Ransford Slater

Sir Alexander Ransford Slater KCMG CBE (28 November 1874-1940) was a British colonial administrator, who served as governor of Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast and Jamaica.[1]

Biography

The son of Rev. C. S. Slater, Plymouth, Slater was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. In 1892, Slater joined the Ceylon Civil Service, and by 1906, was District Judge of Badulla.[2]

Slater was Governor of Sierra Leone from 1922 to 1927, Governor of the Gold Coast from 1927 to 1932, and Governor of Jamaica from 1932 to 1934.[3] In Sierra Leone, Slater ordered the wages of all Africans who worked for the British government to be raised. When it came time to oversee the expansion of Sierra Leone's railroad, he enforced rulings of previous administrators who argued that Africans and Europeans who worked on the railroads in Sierra Leone should be paid the same wages. There were seventeen occasions during his administration where there was legal conflict between Europeans who worked in the colony and indigenous Africans, on sixteen out of the seventeen occasions Slater ruled in favor of the indigenous Africans. He hosted many parties at the governor's mansion which were known to always include "champagne and loud music from America." Various British companies wanted to mine for minerals in Sierra Leone and throughout 1924 and 1925 they sent surveyors to study the prospects of doing so. They began plans for mining for iron ore in the southeastern part of the country, however, large numbers of Mende people there felt these developments were disruptive and petitioned Governor Slater to disallow the mining ventures to continue. Slater agreed and revoked all of the relevant licenses. The executives protested to Slater personally and also attempted to "go over his head" by protesting directly to the British colonial office. However, Slater's ruling stood. This resulted in Slater becoming popular in the Mende-speaking districts in the east of the colony.[4] There were 17 Sherbro-speakers from Bonthe District who had attended college in England. Slater had 17 British employees in that district transferred to other colonies replaced by the 17 British-educated Sherbro officers. In a move that was controversial at the time he insisted that all of the Sherbro officers receive the same pay as the European officers who they were replacing. Slater remarked "We wield immense power in this country, we ought to use it only for the benefit of those who we are ruling, otherwise we cede any moral right we have to that power. I consider this my duty."[5]

Slater was appointed CMG in 1916, CBE in 1918, KCMG in 1924, and GCMG in 1933.

See also

References
  1. "Sir (Alexander) Ransford Slater - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk.
  2. Arnold Wright (1999). Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon: Its History, People, Commerce, Industries, and Resources. Asian Educational Services. p. 101. ISBN 978-81-206-1335-5.
  3. Marcus Garvey (23 August 2006). The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, Vol. X: Africa for the Africans, 1923–1945. University of California Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-520-93275-3.
  4. Economic Development of Africa, 1880–1939 vol 4, Volume 4 by David Sunderland, pg. 80-89
  5. Sierra Leone by Isaac Parker Anderson Renwick, 1930 - pg. 59


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