.2 officer administrating s.s. government
1.3 departure singapore
1.4 career summary

career
straits settlements civil service

wilkinson arrived in singapore in 1889 , government gazette of 6th december year noted messrs. littleton edward pipe wolferstan , richard james wilkinson (who reported arrival in colony on 3rd instant) have been appointed cadets [in straits settlements civil service] . in december 1895, wilkinson, district officer in malay states , considered well-versed in native language, joined foreign office. rejoined colonial civil service , acting superintendent of education @ penang, after which, end of march 1897, became police magistrate @ singapore. january 1899, wilkinson serving acting inspector of schools. in april 1907, book, malay beliefs released. abridged malay-english dictionary (romanised) released in august 1908. @ time serving assistant resident of perak. in 1911 colonial secretary straits settlements , official member of legislative council. in 1912 appointed commission of peace (singapore).

officer administrating s.s. government

he appointed officer administering government, , vice admiral, in june 1914 upon departure of governor sir arthur young on leave, , served in roles until governor s return later year. 1 of first acts issue, in august, proclamation informing citizens of straits settlements war had broken out between majesty king george v , emperor of austria-hungary , between respective subjects.

wilkinson s short term head of straits government not easy one, , 1 of biggest challenges had face difficult state of finances of federated malay states.

there cash deficit of $30,000,000, although assets exceeded liabilities. bulk of assets in form of securities purchased not readily disposed of. in short, federation faced liquidity or cashflow problem. projects had been heavily spent on included railway line running through peninsula siam [present-day thailand], , construction of battleship, hms malaya. application high commissioner secretary of state colonies had not yielded immediate results: secretary of state had advised deferring loan 1915 owing state of money market in europe @ time. , war having broken out, not federation able secure loan in 1915 either.

the press noted wilkinson man of exceptional financial capacity, , @ critical moment in malaya, after declaration of war, had revealed grasp of administrative finance, , of intricacies of banking, commerce, , exchange astound men whole lives given such things.

taking responsibility on own shoulders, wilkinson saved malaya from, papers put it, 1 of worst disasters in history. wilkinson resolved straits settlements government buy f.m.s. tin @ fixed price, stabilised market, , malaya s finances, @ time when metal market in london closed down owing war. smelting companies had acknowledged there limit ability purchase ore, when there did not appear market sell to. straits government decided make advances companies against stock, or other securities, averting fear , anxiety being experienced then. had employed resources of straits settlements preserve industrial equilibrium of federated malay states. papers described position @ time 1 of extraordinary delicacy , difficulty acting governor, , noted if had not taken on responsibility of stabilising malayan industry, there have been greater disaster folk care acknowledge. f.m.s. had on extended itself, committing many large projects including h.m.s. malaya , railway line north, , bridge connecting johore , singapore, , discovering not pay these. wilkinson had made problem, problem, , fixed it.

despite of that, managed have published december year, collection of malay pantun (poetry) had worked on richard olaf winstedt.

departure singapore

wilkinson loved mohammedan community of singapore feted him days readying depart singapore take new role governor of sierra leone in january 1916. dinner thrown moslem association [of singapore] on 15th of december 1915, @ victoria memorial hall. guest list read represented mattered in s.s. , f.m.s. administration , commerce. syed omar alsagoff received guests after ali khan surati read english text of association s address mr. wilkinson while m. a. patail read malay version. address, in decorated silver cylinder mounted on ebony plinth, presented wilkinson alsagoff. alsagoff threw him garden party @ alsagoff s home @ bukit tunggal, thompson road. band of sultan of johore had been lent occasion. entertainment included performances of ronggeng, mak yong, silat, wayang kulit, , indian dance, singing , juggling. thousand people present on grounds. syed mohamed alsagoff read address in english. read in malay after presented in silver casket. time wilkinson had received several addresses indian muslim community , of other nationalities in singapore.

career summary

1896 — 1897: acting director of education, penang

1897 — 1898: police magistrate, singapore

1898 — 1900: acting inspector general of schools in straits settlements, singapore

1902 — 1903: transferred dindings, perak

1903 — 1906: acting inspector of schools federated malay states

1906 — 1910: secretary general british resident (ernest woodford birch) in perak

1910 — 1911: british resident @ negeri sembilan

1911 — 1914: colonial secretary, straits settlements

1914 — 1914 officer administering government of straits settlements

1914 — 1916: colonial secretary, straits settlements

1916 – 1922: governor sierra leone 9 march 1916 – 4 may 1922