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Sir Rawson William Rawson: Governor of Barbados, 1869–1875

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Ideology, Regionalism, and Society in Caribbean History

Abstract

Many studies on colonial administrators have focused on the policies of the Colonial Office; few studies have focused on the individuals who carried out their mandate. Chapter 7 examines an interesting character in Rawson William Rawson; he was a long-serving professional colonial administrator, a man of empire, the epitome of a Victorian explorer and man of science. During his tenure (1869–75), Rawson encountered stiff resistance from the local legislature. In the end he failed to unify the Windward Islands and establish Barbados as a Crown Colony—in fact, the failure led to his dismissal. Rawson dedicated more time and resources to his social and scientific research, as well as experiments, than he did to colonial matters, even provoking opposition and anger from Barbadian colonists.

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Morton-Gittens, D. (2017). Sir Rawson William Rawson: Governor of Barbados, 1869–1875. In: Pantin, S., Teelucksingh, J. (eds) Ideology, Regionalism, and Society in Caribbean History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61418-2_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61418-2_7

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-61417-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-61418-2

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