HENRY GURNEY

Sir 'Henry Lovell Goldsworthy Gurney' KCMG (27 June 1898–6 October 1951) was a British official who was assassinated by communist insurgents during the Malayan Emergency

Contents

Background

Career

Malaya

Honours

Background

Gurney was born on 27 June 1898, in London. He was the son of G.G.H. Gurney and Florence Gurney. He was educated at Winchester College and University College, Oxford.
Gurney married Lady Isabel Lowther Weir in 1924 and they have two sons.

Career

He served in the King's Royal Rifle Corps from 1917 to 1921. He joined the Colonial Service and was posted as the Colonial Servant in Kenya, (1921). He also posted as the Assistant Colonial Secretary in Jamaica, (1935), Chief Secretary to the Conference of East Africa Governors, (1938–1944), Colonial Secretary in Gold Coast (1944–1946), Chief Secretary to the Palestine Mandate Government (1946–1948). Gurney became British High Commissioner in Malaya on 13 September 1948.
In 1948, he was appointed to the Order of St Michael and St George as a (KCMG), which is the second highest rank in the British Knighthood, when he represented the British Government as the Chief Secretary to the Palestine Mandate [1].

Malaya

On 6 October 1951, he was shot to death on his way back to Fraser's Hill for a meeting; the guerrillas of the Malayan Communist Party ambushed his Roll Royce during the Malayan Emergency period. According to Mrs. Gurney who was with him at the time, he sacrificed himself to the communist regime in order to protect the lives of his wife and the driver. Although he had been a short time in Malaya, his contributions and effort to the Malayans will never fade. He established the Advanced Approved School and the Henry Gurney School in Malacca, as well as many other schools in various Malay States.

Honours

Although Gurney was knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, but the Malayans from all classes and nationalities, having already given him their esteem and affection, kept his memory green, and when he died on 6 October 1951 they would mourn him as a friend who "has gone home to the mercy of God". At that moment, his funeral was not only attended by his family members and British Officers in Malaya but also attended by the Malayans from all classes and races. Today, Gurney Road in Malacca, Seremban, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore are named after him. A popular beachfront Gurney Drive, in Penang is named after him also. Gurney was buried at Cheras Christian Cemetery in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
In his tombstone (shown on the right) crafted with:

In proud and loving memory of Henry Lovell Goldsworthy K.C.M.G. High Commissioner for the Federation of Malaya 1948–1951 Born 27 June 1898 Died 6 October 1951 Greater Love Hath No Man Than This That A Man Lay Down His Life for His Friends R.I.P.