Duncan Stewart (colonial administrator)
{{short description|British colonial administrator}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Duncan Stewart
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| honorific_suffix = CMG
| image = Duncan George Stewart.jpeg
| imagesize =
| smallimage =
| caption =
| order = 2nd Governor of Sarawak
| term_start = 15 November 1949
| term_end = 10 December 1949
| monarch = George VI
| predecessor = Charles Arden-Clarke
| successor = Anthony Abell
| pronunciation =
| birth_name = Duncan George Stewart
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1904|10|22}}
| birth_place = Witkleifontein, Heidelberg, Transvaal Colony
(present-day Gauteng, South Africa)
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1949|12|10|1904|10|22}}
| death_place = Singapore, Straits Settlements
| constituency =
| party =
| spouse =
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}}
Duncan George Stewart CMG1948 Birthday Honours{{Cite journal |date=4 June 1948 |title=Queen's Birthday Honours: Order of St Michael and St George Appointments |journal=The London Gazette |issue=38311 |pages=3368–3369}} (22 October 1904 – 10 December 1949) was a British colonial administrator and governor. He was mortally wounded in an assassination on 3 December 1949, in Sibu, Sarawak.Duncan George Stewart was fatally stabbed by Rosli Dhobi[http://indian-voice.in/tag/history/page/127/][https://www.onthisday.com/events/december/4]
Early life
Stewart was born in Witkleifontein on 22 October 1904 in the Transvaal Colony (now part of South Africa) to expatriate Britons who were posted in that area and was educated in England at Winchester College and Oriel College, Oxford, where he graduated with a BA.Agnes Newton Keith, White Man Returns (1951), pp. 282, 283
Career
Stewart joined the Colonial Administration Service (CAS) in 1928, and held positions as district officer at Oya Territory, Nigeria, colonial secretary in the Bahamas, secretary of finance in Mandatory Palestine, and secretary of the governorial conference in South Africa. He was married and had three children.
His service record was viewed as exceptional, and because of that, he was later announced as the new governor and commander-in-chief for Sarawak by Lord Listowel, minister of state for colonial affairs, to replace Charles Arden-Clarke.
Assassination
Stewart had only been the Governor of Sarawak{{Cite news |date=7 October 1949 |title=Colonial Office, The Church House, S. W. 1 |pages=4800 |work=The London Gazette |issue=38731 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/38731/page/4800 |access-date=22 April 2022}} for a couple of weeks and was on his first official visit in the colony, to the town of Sibu on 3 December 1949.{{cite news |title=British Colonial Governor Stabbed |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114080731/british-colonial-governor-stabbed/ |access-date=4 December 2022 |work=York Daily Record |date=5 December 1949 |pages=2}}{{cite web |title=Sarawak: murder of Duncan George Stewart, Governor, 3 December 1949; trial |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C12304307 |website=National Archives |access-date=4 December 2022 |date=1 January 1949 – 31 December 1950}} According to press reports of the event he was warmly welcomed by large crowds, who all seemed to be enjoying themselves. After inspecting an honour guard and meeting a group of school children, a youth (Moshidi bin Sedek) walked towards him holding a camera claiming to want a picture. As Stewart posed, another youth, Rosli Dhobi stabbed him. Both youths were immediately arrested.
Despite suffering a deep stab wound, Stewart is reported to have tried to carry on until blood began to seep through his white uniform. He was then quickly rushed away for treatment in Kuching but died a few days later after being flown to the General Hospital in Singapore.
The two youths were convicted of the murder and hanged with two other conspirators. Both were believed to be members of the anti-cession movement, and dedicated to restoring Anthony Brooke to the throne of Sarawak. In reality they were both from a political group agitating for union with newly independent Indonesia. Documents released in the late 20th century indicate that the British Government knew that Brooke was not involved, but chose not to reveal the truth of the matter so as not to provoke Indonesia. It had recently won its war of independence from the Netherlands, and the UK was already dealing with the Malayan Emergency to the north-west.
Awards and honours
References
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{{s-gov}}
{{s-bef | before=Sir Charles Arden-Clarke}}
{{s-ttl | title=Governor of Sarawak | years=1949}}
{{s-aft | after=Sir Anthony Abell}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Duncan}}
Category:South African people of British descent
Category:Assassinated British people
Category:Assassinated governors and heads of sub-national entities
Category:Deaths by stabbing in Malaysia
Category:Administrators in British Borneo
Category:South African people of English descent
Category:British people murdered abroad
Category:British people in Mandatory Palestine
Category:Colonial secretaries of the Bahamas
Category:People from colonial Nigeria
Category:Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford
Category:People educated at Winchester College
Category:Expatriates in Transvaal Colony