BSIP colonialist who serves here dies
NO one is left in the Solomon Islands to remember him. Everyone had died. Alan Lindley in Adelaide, ex-Deputy Police Commissioner may well be the last who lives to remember Tom Russell, who served in the Solomon Islands for years under the British Solomon Islands Protectorate (BSIP), Emeritus Professor Clive Moore wrote in memory of this man.
Born on 27 May 1920, in Melrose, Scotland, and a graduate of St. Andrew’s University, Tom Russell joined the Black Watch Regiment of the British Army in 1940 before transferring to the Cameroonians and the Parachute Battalion.
He served in North Africa and Italy, where he was taken prisoner of war.
After the war, he joined the Colonial Service and earned a Diploma in Anthropology at Cambridge University while attending a course on Colonial Administration.
Russell arrived in Honiara in 1948 as an Administrative Officer.
He served initially as Acting District Commissioner of Western District, based at Hombu Hombu Island near Munda on New Georgia.
His major task was to rebuild Gizo, which had been destroyed during the war, using a salvaged Japanese barge and a repaired American tug to move buildings there from opposite Munda airfield.
The operation took five months. His next post was as District Officer at Malu`u in Malaita District in July 1949 during the Ma’asina Rule movement, one of only three District
Officers on the island at the time.
In mid-1951, now married to Andrée, he was transferred to Western Pacific High Commission headquarters in Suva, but in December 1952 he returned to the Protectorate as Assistant Secretary, Personnel and Finance when the High Commission moved to Honiara.
Between 1954 and 1956, Russell was back on Malaita as District Commissioner, before being seconded to the Colonial Office (1956–1957).
He returned to the Protectorate again in 1957 and served in Honiara in a variety of senior portfolios in Protectorate Affairs, Personnel Administration, and Finance for the WPHC.
He was promoted to Deputy Financial Secretary (1962–1965), to Financial Secretary (1965–1970), and then Chief Secretary (1970–1974), with periods as Acting High Commissioner. Russell was appointed Governor of the Cayman Islands for seven years from 1974, and finally served as Cayman Islands Government Representative in London, from 1982 to 2000.
He was awarded the O.B.E. in 1963, the C.B.E. in 1970 and the C.M.G. in 1980.
In 2003, Russell published an autobiographical account of his years in the Colonial Service, titled ‘I Have the Honour to Be’
He died on 3 July 2016 at the age of 96.
Another person who had known Russell Tom, Chris Chevalier described him as one of the best colonialists.
“A highlight of researching Solomon Mamaloni was interviewing Tom Russell in June 2011 at the Caledonian Club in London.
“Close to Hyde Park, this was his base when he came to London – he had homes in Scotland and France.
“I had never been to a gentleman’s club before so, on a glorious summer afternoon, I dressed up in a double-breasted grey pinstripe suit borrowed from my brother and my father’s regimental tie, which Tom immediately noticed and appreciated.
“Small, dapper with an educated Scottish brogue, he was an impeccable host. We had G&T’s before lunch in the member’s dining room.
“Although he was over 90 years old, his memory for names and places was remarkable.
“He was perceptive and generous in his opinions of Solomon Islanders, Very kindly, he gave me a signed copy of his memoir, which is a very detailed and useful insight into colonial administration and the times.
“He also gave me a copy of the report of the Select Committee for the 1974 Legislative Assembly Constitution which he chaired – it is a remarkably clearly written document.
“At the end of drafting, there was pressure from the late Solomon Mamaloni for a Bill of Rights on Melanesian terms but he didn’t follow up on Russell’s request to draft his ideas.
“He served through all levels of colonial government in the Protectorate, including acting Governor and chaired the Legislative Assembly.
“His speeches as ex-officio in the house were precision texts.
His opinion of the late Solomon Mamaloni was: ‘always a showman…he delighted in making speeches on the edge of courtesy.
“People used to gather when they knew he was speaking. He was a political animal but did not create animosity.
“He was provocative – there was a motion that passed requiring members to come dressed in shirts and ties so he came wearing a t-shirt pictured on was a naked woman,” he laughed.
At Russell’s farewell, the late Solomon Mamaloni made a small speech and was on the verge of breaking down, he recalled.
“They would try to make the Solomons the place that Tom Russell had tried to create.
“Given Mamaloni’s antipathy towards many other colonial officers, this was praise indeed.”
By EDNAL PALMER
