Humphrey Gibbs
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Sir Humphrey Gibbs, c1965. |
Sir Humphrey Vicary Gibbs,
GCVO KCMG, (
1902-
1990) was the last but one British
Governor of the
colony of
Southern Rhodesia and the only
Governor of Rhodesia prior to
Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) (
1959-
1970). He stood against the
Rhodesian Front's UDI.
Gibbs was born on
22 November,
1902 in
England, the third son of the first Baron Hunsdon. He was educated at
Eton and
Trinity College,
Cambridge. He moved to
Southern Rhodesia in
1928, buying a farm at Nyamandhlovu near
Bulawayo. Gibbs became active in farming administration and helped found the National Farmers Union. As part of the Rhodesian Conservation Movement, he was elected to Rhodesia's Parliament in 1951.
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flag of the Governor of Rhodesia |
In 1959,
Queen Elizabeth II appointed Gibbs
Governor of Southern Rhodesia and was awarded the
KCMG in 1960. The
Unilateral Declaration of Independence by the
Rhodesian Front Government (under
Prime Minister Ian Smith) in November 1965 placed Gibbs in a very difficult position: He was intensely loyal to Rhodesia - and was a close friend of Ian Smith, but while understanding what had made Smith's government declare the UDI, he was also equally loyal to his office as the Queen's
viceroy. Deciding that final legality rested in the Crown and not Prime Minister Smith, he declared that by its action of the UDI, the Rhodesian Government had established itself as an outlaw regime, and when Ian Smith and
Deputy Prime Minister Clifford Dupont called on Gibbs after the UDI was signed, formally dismissed Smith and his cabinet from office (though the Rhodesian Government simply ignored the dismissal, justifying this on the grounds that the UDI and new constitution made Gibbs' position redundant).
Several high-ranking officers of the Rhodesian Military did go to Gibbs earlier in the day and made a statement of loyalty to him, asking Gibbs to issue a warrant so that they could arrest Smith and Dupont, but Gibbs knew that bulk of the Officer Corps, as well as the rank and file of the Rhodesian military were solidly behind Smith's government and that such a move would lead to a coup d'etat.
Gibbs announced that despite the UDI, he had no intention of resigning his office or leaving Rhodesia, and that therefore, he would remain in
Government House as the sole legal representative of Queen Elizabeth II (thus making Dupont's appointment by Smith as the
Officer Administering the Government legally baseless internationally).
According to Gibbs' biographer (Alan J. Megahey), this action led to four years of harassment and petty afflictions by the Rhodesian Government, resulting in making Gibbs and his wife virtually prisoners in Government House. Megahey further stated that the Smith regime attempted to compel Gibbs to leave several times and isolated him from the people. However, with the assistance of a small staff, led by Sir
John Pestell, he managed to remain defiant. In 1969, Gibbs resigned after Smith's government ran and passed a referendum making Rhodesia a republic.
Gibbs resigned because as the voters had solidly supported the move towards Rhodesia being a republic, he felt that there was no further point in continuing to represent the Queen at that point. He left Government House and Rhodesia. He was appointed to the
Privy Council and was made a
GCVO by The
Queen.
*According to Ian Smith's memoir
Bitter Harvest, Smith had left instructions immediately after the UDI that Gibbs was not to be harassed or to be forced out of Government House. Smith - in the same memoir - made no mention of Gibbs giving either him or any member of his cabinet a dismissal notice. Indeed, he stated that Gibbs had intended to leave Government House and return to his farm, but the day after the UDI, decided to stay at his post after London instructed him to do so.
*Clifford Dupont's recollection of meeting Gibbs on Nov. 11, 1965 was that he noticed that Gibbs was 'visibly distressed' and said "Gentlemen, you realize that I cannot agree or condone your decision". Dupont went on to fill Gibb's position (in the eyes of the Rhodesian Government) as
Officer Administering the Government, then later when Rhodesia became a Republic, its first
president.
*Gibbs accompanied Smith and his entourage in the 1966 and 1968 Gibraltar conferences at the invitation of British Prime Minister
Harold Wilson. According to
Bitter Harvest, Gibbs was broadly supportive of Smith's stance in those negotiations.
*
Peterhouse Nostalgia*Megahey, Alan J (Introduction by Robert Mugabe; Foreword by Robert Blake).
Humphrey Gibbs, beleaguered Governor: Southern Rhodesia, 1929-69 (St. Martin's Press, New York, 1998).
*Smith, Ian Douglas (introduction by Professor J.R.T. Wood).
Bitter Harvest: The Great Betrayal and the Dreadful Aftermath (Blake Publishing, 2001).
*Wood, J.R.T. (Foreword by Lord Deedes).
So far and no further! Rhodesia's bid for independence during the retreat from empire 1959-1965 (Trafford Publishing, Victoria, 2005).
