Sir Alan Cuthbert Maxwell BurnsGCMG was a British civil servant who rose through the ranks to become governor of several colonies, he also authored a number of books on politics and history, including a book on "Colour Prejudice".
Early Life and Family
Burns was born in Basseterre and had seven siblings. His father was James Patrick Burns and mother Agnes Zulma Delisle Burns. His father was treasurer of St. Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla and died in 1896. Amongst his siblings were brothers Cecil Delisle Burns, a secularist writer and lecturer, Robert Edward Burns, also in the Colonial Service and Emile Burns a leading British Communist. In 1901 Burns matriculated to St. Edmund's College in Old Hall Green but had to leave early as his family could not afford the fees. His mother died in Hertfordshire in 1914. In the same year he married Kathleen Fitzpatrick Hardtman with two daughters named Barbara and Benedicta.
Career
Burns had several posts at the Colonial Service. He served on the Leeward Islands from 1905 to 1912 and in 1912 became Supervisor of Customs in Nigeria and enlisted in the West Africa Frontier Force. He served in the Cameroons Campaign and became Adjutant of the Nigeria Land Contingent. Burns was Private Secretary to Sir Frederick Lugard then Hugh Clifford during their times as Governors of Nigeria. In 1924, he was appointed Colonial Secretary of the Bahamas where he served until 1929 and in which time he carried out the duties of Governor on several occasions. From 1929 to 1934 he was Deputy Chief Secretary to Government of Nigeria. Then, at the age of 47, was posted to British Honduras, where he was governor from 2 November 1934 until 24 February 1939. In 1940, he was seconded to the Colonial Office on special duty in the rank of Assistant Under-Secretary. Burns was appointed Governor of the Gold Coast in 1941. In 1942, he served for five months as Acting Governor of Nigeria. He then returned to his duties as Governor of the Gold Coast where in 1942 he persuaded the Colonial Office to admit Africans onto the Executive Council of the Governor of the Gold Coast. In 1946, he brought about the new constitution which changed the Legislative Council to consist of six ex officio members, six nominated members, and eighteen elected members, this led to an African majority on the council. In 1943, a ritual murder took place in Kyebi. The jury convicted 8 men of the murder, but the accused had a well funded defence with the leading lawyer a nationalist politician and relation of some of the accused. The defence launched appeals to the UK parliament and attempted to portray the trial as a case of white oppression and smear the Governor for supporting the court's decision. This got a degree of support from politicians in the UK that hadn't researched the facts of the case and didn't realise that the court and the Governor had a wide degree of support in the matter from the local population. This caused the case to drag on for years. Burns resigned as Governor shortly after the Privy Council had rejected the final appeal in the case. His exact reasons for resigning are not clear, especially considering the amount of support he had, but it is possible, that with the leading lawyer in the case using it to further his own political career, Burns felt that his continued presence may detract from peaceful progress. From 1947 until his retirement in 1956 he served as Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom on the UN Trusteeship Council. At the age of 72, in 1959 he headed the Commission of Enquiry into the Natural Resources and Population Trends of the Colony of Fiji 1959. In 1966 Burns used his contacts to ensure a safe exit for his niece Dr. Marca Burns from Ghana during the coup. Burns died at Westminster Hospital in London.
Publications
Burns wrote and number of books and an article for a journal. He was also instrumental in founding the Lagos Library in 1932. Whilst most people were excluded from the library due to the high subscription fees it differed from others by allowing Africans membership. In his book on Colour Prejudice he states: His book "Colonial Civil Servant" is a collection of reminiscences from his time as a civil servant.
