Richard James Wilkinson
Richard James Wilkinson | |
|---|---|
| Governor of Sierra Leone | |
| In office 9 March 1916 – 4 May 1922 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Preceded by | Sir Edward Marsh Merewether |
| Succeeded by | Sir Alexander Ransford Slater |
| 12th Colonial Secretary of Straits Settlements | |
| In office 1911–1916 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Governor | Sir Arthur Young |
| Preceded by | Edward Lewis Brockman |
| Succeeded by | Sir Frederick Seton James |
| British Resident at Negeri Sembilan | |
| In office 1910–1911 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Preceded by | Douglas Graham Campbell |
| Succeeded by | Arthur Henry Lemon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 29 May 1867 Salonika, Ottoman Empire (now Greece) |
| Died | 5 December 1941 (aged 74) İzmir, Turkey |
| Profession | Colonial Administrator |
Richard James Wilkinson CMG (29 May 1867 – 5 December 1941) was a British colonial administrator, scholar of Malay, and historian. The son of a British consul, Richard James Wilkinson was born in 1867 in Salonika (Thessaloniki) in the Ottoman Empire. He studied at Felsted School and was an undergraduate of Trinity College, Cambridge. He was multilingual and had a command of French, German, Greek, Italian and Spanish, and later, Malay and Hokkien which he qualified in, in 1889, while a cadet after joining the Straits Settlements Civil Service. He was an important contributor to the Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (JMBRAS). On 7 November 1900 Wilkinson presented a collection of Malay manuscripts and printed books to the University of Cambridge Library. He was appointed CMG in 1912.