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Sir Arnold Wienholt Hodson
Sir Arnold Wienholt Hodson KCMG (1881-1944) was a British colonial administrator who was Governor in turn of the Falkland Islands, Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast.
Born the eldest...view moreSir Arnold Wienholt Hodson KCMG (1881-1944) was a British colonial administrator who was Governor in turn of the Falkland Islands, Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast.
Born the eldest son of Algernon Hodson and Sarah Wienholt in Bovey Tracey, Devonshire on 12 February, 1881, he was educated at Felsted. Sir Hodson was in Central Queensland 1900-1902 and was part of the Queensland Contingent for South Africa in 1902. He served in the Transvaal from 1902-1904. From 1904-1912 he was in the Bechuanaland Protectorate Police Force. His duties as a policeman and magistrate took him into the most remote parts of the territory, one of his missions being the Damaraland frontier at the time of the Herero and Nama Wars in German South-West Africa. He was also much involved in trying to reconcile conflicts between tribal chiefs. His several political missions cover a most important period of the history of Botswana.
He served as Consul in Southern Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) from 1914-1923, then as Consul in South West Abyssinia from 1923-1926. He was Governor of the Falkland Islands (1926-30) and, during his tenure, Mount Hodson, the summit of Visokoi Island in the South Sandwich Islands, was named after him. As governor of the Falkland Islands, he was instrumental in developing radio communications within and beyond the islands. He also established a radio station in the islands.
From 1930-1934 he was Governor of Sierra Leone, where he was known as the “Sunshine Governor” and was responsible for the creation of the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service, which launched on 7 May 1934. That same year he was knighted. Finally, he was Governor of the Gold Coast (now Ghana) 1934-1941, and was the impetus behind the introduction of the Gold Coast Broadcasting System (now Ghana Broadcasting Corporation).
Sir Hodson died on May 26, 1944 in New York City, aged 63.view less