Hywel George OBE

Hywel George made significant contributions to Churchill College, Cambridge, where he served as Bursar and fellow during the formative years of the institution.

Hywel George arrived in 1948 as the district officer for the British Colonial Service in Jesselton, the capital of the new British protectorate in North Borneo (now Sabah).

His tasks were many and varied, from administrative, for which he had training and experience, to medical, dental, agricultural and judicial matters — of which initially he knew little, but rapidly learnt much.

George was by instinct and education a geographer and he enjoyed his wide-ranging involvements in North Borneo life: he lived and worked in the shadow of the 13,000ft Mount Kinabalu, used his working knowledge of the Malay language and studied the customs of the Dusun.

In 1966 he was moved to a different sphere of British influence, to St Vincent in the Caribbean. As in North Borneo, George, now governor, had responsibility for all areas of life on the islands such as the intricacies of island politics, the development of tourism and the relief of child malnutrition.

All of his achievements in this pot-pourri, together with his years in the Far East, were recognised by his appointment as OBE and CMG. Significantly, in 1964, shortly before leaving North Borneo, George had been made a ‘Dato’, the title given to recipients of the Illustrious Order of Kinabalu. He was the first European to be so honoured.

The third move in his career path came when George was appointed bursar and fellow of the still-new Churchill College at the University of Cambridge. In this role, all of his administrative and personal skills came together in the energetic ways in which he helped to guide the college and its staff. He knew everyone, active and retired, and looked after them.

Born in Holyhead, Anglesey, in 1924, to William, a Baptist minister, and Katherine (née Lloyd), a maths teacher, Hywel whose ‘cherubic curls’ and focused approach to childhood life were well known in the family folklore attended Llanelli Grammar School after the move to south Wales.

Aberystwyth University and a geography course were interrupted by his RAF service in the Second World War as a navigator in Canada, the US and southeast Asia.

Briefly back in the UK from Borneo, during a period of study at Pembroke College, Cambridge, he married Edith Pirchl who was studying English. She was at his side through the remaining years in Borneo and the Caribbean and the move to Cambridge. Edith survives him along with three daughters: Frances, who became a police officer, Carol, an accountant, and Tamara, a secretary in the Foreign Office.

There was a strong and persisting Welshness to George. On retirement from Churchill College he served in a variety of chairmanship roles on the council of Bangor University, his strong background in administration blending with his love of Wales – naturally, rugby was never far from his mind nor the beloved family home in Llanfairfechan.

Yet Hywel had a world view, an inquiring mind and a lively concern for the communities of people in all the diverse regions of the globe in which he found himself.

Hywel George OBE, CMG, colonial administrator and bursar of Churchill College, Cambridge, was born on May 10, 1924. He died on March 3, 2024, aged 99.

[This is a shortened version of one appearing in The Times, 21/08/2024]