William Allardyce

Who was William Allardyce?

Sir William Lamond Allardyce GCMG was a career British civil servant in the Colonial Office who served as governor of Fiji, the Falkland Islands, Bahamas, Tasmania, and Newfoundland.

Allardyce was born near Bombay, India, the son of Georgina Dickson Abbott and Colonel James Allardyce. Educated in Aberdeen, Scotland and at Oxford Military College, at the age of 18 he joined the British Civil Service in the Colonial Office.

His first posting was Fiji where only two years after arriving there he was named acting Resident Commissioner for the island of Rotuma. The following year as magistrate and seven years later he was appointed to the Native Regulation Board and made the commissioner of the Supreme Court. In 1894 he was made Commissioner for Native Lands and given a seat in the Legislative Council. In 1895 he was appointed Native Commissioner, the chief liaison between the Fijian natives and the British.

In 1904 Allardyce was appointed as Governor of the Falkland Islands. After 10 years at the Falklands he was then transferred to the Bahamas to become its governor. A post he held for six years.