Sir John Dalzell Rankine (1907-1987), KCMG (1954), CMG (1947), KCVO (1956), KStJ (1958), Brilliant Star of Zanzibar (1st Class) (1954) was educated at Christ's College, Christchurch, New Zealand, and at Exeter College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1930. He entered colonial service as a cadet, Uganda, 1931, became Assistant Secretary, East African Governor's Conference, 1939, First Assistant Secretary, 1942, and Assistant Colonial Secretary, Fiji in the same year. He was made Colonial Secretary, Barbados, 1945, served as Chief Secretary, Kenya, 1947-1951 and as Chairman, Development and Reconstruction Authority. He was British Resident, Zanzibar, 1952-1954, administered the Governments of Barbados and Kenya on various occasions, and was Governor, Western Region, Nigeria, 1954-1960. In 1939 he married Janet Grace Austin (d 1976), with whom he had one daughter.
From the guide to the Papers of Sir John Rankine, 1952-1962, (The Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies at Rhodes House)
