Norman Rowlstone Jarrett Explained

Norman Rowlstone Jarrett
Office:British Resident of Selangor
Term Start:1941
Term End:1941
Predecessor:George Montgomery Kidd 
Successor:Office discontinued
Office1:British Advisor of Terengganu
Term Start1:1933
Term End1:1934
Predecessor1:Charles Cuthbert Brown
Successor1:John Erskine Kempe 
Office2:British Advisor of Terengganu
Term Start2:1936
Term End2:1937
Predecessor2:John Erskine Kempe 
Successor2:Patrick Alexander Bruce McKerron
Birth Date:1889
Death Date:21 June 1982
Occupation:Colonial Administrator

Norman Rowlstone Jarrett CMG (1889 – 21 June 1982) was a British colonial administrator in Malaya.

Career

Norman Rowlstone Jarrett was born in 1889, only son of Mr and Mrs Arthur Jarrett of Brighton, and joined the Malay civil service as a cadet in 1912. In 1915, he was appointed assistant Controller of Labour in Penang,[1] and then served in various positions including assistant District Officer, Klang (1917),[2] District Officer, Kuala Langat (1922),[3] District Officer, Ulu Selangor (1925),[4] assistant Controller of Labour (1925),[5] District Officer, Krian (1931),[6] and District Officer Klang (1933).[7]

From 1933-34, he was acting British Adviser to Terengganu, and again from 1936-37, having been appointed to act as Under Secretary of the Federated Malay States in 1934.[8] [9]

In 1939, he went to Singapore to take up the position of Food Controller for the colony.[10] In the same year he was also appointed Comptroller of Customs for the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States,[11] and was sworn in as a member of the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements.[12] He introduced measures to control the supply and price of food during the wartime administration to ensure adequate supply and to prevent profiteering.[13]

In 1941, he went to Kuala Lumpur and acted as the last British Resident of Selangor.[14] From 1942 to 1945, during the Second World War, he was interned as POW in Changi and Sime Road camps in Singapore, and was the camp's quartermaster. After the war he returned to England, and from 1946 to 1953 was the Secretary of the Association of British Malaya in London.

Personal life and death

Jarrett married twice; to Doris Elaine Griffith in 1916,[15] and to Violet Wilkinson in 1939.[16] He died on 21 June 1982, aged 93.[17]

Honours

Jarrett was appointed CMG in the 1946 New Year Honours.[18]

References

  1. News: 16 February 1915 . Untitled . Malaya Tribune . 8.
  2. News: 14 December 1917 . F.M.S. Appointments. . The Straits Budget . 10.
  3. News: 24 August 1922 . F.M.S. Appointments . The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser . 6.
  4. News: 16 June 1925 . F.M.S. Government Appointments. . The Straits Times . 10.
  5. News: 18 April 1925 . Untitled . The Straits Times . 8.
  6. News: 8 April 1931 . Untitled . The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser . 11.
  7. News: 25 May 1933 . Untitled . The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser . 9.
  8. News: 3 March 1934 . Untitled . Malaya Tribune . 10.
  9. Web site: Civilian Internment : Quartermaster's records . 2024-04-04 . Cambridge Digital Library.
  10. News: 15 July 1939 . Food Controller . The Straits Times . 12.
  11. News: 10 April 1939 . Malayan Civil Service . The Straits Times . 10.
  12. News: 31 July 1939 . New Legislative Councillors Sworn In Today . The Straits Times . 12.
  13. News: 8 December 1939 . Food Controller to Explain Scheme . The Straits Times . 10.
  14. News: 6 August 1941 . Mr. N. R. Jarrett as Resident, Selangor . Pinang Gazette and Straits Chronicle . 7.
  15. News: 23 June 1916 . Wedding at Penang . The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser . 10.
  16. News: 19 September 1939 . Social and Personal . Pinang Gazette and Straits Chronicle . 5.
  17. News: 24 June 1982 . Deaths . Times . 24.
  18. News: 1 January 1946 . The New Year's Honours . Times . 4.