Henry Gurney
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The Honourable Sir Henry Gurney KCMG KStJ |
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|---|---|
| British High Commissioner in Malaya | |
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In office 1 October 1948 – 6 October 1951 |
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| Preceded by | Sir Edward Gent |
| Succeeded by | Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
27 June 1898 Poughill, Bude, United Kingdom |
| Died | 6 October 1951 (aged 53) Fraser's Hill, British Malaya |
| Spouse(s) | Lady Isabel Lowther Weir |
Sir Henry Lovell Goldsworthy Gurney KCMG KStJ (27 June 1898 – 6 October 1951) was a British colonial administrator who served in various posts throughout the British Empire. He was killed in Malaya by communist insurgents during the Malayan Emergency.
As a boy, Gurney was educated at Winchester College. During World War I, he joined the British Army, and served with the King's Royal Rifle Corps from 1917 to 1920. After a brief spell at University College Oxford, he joined the British Colonial Service in 1921, and was posted to Kenya as an assistant district commissioner. In 1935, after fourteen years in Kenya, he was appointed Assistant Colonial Secretary to Jamaica. After a brief stint working at the Colonial Office in London, Gurney served as Chief Secretary to the Conference of East Africa Governors from 1938 to 1944, and Colonial Secretary in the Gold Coast from 1944 to 1946. In 1946, he was appointed Chief Secretary to Palestine, serving until the end of British rule there in 1948. While serving in Palestine, Gurney was instrumental in crafting British policy during the Jewish insurgency in Palestine.
In the 1947 New Year Honours, he was promoted to Knight Commander (KCMG) of the Order of St Michael and St George, which is the second highest rank in this order — for his service in Palestine. He had previously been a Companion (CMG) in the same order. In 1949 he was made a Knight of the Venerable Order of Saint John.
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