FORMER B.S.I.P DISTRICT COMMISSIONER PASSED ON

A former District Commissioner in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, Mr. Jim Tedder had passed away quietly at his home in Australia on 19th April 2014.

Mr Tedder was born in Sydney, Australia on 10 November 1926 and was brought up at Wamberal.

A government statement says he was appointed as an Administrative Officer Cadet in February 1952 and was posted directly to the British Solomon Islands Protect, BSIP.

Following two months in Central District, he was posted to Malaita as District Officer based at Auki to serve under V. J. Andersen, and in November 1953 was posted to Malu’u as a District Officer.

In August 1954, he was sent to the Devonshire Course in Cambridge.

Confirmed in his appointment in March 1955, the late Tedder was posted to Kirakira in June as District Commissioner Eastern.

In May 1959, Tedder was appointed as Census Commissioner for the sample census organised by Dr Norma McArthur. June a year later he was appointed District Commissioner to Malaita while Michael M. Townsend was on a six-months leave.

Meanwhile, the statement adds, a posting for six months as Assistant Secretary of Social Affairs followed, after which Tedder was posted to Western District for a year as District Commissioner.

He was posted to Honiara as District Officer Guadalcanal in October, and in January 1963 as District Commissioner Central.

In 1967, he was promoted to Administrative Officer Grade A and awarded the M.B.E., which was conferred by the Queen in May while Tedder was in England on a local government attachment to three councils.

On 1st January 1972, late Tedder was appointed to the new post of Director of Information and Broadcasting, from which he retired in November 1974.

He belonged to committees of the Broadcast Advisory, the University of the South Pacific, Museum, and Library.

While Director of Information and Broadcasting he was responsible for helping to establish the Solomon Island Museum, the Library and facilities to ensure that researchers placed copies of their work, whether print or film, in the Government Archives.

He wrote a small booklet, Walks in Guadalcanal, for tourists, co-authored with Geoff Stevens the book Birds in Honiara for the Scout Association funds, and with his wife Margaret published Yams: A Description of their Cultivation on Guadalcanal.

With Tom Russell, and advice from Professor William Davenport, he excavated a cave Fotoruma near Honiara, unearthing artifacts dating back to 970 BC.

His book ‘How Government Works’ was distributed to all Solomon Islands schools.

The former District Commissioner in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate passed away quietly at his home in Australia over the weekend.