‘Sanders of the River, Still the Best Job for a British Boy’; Recruitment to the Colonial Administrative Service at the End of Empire

Abstract

In February 1951, the Sunday Express printed a piece extolling the virtues of a Colonial Service career, under the headline: ‘Sanders of the River, Still the Best Job for a British Boy’. This article explores the ideological and practical reasons why Sanders of the River, a character apparently so at odds with the post-Second World War Colonial Service message, continued to hold enough cultural resonance that it was considered appropriate to utilize him as a recruitment tool in 1951. Edgar Wallace's literary creation occupied a defining place in metropolitan understandings of the Colonial Service's work. Yet, by 1951, the ideological aims of the colonial project were changing. Sanders's paternalism had been dismissed in favour of a rhetoric that emphasized partnership and progress. The post-1945 district officer was expected to be a modern administrator, ready to work alongside educated Africans to prepare Britain's colonies for self-government. Exploring both Colonial Office recruitment strategies and recruits’ career motivations, this article situates the often ignored issue of Colonial Service recruitment at the end of empire within a wider cultural context to illuminate why, even as many turned away from careers in empire after 1945, a significant number of young Britons continued to apply.

Post‐colonial careering and urban policy mobility: between Britain and Nigeria, 1945–1990

“…Criticised from the 1930s by educated Nigerian elites, this system of indirect rule, which sought to limit the impact of modernisation on ‘traditional life’, continued to hold sway among many colonial administrators well into the 1940s (Home ). Nevertheless, after 1945, district officers were increasingly expected to be ‘modern administrators’, working ‘alongside educated Africans to prepare Britain's colonies for self‐government’ (Jeppeson , 1).…”

“…Moreover early professional life shaped later work, outlook and identity as affiliations remained even as career paths developed in new directions. Longstanding networks of class and connection were still important in appointments to the colonial service in the 1940s (Jeppeson ) and remained influential in Phelps’ subsequent roles. Indeed autobiographies of other colonial administrators who became New Town Managers highlight how friendships formed in empire continued to matter, personally and professionally, throughout a lifetime (Bryan ).…”