Colin Campbell Garbett

Garbett was born on 22 May 1881 in Dalhousie, India, the second son of Hubert Garbett. He was sent to school at King William's College on the Isle of Man.{{cite book|title=Alumni cantabrigiensis. Part II. From 1752 to 1900. Volume III. |last1=Venn |first1=John. A.| publisher=Cambridge University Press | year= 1947| page=9 | url=https://archive.org/details/p2alumnicantabri03univuoft/page/9/mode/1up}}

Garbett joined the Indian Civil Service in 1905{{London Gazette |issue=27850 |supp= |page=7341 |date=3 November 1905}} and was initially posted to Mandi State in 1910. He became a District Judge at Simla in 1913 and then served as a postal censor in Karachi and Bombay (1915-16) before becoming a Chief Political Officer in 1916 with the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force. He became an assistant secretary at the India Office in 1919. In 1920 he became Political Secretary to the High Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief for Iraq.{{London Gazette |issue=32716 |supp=y |page=4323 |date=2 June 1922}}

File:Observer, pilot, and Bristol Fighter F2B aircraft.jpg of a Bristol Fighter, similar to the one in which Garbett was injured]]

On 9 December 1920 the Bristol Fighter{{efn|Aircraft registration: D7867}} in which he was travelling to Kirkuk overturned on landing at Tauq{{efn|Or Tauk; now Daquq}}, killing the pilot.{{efn|The pilot was Robert Narcissus Essel, DFC, aged 21, of 6 Squadron, son of Colonel F.K. Essel CMG of Bevere Knoll, North Claines, Worcestershire. He was temporarily interred at Kirkuk and his body was later moved to Baghdad (North Wall) Cemetery.}} Garbett survived with a broken arm.{{cite web |last1=Cawsey |first1=R |title=Fatal accidents to British aircraft overseas 12 Nov 1918 - 1929 |url=http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Accf1930.htm |accessdate=29 October 2020}}{{cite web |title=Garbett, C.C.: Indian Civil Service, attached to High Commission Staff, Iraq |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2248616 |publisher=National Archives |accessdate=25 October 2020 |date=}}{{cite book |last1=Greig |first1=D'Arcy |last2=Franks |first2=Norman L.R. |last3=Muggleton |first3=Simon |title=My Golden Flying Years: From 1918 over France, Through Iraq in the 1920s, to the Schneider Trophy Race of 1927 Front Cover D'Arcy Greig, Norman Franks |date=2011 |publisher=Grub Street Publishing |isbn=978-1906502805 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tCzgDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT367}}

In 1943, he wrote a book Friend of Friend{{cite news |title=Fear Of Congress |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.10756/page/3/mode/1up |work=The Bombay Chronicle |page=4 |date=21 July 1943}} based on clashes between Hindus and Muslims in the Punjab. Garbett translated some poems of Rumi as Sun of Tabriz (1956) with illustrations by Sylvia Baxter. He was deeply interested in the spiritual teachings of Baba Sawan Singh and took an interest in Surat Shabd Yoga. He also wrote on the teachings of the sect in The Ringing Radiance (1967).

Garbett was made a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in 1918 "in recognition of meritorious services rendered in connection with military operations in Mesopotamia."{{London Gazette |date=26 August 1918 |supp=y |issue=30865 |page=9964 }} He was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1922 Birthday Honours, and a Companion of the Order of the Star of India (CSI) in the 1935 Birthday Honours.{{London Gazette |date=31 May 1935 |supp=y |issue=34166 |pages=3591–3618 }}

In June 1938, for his work during the Quetta Earthquake of 1935, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of St. John (OStJ).{{London Gazette |issue=34525 |date=4 June 1938 |page=4071 }} He was elevated within the Order of the Indian Empire and made a Knight Commander (KCIE) in the 1941 Birthday Honours.{{London Gazette |issue=35184 |date=12 June 1941 |page=3596 |supp=y }} He was also mentioned in dispatches on three occasions.

Garbett married twice; his first wife died, and on 20 January 1919 he married Marjorie Maynard, ten years his junior, in the Bengal Presidency.British India Office Marriage Index They had at least one child, daughter, Susan. The couple were later estranged.{{efn|After the estrangement, Susan lived and farmed with her mother; see Marjorie Maynard.}}{{Cite book| publisher = Boydell & Brewer Ltd| isbn = 978-1-84383-937-8| last = Short| first = Brian| title = The Battle of the Fields: Rural Community and Authority in Britain During the Second World War| date = 2014 |page=386}}

In 1913, he was listed a member of The Folklore Society.{{cite journal |title=Members |journal=Folklore |date=March 1913 |volume=24 |issue=1 |page=v |publisher=Folklore Society}} From 1919, he was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.{{cite book |title=List of the Honorary Members, Honorary Corresponding Members and Fellows |date=September 1921 |publisher=Royal Geographical Society |page=34 |url=https://archive.org/details/listofhonoraryme00royauoft/page/34/mode/1up }}

He retired in 1950 and settled in South Africa. A freemason, he was an honorary member of Melrose Lodge in Johannesburg from 1957.{{efn|Until 1977, South African Freemasons were exclusively a white organization; {{cite web |url=http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/freemasons_apartheid.html |title=Freemasons open ranks|publisher= Argus newspaper|date=16 November 1977}} see Freemasonry in South Africa.}}{{cite web |title=Book of Remembrance |url=https://www.melroselodge.co.za/history/book-of-remembrance |publisher=Melrose Lodge No. 7034 EC |accessdate=30 October 2020 }}{{cite book |last1=Beer |first1=Charles de |title=Transactions of the Lyceum Lodge of Research: Volume 2 Transcriptions of papers presented during 1981 |chapter=The Opening of the Lodge |url=http://www.lyceumlodge.com/lectures/Transaction%2002%20LLOR.pdf}} He died on 10 August 1972 and was cremated.

In the 1970s, probably following clearance of his wife's house after her death, an urn containing his ashes was found at a recycling centre in Surrey, discarded in a waste skip. They were subsequently returned to the family when the undertaker who had handled the funeral of his daughter Susan in 2004 saw a newspaper story about them, and were then interred at a London crematorium alongside those of Susan.{{cite journal |title=Sir Colin's Ashes Shock |journal=Friends' Gazette |date=July 2014 |page=1 |url=https://dokumen.tips/documents/friends-gazette-july-edition.html}}

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Category:British civil servants

Category:1881 births

Category:1972 deaths

Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire

Category:Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George

Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire

Category:Order of Saint John (chartered 1888)

Category:British people in colonial India

Category:British expatriates in Iraq

Category:People educated at King William's College

Category:Translators from Persian

Category:British expatriates in South Africa

Category:Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society

Category:British Freemasons