Ingrams, William Harold, 1897-

Harold Ingrams was a British Colonial Administrator, best known for the "Ingrams Peace". He was born in 1897, the son of a clergyman, W.S. Ingrams. He was educated at Shrewsbury School. He fought and was wounded in the First World War and then joined the Colonial Service, working in Zanzibar and Mauritius before being posted to Aden, in southern Arabia, in 1934. He served as Political Officer, Aden, 1934-7, and British Resident Adviser at Mukalla, Saudi Arabia (later the Eastern Aden Protectorate), 1937-40 and 1942-4; and Acting Governor, 1940, and Chief Secretary, 1940-2, Aden. During this period, he and his wife travelled extensively in the Hadhramaut, becoming the first Europeans to explore the Sei'ar country and the Mahra hinterland and helping to negotiate a truce between local tribesmen, 1937. Harold Ingrams was seconded to the British Control Commission in Germany, 1945-7. He returned to the Colonial Service as Chief Commissioner, Northern Territories, Gold Coast, 1947-8, and served on missions to Gibraltar, 1949; Hong Kong, 1950; and Uganda, 1956. He was Adviser on Overseas Information, Colonial Office, 1950-4; editor of "Commonwealth Challenge" and "If You Ask Me", 1952-66; and a member of the Joint Research Department, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1966-8. He retired to Kent, 1968, and died on 9 December 1973.

From the description of Tour to Malaya, Java and Hyderabad [manuscript] : 1939 / W.H. Ingrams ; copied out by Leila Ingrams. [2010] (National Library Board, Singapore). WorldCat record id: 701012969

William Harold Ingrams, OBE (1933), CMG (1939), was born in Shrewsbury, England, on the 3 February 1897. After serving in World War I with the King's Shropshire Light Infantry (1914-1918), he joined the Colonial Service as Assistant District Commissioner in Zanzibar (1919), later becoming 2nd Assistant Secretary (1925). In 1927 he was appointed Assistant Colonial Secretary in Mauritius and for periods during 1932 and 1933 was also Acting Colonial Secretary. He was transferred to Aden in 1934 to take up the post of Political Officer (1934-ca.1937). Ingrams left Aden for four years when he was appointed British Resident Adviser in Mukalla, Saudi Arabi (1937-1940); he returned to Aden in 1940 and held the posts of Acting Governor (1940), Chief Secretary to the Government of Aden (1940-1942), and Resident Adviser of the Hadhramaut States and British Agent in the Eastern Aden Protectorate (1942-1945).

Between 1945 and 1947 Ingrams was on secondment as Assistant Secretary of the Allied Control Commission for Germany (British Element). There followed posts as Chief Commissioner of the Northern Territories in the Gold Coast (1947-1948), Adviser on Overseas Information at the Colonial Office (1950-1954), and Editor of Commonwealth Challenge and If you ask me (1952-1966). Ingrams was also involved with missions to Gibraltar (1949), Hong Kong (1950), and Uganda (1956). His final post before retiring was in the Joint Research Department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (1966-1968).

Ingrams was awarded the Class IV Order of the Brilliant Star of Zanzibar (1927), the Lawrence Memorial Medal (awarded jointly with his wife in 1939), the Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society (1940), and the Burton Memorial Medal (1943). He died on the 9 December 1973.

Sir William Newton, Kt (1905), KC, was called to the Bar of the Middle Temple in 1863 and served as a Member of the Council in Mauritius. He died on the 6 July 1915.

From the guide to the Papers of William Harold Ingrams and Sir William Newton, 1863-1969, (The Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies at Rhodes House)