Sir Graham John Bower (1848-1933) entered the Royal Navy in 1861. He served continuously until December 1880, at which point he became Private Secretary to Sir Hercules Robinson. In 1884, Bower retired from the Royal Navy (with the rank of Commander) and in the same year became Imperial Secretary to the High Commissioners for South Africa (1884-1897). In 1898, he was appointed to the post of Colonial Secretary of Mauritius, a post he held until his retirement in 1910. Bower was also President of the Grotius Society; a Justice of the Peace in Hampshire, England; and was awarded the KCMG in 1892.

Reminiscences by Bower of his 16 years of service in South Africa. Typescript.

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Listed as no. 1195 in Manuscript Collections in Rhodes House Library Oxford, Accessions 1978-1994 (Oxford, Bodleian Library, 1996).

Bower | Graham John | 1848-1933 | Sir | Knight Colonial Administrator

Reminiscences

Colonial administrators | South Africa

Great Britain | Colonial Administrative Service

South Africa | Officials and employees