GB 162 Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies at Rhodes House MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 460
Correspondence and papers of Sir Kenneth William Blackburne
1929-1963
Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
25 boxes
English.
Kenneth William Blackburne (1907-1980) was a colonial administrator. Joining the
Colonial Service in 1930, he was sent to Nigeria for his cadetship and spent
five years there, first as Assistant District Officer, then as Private
Secretary to the office of Lieutenant Governor. In 1935 he was made Assistant
District Commissioner for Nazareth, Palestine. In 1938, he
became Acting District Commissioner for Galilee, but returned to Great Britain
six months later. His next three years were spent in the Colonial Office, as
Acting Assistant Principal, then Principal. In 1941, he became Colonial
Secretary of the Gambia, where he compiled a comprehensive report on Development and
Welfare in the Gambia. Another move in 1943 saw him take up the post of
Administrative Secretary to the Comptroller for Development and Welfare in the
West Indies. During this period he was based mainly in Barbados. From 1947
he worked in London as the Colonial Office's first Director of Information
Services. From 1950-1956 he served as Governor of the Leeward Islands,
where he was particularly concerned with building preservation and
restoration. His final postings before his retirement were in Jamaica, where he
became Governor in 1957, then Governor General after the island's independence
in 1962. Awarded the OBE, KCMG, GBE and GCMG, he was also the author of
Development and Welfare in the Gambia, (s.l.,Bathurst, 1943) and Lasting Legacy - a story of British Colonialism, (London, Johnson, 1976). In 1935 he married Bridget Senhouse Constant Wilson, with whom he had two children.
- Correspondence, etc. relating to cadetship in Nigeria,
1929-1950
- Diaries and Colonial Office letters concerning period of
office in Palestine, 1935-1940
- Letters written by Blackburne and his wife to his parents and her mother, 1935-1941, 1943-1946, 1950-1956
- Correspondence and a report relating to period of office in the Gambia, 1941-1943
- Correspondence, notes and a diary relating to period of office in the West Indies, 1943-1950
- Correspondence, a diary and other papers relating to work at the Colonial Office and posting as Governor of the Leeward Islands, 1948-1957
- Reports, booklets, press cuttings, photographs, printed material, etc. concerning the Leeward Islands, 1807-1977
-
Correspondence, press cuttings and transcripts of speeches relating to Governorship of Jamaica and the island's independence, 1957-1963
- Correspondence, press cuttings, photographs, etc. concerning departure from Jamaica, and relating to the Turks, Caicos and Cayman Islands, 1958-1978
- Diaries kept by Blackburne and Lady Blackburne in Jamaica, 1958-1962
- Letters of congratulation on awards, notes for speeches and miscellaneous printed material, 1938-1981
- Drafts, notes and top copies of
Lasting Legacy - a story of British Colonialism, c1943-1977
- Miscellaneous printed material, 1940-1974
The first approach by the Oxford Colonial Records Project to Sir Kenneth
Blackburne was made on the 4th October 1963 and his papers were surveyed by
the Project on the 12th February 1964. A series of negotiations between
the Project and Sir Kenneth Blackburne continued until 1970 regarding a
possible date of deposit. The papers were finally offered to the Project
by his son in 1980.
A typescript, with drafts and research notes, of Sir Kenneth Blackburne's
article,
The British Territories (contributed to
The Restless Caribbean - Changing Patterns of International Relations in the Caribbean, edited by Richard L. Millett and W. Marvin Will (London, New York, Praeger, 1979) was donated to the library by Lady Blackburne in July 1990.
Bodleian reader's ticket required.
No reproduction or publication of personal papers without permission.
Contact the library in the first instance.
Listed as no. 562 in
Manuscript Collections in Rhodes House Library Oxford,
Accessions 1978-1994 (Oxford, Bodleian Library, 1996)
1996. A handlist is also available in the library reading room.
Myring transcript?
Blackburne
Kenneth William
1907-1980
Sir
Knight colonial administrator
Great Britain
Colonies
Administration
Jamaica
History
20th century
Mandates
Palestine
Antigua
Buildings, structures, etc.
Conservation and restoration
Palestine
History
1917-1948
Nigeria
History
1900-1960
Gambia
History
20th century
Barbados
History
20th century
West Indies
History
20th century
Jamaica
Description and travel
West Indies
Description and travel
Cayman Islands
Description and travel
Turks and Caicos
Description and travel