Coastwatcher Donald Kennedy

Have just found this entry in the British Library:
EAP-AF-009 Kennedy, Donald Gilbert
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Donald Gilbert Kennedy was born on 12 March 1898. His career in the Pacific began in Fiji, where he was stationed from 1921 to 1922. In 1922 he was appointed Headmaster of the Banaban School at Ocean Island.

In 1923/24 he was transferred to the Ellice Island School, which he helped to establish. Originally located at Funafuti, difficulties over land and food caused the school to move to the island of Vaitupu. The Ellice Island School was one of only two schools in the Colony. The other was the King George V School at Bairiki on the island of Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. Both were boarding schools for native boys and their educational programme was aimed at preparing selected boys for future service as clerks or interpreters with the Government. Strategically, this was seen as a first step towards establishing a stronger Native Government, and self-government for the islanders.

A change in the Administration’s approach to education occurred during the years 1929 to 1930. To this point, the existing schools needed only to produce enough potential government workers, as there were annual places to fill. The remainder of the boys were to be taught subjects based around the needs of village life. An important component of the new educational strategy was the opening of village schools. To aid them in this undertaking, the government enlisted the assistance of the Missions who agreed to supply the new schools with teachers. Under this new scheme the King George V Boys’ School was converted into a Training School for Teachers. Kennedy was appointed Headmaster of this school in 1931.

After less than a year in this post, in 1932 Kennedy became Acting Administrative Officer for the Ellice Islands. Later that same year he became Acting Superintendent of Education for the whole Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony, a position he relinquished in 1933. In 1934 he became an Administrative Officer of the Colony, and in the same year he became Lands Commissioner for the Ellice Islands District.

[FONT=&quot]In 1937 Kennedy was appointed a Deputy Commissioner for the Western Pacific in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony. In 1938 he was appointed a member of the Colonial Administrative Service. Later that year he was transferred to the British Solomon Islands Protectorate (BSIP) and appointed District Officer at Nggela. This was the beginning of a lengthy period spent in the Solomon Islands. From 1939 until 1940 he was Deputy Commissioner for the Western Pacific in the BSIP. From November 1940 to October 1941 he worked as Inspector of Native Labourers with the BSIP before being assigned to the District of Ysabel on 9 October 1941. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]On 16 December he was appointed a 2nd Lieutenant with the Defence Force, stationed at the Solomon Islands. In July of 1942 he was assigned to the District of Gizo. That month he was promoted to Captain with the Defence Force, and in August 1943 he was promoted again, this time to Temporary Major. For his activities with the BSIP Defence Force he was awarded the DSO (Distinguished Service Order) in 1943.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]In 1944 he resumed duty in the BSIP when he was appointed Acting District Commissioner of the Central District. That same year he was seconded to the Western Pacific High Commission with an appointment as Acting First Assistant Secretary, a position he held until August 1945. In September 1945 he was seconded to the Gilbert and Ellice Island Colony and at the same time his appointment with the BSIP Defence Force ended. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]He retired in April 1947. From 1947 to 1948 Kennedy was involved with the relocation and resettlement of Ocean Islanders (the Banabans) to Rabi Island in Fiji. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]His work in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, and in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, encouraged an interest in anthropology, education and languages. He published numerous articles, and a guide to the Tuvaluan language entitled Te Ngangana a te Tuvalu: Handbook on the Language of the Ellice Islands. In 1931 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute. [/FONT]

He died in New Zealand in 1976.
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[FONT=&quot]General context:[/FONT]
The Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony existed from 1916 until 1979.
The British Solomon Islands Protectorate existed from 1893 until 1976.
[FONT=&quot]Ocean[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Island[/FONT][FONT=&quot] (Banaba) was mined for its phosphate from 1900. The native inhabitants, the Banabans, found that their land was uninhabitable after the mining was completed, and were left with no option but to move to Rabi, an island in Fiji.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Names/Identifiers of related corporate bodies, persons or families:[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
EAP/AF/001 Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony | 1916-1979
[FONT=&quot]EAP/AF/008 Lands Commission | 1922-1954/55[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Authority record identifier:[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]EAP/AF/009[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Institution identifiers:[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The British Library[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sources:[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
Macdonald, Barrie. Cinderellas of the Empire: Towards a history of Kiribati and Tuvalu, University of the South Pacific 2001.
[FONT=&quot]Annual Reports [/FONT][FONT=&quot]of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Maintenance notes:[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Prepared by the Endangered Archives Programme Curator, February 2007. Most of the information in this authority file was supplied by Richard Overy and Stephen Innes of the Auckland University Library.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Identifiers and titles of related resources:[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]EAP005/COL001 Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony Collection[/FONT]