Abstract
Sir Arthur Creech Jones has been an intriguing figure in British imperial history both as a Member of Parliament and as Secretary of State for the Colonies. He had a tradition of devotion to colonial causes and, over many years, developed contacts with the colonial intelligentsia. For ten years as a backbencher in parliament, Creech Jones remained ‘the principal voice of the House of Commons’ conscience on colonies’.1 Believing that a class of well-educated Africans would prove beneficial to Britain, Creech Jones courted the African elite and strongly favoured the continued expansion of this class through the provision of institutions for higher education. Although available evidence attests to the central, but sometimes ambiguous, role that Creech Jones played, scholars have been rather slow in placing him within the centre-stage of events culminating in the post-war establishment of universities in British colonial Africa. It is against this background that this study focuses on Creech Jones’ ideas and actions for African university education in the post-war years.
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Notes
David Goldsworthy, Colonial Issues in British Politics 1945–1960 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971) p. 14.
R. D. Pearce, The Turning Point in Africa: British Colonial Policy 1938–48 (London: Frank Cass, 1982) p. 98.
Ibid., p. 97.
Although Winston Churchill made this statement, it fits Creech Jones’ position perfectly well. For Churchill’s quote, see William Roger Louis, Imperialism at Bay, 1941–1945 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977) p. 8.
See as cited in Goldsworthy, Colonial Issues, p. 14.
A. N. Porter and A. J. Stockwell, British Imperial Policy and Decolonization, 1938–51, vol. 1 (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1987) p. 28.
Louis, Imperialism at Bay, 1941–1945, p. 15.
Parliamentary Debates (House of Commons), 21 May 1940, column 55.
See G. Padmore, Africa: Britain’s Third Empire (London: Ennis Dobson, 1949) p. 158, and Benedict Naanen, ‘Economy and Society in Eastern Nigeria, 1900–1966: A Study of Problems of Development and Social Change’ (PhD thesis, Dalhousie University, 1988) p. 230.
Cyril Asquith was the son of Earl of Oxford and Asquith, and a judge of King’s Bench; Walter Elliot was an MP for Kelvingrove and Minister of Health before his appointment as chair of the commission.
See the term of reference as stated in Report of the Commission on Higher Education in West Africa, Cmd. 6655 ( June 1945) p. 2. Members of this commission included H. J. Channon, J. R. Dickinson, J. F. Duff, Geoffrey Evans, Julian Huxley, A. Creech Jones, B. Mouat Jones, K. A. Korsah, I. O. Ransome-Kuti, Eveline Martin, Margaret Read, E. H. Taylor-Cummings and A. E. Trueman.
See Paul Addison, The Road to 1945: British Politics and the Second World War, (London: Jonathan Cape, 1975) pp. 13–21, and Kenneth O. Morgan, Labour in Power, 1945–1951 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984) pp. 229–69.
National Archives of Ghana, Accra (NAGA) NP 22/1: Gold Coast Observer, 25 Feb. 1944.
Daily Service, 12 Feb. 1944, p. 1.
Signatories to the Majority Report were Walter Elliot, J. R. Dickinson, J. F. Duff, B. Mouat Jones, K. A. Korsah, I. O. Ransome-Kuti, Eveline Martin, E. H. Taylor-Cummings and A. E. Trueman.
H. J. Channon, Geoffrey Evans, Julian Huxley, A. Creech Jones, and Margaret Read signed the Minority Report.
Cmd. 6655, pp. 52–4.
Ibid, p. 141.
They might either have been apostles of territorial nationalism or were apprehensive that their alma mater had no chance of being elevated to a university college, and hence they went with the majority.
See Goldsworthy, Colonial Issues, p. 14.
NAGA, ADM 5/31/122: Secretary of State to the Officer Administering the Governments of Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia, 1 Oct. 1945.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Parliamentary Debates (House of Commons), vol. 391, cols. 54–7, 13 July 1943.
See J. M. Lee and Martin Petter, The Colonial Office, War and Development Policy (London: Temple Smith, 1982) and R. D. Pearce, The Turning Point in Africa.
NAGA ADM 5/3/122: Recommendations of the Gold Coast Central Advisory Committee on Education, 21 Nov. 1945.
NAGA ADM 5/3/122: Memorandum on Hall’s Despatch and the Report of the Elliot Commission submitted by the Standing Committee of the Joint Provisional Council, 28 Nov. 1945. This Council consisted of all the paramount chiefs in the Gold Coast Colony.
Sierra Leone Archives (SLA) CSO, Miscellaneous/Confidential Files on Education (General): Alan Burns to George Hall, 23 Dec. 1945.
Ibid.
SLA, CSO Misc./Confid. Files: Memorandum for the Director of Education, Sierra Leone, Dec. 1945.
SLA, Colonial Secretary’s Office (CSO) Misc./Confid. Files: Governor Richards to the Secretary of State, 11 June 1946.
CO 987/11: Secretary of State to the Governors of Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia, 6 July 1946.
Ibid.
NAGA ADM 5/3/122: Extract from Honourable C. W. Tachi-Menson’s Speech at the Inaugural Session of the New Legislative Council, 25 July 1946.
NAGA, ADM 5/3/122: Extract from Dr J. B. Danquah’s Speech in the Legislative Council, Gold Coast, 24 July 1946.
Report of the Committee on Higher Education in the Gold Coast, (Accra: Government Printer 1946) pp. 12–14 (Balme Library, University of Ghana, Legon).
As quoted in David Goldsworthy, Colonial Issues, p. 50. Lord Campbell was a member of the Colonial Office Economic Advisory Committee.
National Archives of Nigeria, Ibadan (NAI) OX/A28: Secretary of State to the Governors of Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and The Gambia, 16 Aug. 1947.
Ibid.
SLC RS 378.664/G798: Secretary of State to the Governor of Sierra Leone, 20 Oct. 1948. This was on the condition that the university courses would not be expanded until reviewed by the Sierra Leone Government after assuring itself ‘as to the cost of continuing or expanding degree courses’.
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Nwauwa, A. (2001). Creech Jones and African Universities, 1943–50. In: Youé, C., Stapleton, T. (eds) Agency and Action in Colonial Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230288485_8
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