List of chief secretaries of Singapore explained

Resident councillors of Singapore (1826-1867)

The resident councillor of Singapore was a high ranking government civil position in colonial Singapore during the Straits Settlements era. It was second only to the governor of the Straits Settlements in the colonial government.

№	Portrait	Name	Term of office	Origin	Background or previous appointment	Governor
Took office	Left office
1		John Prince	15 August 1826	18 November 1827	—	—	Robert Fullerton
2		Kenneth Murchison	29 November 1827	6 December 1833	Scotland	Employee at East India Company
							Robert Ibbetson
3		Sir Samuel George Bonham	7 December 1833	18 November 1836	Kent, England	Employee at East India Company	Kenneth Murchison
4		Thomas Church	4 March 1837	20 September 1856	Somerset, England	Assistant Resident of Pinang	Samuel George Bonham
							William John Butterworth
							Edmund Augustus Blundell
5		Henry Somerset MacKenzie ^[1] ^[2]	22 September 1856	13 July 1859 ^[3]	—	—
							William Orfeur Cavenagh
—		Colonel Ronald MacPherson	10 March 1859 — 7 October 1860		Island of Skye, Scotland	Resident Councillor of Malacca
6			8 October 1860	31 March 1867

Colonial secretaries of the Straits Settlements (1867–1942)

№	Portrait	Name	Term of office	Origin	Background or previous appointment	Governor
Took office	Left office
1		Colonel Ronald MacPherson	1 April 1867	6 December 1869	Island of Skye, Scotland	Resident Councillor of Singapore	Sir Harry St. George Ord
—		E W Shaw ^[4]	7 December 1869	5 June 1870	—	Colonial administrator
2		James Wheeler Woodford Birch	6 June 1870	4 November 1874	—	Colonial administrator
							Edward Anson
							Sir Harry St. George Ord
							Edward Anson
							Sir Andrew Clarke
—		Thomas Braddell	4 November 1874	17 February 1876	County Wicklow, Ireland	Attorney-General of Singapore
		William Willans ^[5] Acting			—	Colonial Treasurer of Straits Settlements
							Sir William Jervois
		Charles John Irving			London, England	Auditor-General of Straits Settlements
3		Sir John Douglas	17 February 1876	17 August 1878	Limerick, Ireland	Accountant General and Controller of Revenue
							Edward Anson
							Sir William Cleaver Francis Robinson
4		Sir Cecil Clementi Smith	3 September 1878	17 November 1885	London, England	Colonial Treasurer of Hong Kong
							Edward Anson
							Sir Frederick Weld
5		Sir John Frederick Dickson	17 November 1885 ^[6]	31 August 1891	—	Colonial administrator
							Sir Cecil Clementi Smith
—		Arthur Philip Talbot ^[7] Acting	31 August 1891 ^[8] ^[9]	9 March 1892 ^[10]	—	Colonial administrator
6		William Edward Maxwell	9 March 1892	11 February 1895	—	British Resident of Selangor
							William Edward Maxwell
							Sir Charles Mitchell
7		James Alexander Swettenham	11 February 1895	7 December 1899	Derbyshire, England	Accountant General and Controller of Revenue
—		Sir Walter Egerton	7 December 1899	5 July 1901	—	Colonial administrator	James Alexander Swettenham
		Charles Walter Sneyd-Kynnersley Acting			—	Colonial administrator
8		Sir William Thomas Taylor	5 July 1901	31 December 1904	—	Accountant General and Controller of Revenue	Sir Frank Swettenham
							Sir John Anderson
9		Frederick George Penney	1 January 1905	13 April 1905	—	Resident Councillor of Malacca
—		Edward Lewis Brockman Acting	13 April 1905	29 June 1906	—	Assistant Colonial Secretary of Straits Settlements
10		Sir Arthur Young	29 June 1906	31 January 1911 ^[11]	—	Colonial administrator Navy officer
11		Edward Lewis Brockman	1 February 1911	4 September 1911 ^[12]	—	Resident of Pahang
12		Richard James Wilkinson	4 September 1911	February 1916	Salonika, Greece	British Resident at Negeri Sembilan	Sir Arthur Young
—		William George Maxwell Acting	February 1916 ^[13]	April 1916	Malacca, Straits Settlements	British Adviser for Kedah
13		Sir Frederick Seton James	April 1916	19 March 1924	UK	Colonial administrator
							Sir Laurence Guillemard
—		George Hemmant	19 March 1924	2 April 1924	—	Colonial administrator
14		Edward Shaw Hose	2 April 1924	21 November 1925	Surrey, England	British Resident of Negri Sembilan
15		Sir Hayes Marriott	21 November 1925	16 December 1928	—	General Adviser to Johore
							Sir Hugh Clifford
—		George Hemmant	16 December 1928	12 February 1929	—	Colonial administrator
16		Sir John Scott	12 February 1929	23 May 1933	—	Chief Secretary of Tanganyika Territory
							Sir John Scott Acting
							Sir Cecil Clementi
17		Sir Andrew Caldecott	23 May 1933	7 December 1935	Kent, England	Chief Secretary of Federated Malaya States (FMS)
							Sir Shenton Thomas
18		Sir Alexander Sym Small	7 December 1935	19 January 1940	North Lanarkshire, Scotland	Treasurer of Straits Settlements
19		Stanley Wilson Jones	19 January 1940	27 January 1942	—	British Resident of Selangor
—		Hugh Fraser Acting	27 January 1942	15 February 1942	—	Colonial administrator

