Geoffrey Cator Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honourable
Sir Geoffrey Cator
Honorific-Suffix:CMG
Order:19th British Resident of Perak
Term Start:1933
Term End:1939
Predecessor:Bertram Walter Elles
Successor:Marcus Rex
Order2:2nd British Resident of Labuan
Term Start2:February 1917
Term End2:1918
Predecessor2:Malcolm McArthur
Successor2:unknown
Order1:15th British Resident of Selangor
Term Start1:July 1932
Term End1:1933
Predecessor1:James Lornie
Successor1:George Ernest London
Office3:6th British Resident to Brunei
Term Start3:1916
Term End3:1921
Predecessor3:Ernest Barton Maundrell
Successor3:Lucien Allen Arthur
Birth Date:14 August 1884
Birth Place:Lacock, Wiltshire, England
Death Place:Hindhead, Surrey, England[1]
Father:Robert Cator
Mother:Evelyn Susan Sotheron Estcourt
Occupation:Colonial administrator

Sir Geoffrey Edmund Cator (14 August 1884 – 21 April 1973)[2] was a British administrator in the Malayan Civil Service.

Biography

Cator was born in Lacock, Wiltshire,[3] the son of brewer Robert Cator of Bath and Evelyn Susan Sotheron Estcourt.[2] [4] He married Elizabeth Margaret Wynne Mostyn in 1922; they had a son, Peter John Cator (26 October 1924 – 22 January 2006) and daughter Rosemary Ann Cator.[2] Initially assigned to Kuala Kangsar, he held the position of Collector of Land Revenue and frequently participated in football games with the Malay College students, a sport he possessed some skill in.[5] Sir Geoffrey joined the Malayan Civil Service in 1907 until 1939. He was the British Resident of Brunei from May 1916 until March 1921. Later he was posted as the Superintendent of Government Monopolies of Straits Settlements, the District Officer of Klang and also member of the Legislative Council of Federated Malay States. He was the British Resident of Selangor (1932-1933) and British Resident of Perak (1933-1939). His last post was the head of the Malay States Information Agency in London. He was made a Knight Bachelor in the 1946 New Year Honours. He had previously been awarded the CMG in 1936.

1948 saw his retirement as a Malayan Agent. One of his responsibilities in that position was to see Sybil Kathigasu in the hospital following the Second World War; he accomplished this duty and did so with his wife, Lizzy. Using modern medicine, especially quinine, to combat malaria was one of his main concerns while he was in Perak. He died in England, 1973.

Contributions

During the World War II, Sir Geoffrey also responsible for planning the war strategy, initially he published some written reviews, when Malaya was ambushed by the Japanese. His publications were,

Namesakes

References

Notes and References

  1. News: Deaths. The Times. 23 April 1973. 12.
  2. https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-153058. Cator, Sir Geoffrey. Who was Who. 1 December 2007. 10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U153058 . 978-0-19-954089-1 .
  3. 1891 England Census
  4. Wiltshire, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1916
  5. Web site: Welcome to IpohWorld.org Database Search Engine sponsored by iosc.net- Admin System . 2023-11-05 . db.ipohworld.org.
  6. Book: Atiyah, Jeremy . Southeast Asia . 2002 . Rough Guides . 978-1-85828-893-2 . 76 . en.