Alan Cuthbert Maxwell Burns KCMG (1887 - 1980)

Born 9 Nov 1887 in Basseterre, St Kitts

Ancestors

Husband of Kate FitzPatrick (Hardtman) Burns — married 11 May 1914 in St Thomas, St Leonards, East Sussex, England

Descendants

Died 29 Sep 1980 at age 92 in Westminster Hospital, London, United Kingdom

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Biography

Alan was born and grew in St Kitts in the Leeward Islands. In 1901, he was enrolled in St Edmunds College, Ware, England along with his brother Emile.

He had several posts in the Colonial Service; on the Leeward Islands from 1905 to 1912 and afterwards in Nigeria until 1924. He served as Colonial Secretary of the Bahamas until 1929. From 1929 to 1934 he was Deputy Chief Secretary to Government of Nigeria. Afterwards he was posted to British Honduras where he was governor from 1934 until 1939. He was made Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1936.

After a short time as Assistant Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies he was governor of the Gold Coast (present day Ghana) from 1941 until 1947. For five months during this period in 1942 he served as Acting Governor of Nigeria. After retiring he served as Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom on the UN Trusteeship Council until 1956.

Sir Alan died in hospital in London in September 1980 and a requiem mass was held for him at Westminster Cathedral. Probate was granted for his estate on 24 February 1981.

See also the Wikipedia page for Alan Burns (colonial administrator).

Sources

• "Saint Kitts and Nevis, Civil Registration, 1859-1932", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:D5LS-6HN2 : 29 September 2021), Alan Maxwell Burns, 1887.
• "England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XS4W-FBF : 20 May 2019), Alan Cuthbert Burns, Standon, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing Standon subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
• Free BMD database online. Marriages Jun 1914. Burns Alan C. M. Hardtman Hastings 2b 74. https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=H5Fjs0obpJtlgEVDFglUYw&scan=1. Accessed 23 Feb 2023.
• "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVZ9-GP2F : 22 October 2021), Alan Cuthbert M Burns, 1980.

See Also

• Holmes a Court, Polly. Holmes a Court family tree online; http://www.holmesacourt.org/hac/3/4583.htm. Accessed 29 November 2018.
• Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Burns_(colonial_administrator). Accessed 29 November 2018