Colonial Secretaries of Singapore (1946-1955)

№	Portrait	Name	Term of office	Origin	Background or previous appointment	Governor
Took office	Left office
1		Sir Patrick Alexander Bruce McKerron	1 April 1946	29 April 1950	Aberdeen, Scotland	Deputy Chief Civil Affairs Officer	Sir Franklin Charles Gimson
—		J D M Smith	29 April 1950 ^[14]	30 June 1950 ^[15] ^[16]	—	Colonial administrator
		Wilfred Lawson Blythe	30 June 1950	30 July 1953	—	Colonial administrator
2
							Wilfred Lawson Blythe
							Sir John Fearns Nicoll
3		William Allmond Codrington Goode	30 July 1953	February 1955	Middlesex, England	Colonial administrator

Chief Secretaries of Singapore (1955-1959)

№	Portrait	Name	Term of office	Origin	Background or previous appointment	Governor
Took office	Left office
1		William Allmond Codrington Goode	February 1955	9 December 1957	Middlesex, England	Colonial Secretary of Singapore	William Goode
							Sir Robert Brown Black
							William Goode
2		Edgeworth Beresford David	29 January 1958^[17]	2 June 1959	London, England	Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong

External links

• WorldStatesmen - Singapore
• Historical Dictionary of Singapore (Justin Corfield)
• Past and present leaders of Singapore

Notes and References

1. News: Untitled. The Straits Times. 12 March 1859. 2.
2. Book: Corfield, Justin. Historical Dictionary of Singapore. 195. Scarecrow Press. 2 December 2010. 9780810873872.
3. News: The Overland Singapore Free Press. Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser. 14 July 1859. 5.
4. Web site: Straits Settlement Government Gazette.
5. News: Legislative Council. The Straits Times. 8 May 1875. 2.
6. News: Death of Sir Frederick Dickson. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (Weekly). 29 December 1891. 1.
7. News: Special Telegram. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser. 14 January 1899. 2.
8. News: Departure of Sir Frederick Dickson. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (Weekly). 1 September 1891. 6.
9. News: Gazette Notifications. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (Weekly). 1 September 1891. 10.
10. News: Local and General. Straits Times Weekly Issue. 15 March 1892. 2.
11. News: The Governor's Trip. The Straits Times. 31 January 1911. 7.
12. News: Mr. and Mrs. Brockman. The Straits Times. 5 September 1911. 7.
13. Web site: Legislative Council Changes. The Straits Times. 11 February 1916. 8.
14. News: Mr. J.D.M. Smith. Malaya Tribune. 2 May 1950. 5.
15. News: Mr. Blythe Back For New Post. The Straits Times. 30 June 1950. 7.
16. News: Leaves Tomorrow. The Straits Times. 1 July 1950. 7.
17. Web site: Last Chief Secretary. 4. Singapore Standard. 30 January 1958.