Arthur Grimble

Sir Arthur Francis Grimble, was a British Colonial Service administrator and writer.

Biography

Grimble was educated at Chigwell School and Magdalene College, Cambridge. He then went to France and Germany for postgraduate studies. After joining the Colonial Office in 1914 he became the very first cadet administrative officer in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. From April 1919 he acted as the Resident Commissioner until Herbert Reginald McClure took up his appointment as Resident Commissioner. In 1925 Grimble succeeded McClure as Resident Commissioner. He learned the Gilbertese language, and became a specialist in the myths and oral traditions of the Kiribati people. He remained in the islands until 1933. He has been the source of many people's impressions of the islands through his radio broadcast on BBC in the 1950s and his bestselling book A Pattern of Islands.
Grimble later served as Administrator and Colonial Secretary of St Vincent from 1933, Governor of the Seychelles and as Governor of the Windward Islands.
Grimble was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1930 New Year Honours, and promoted to Knight Commander of the Order in the 1938 New Year Honours.
He was appointed Honorary Colonel of the Windward Islands Battalion in 1944.

Literary career

After retiring and moving to Britain in 1948 Grimble became a writer and broadcaster. He wrote A Pattern of Islands and Return to the Islands, both of which were bestsellers. Pacific Destiny, a film based on his experiences, was released in 1956. Grimble's scholarly work on Gilbertese culture is covered in Henry Evans Maude's book Tungaru Traditions: Writings on the Atoll Culture of the Gilbert Islands.

Heraldic artist

In 1931 Grimble designed the coat of arms of the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, which was granted in 1937. The design has been retained for the flag of Kiribati.