Papers of Sir Selwyn Macgregor Grier

Collection

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This collection is not fully described in Bodleian Archives & Manuscripts

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The collection mainly covers the years Grier was in Nigeria, and mostly consists of family letters from Grier to his mother and to his sister "Dorothy" (Mary Lynda Dorothea Grier) who was Principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, from 1921-1945. There is also a file of papers relating to Nigera and an album of photographs (mostly dated 1911).

Dates

Creation: 1884-1957 (bulk 1905-1925)

Extent

4 boxes

Language of Materials

English

Preferred Citation

Oxford, Bodleian Libraries [followed by shelfmark and folio or page reference, e.g. MSS.Afr.s.1379].

Please see our help page for further guidance on citing archives and manuscripts.

Full range of shelfmarks:

MSS.Afr.s.1379

Collection ID (for staff)

CMD ID 2113

Additional Description

Biographical / Historical

Sir Selwyn Macgregor Grier was born on the 1 April 1878 and educated at Marlborough College, and Pembroke College, Cambridge. He taught at Berkhamsted School (1901-1902) and Cheam School (1902-1905) before joining the Colonial Service in Nigeria as Assistant Resident in Zaria Province (1906). He was later transferred to Bauchi (in 1912) and to Ibadan (in 1913). In 1921 Grier was appointed Secretary for Native Affairs (1921-1925) and in 1925 was seconded as Director of Education of the Southern Provinces.

Grier left Nigeria in 1929 when he was transferred to Trinidad as Colonial Secretary (1929-1935). In 1935 he was appointed Governor of the Windward Islands but the onset of blindness caused his resignation in 1937. His services were rewarded with the CMG in 1929 and he became a Knight Bachelor in 1934 and a KCMG in 1936. Sir Grier died on the 8 November 1946.

Other Finding Aids

The library holds a card index of all manuscript collections in its reading room and a handlist is also available for this collection.

Listed as no. 508 in Manuscript Collections (Africana and non-Africana) in Rhodes House Library, Oxford, Supplementary accessions to the end of 1977 and Cumulative Index, compiled by Wendy S. Byrne (Oxford, Bodleian Library, 1978).