Donald Charles Cameron (colonial administrator)
Sir Donald Charles Cameron, was a British colonial governor. He was the second governor of the British mandate of Tanganyika, and later the governor of Nigeria.Biography
Cameron was born 3 June 1872 in British Guiana, the son of a sugar planter called Donald Charles Cameron and Mary Emily. He went to Rathmines School in Dublin, and never attended university. In 1890, he returned to British Guiana and began work as a clerk in the Inland Revenue department of the civil service. In 1904, Cameron travelled to Mauritius as assistant Colonial Secretary under Sir Cavendish Boyle. He moved to Southern Nigeria in 1908 and was central secretary under Sir Frederick Lugard. He became influenced by Lugard's ideas of indirect rule.
In April 1925, Cameron became the second governor of the British mandate of Tanganyika, taking over from John Scott, who was acting governor for Sir Horace Byatt. From 1931 to 1935 he was governor and commander-in-chief of Nigeria.Personal life
In 1903, Cameron married Gertrude Gittens, the daughter of a sugar planter in Barbados. They had one son who died in an aircraft accident at sea in 1941. Donald Cameron retired in 1935 and died 8 January 1948 in London, aged 75.
