George Chardin Denton

Sir George Chardin Denton (22 June 1851 – 9 January 1928) was a British colonial administrator and former military officer who served as the Administrator, and later Governor, of the Gambia from 1900 to 1911.

Early life and education He was born in Stour Provost, Dorset, England, the son of the local Anglican vicar. He attended Rugby School before enlisting in the 57th Regiment in 1869, rising to the rank of captain.

Military and colonial service

In 1880, Denton joined the Colonial Service as chief of police on Saint Vincent. He served as its acting Colonial Secretary from 1886 to 1888 and was appointed as Colonial Secretary of the Colony of Lagos in 1889. He was knighted in January 1889. Denton was appointed as Lieutenant Governor of the Colony of Lagos in early March 1900, but in November of that year was reassigned as Administrator of the Gambia.

In March 1901, his position was upgraded from Administrator to Governor, the first Governor of the Gambia since 1866. As Governor, Denton completed the work began by his predecessor, Robert Baxter Llewelyn, in establishing the framework of British rule in the Protectorate. He did this by issuing a series of ordinances that clarified and set out the system. Denton also led the punitive expedition against Fode Kaba in 1901, a leading resistance leader in the Senegambia region, which led to Kaba's death. Denton also successfully argued against the requirements of the Entente Cordiale, which would have assigned a mid-river port on the Gambia to the French. Denton said that the port would destroy British trade on the river and was a key factor in the British delaying their planned cession until after World War I, and, in the end, delay the plans indefinitely.

Mary Gaunt, upon meeting Denton, described him as "surely the nicest governor ever lucky colony had".

Denton also made a contribution to domestic politics in the Gambia, appointing S. J. Forster Jr, to the Legislative Council in 1906. Denton retired from the Gambia in December 1911. According to his obituary published in The Times he ensured that "considerable progress was made both in the condition of the [Gambian] people and in trade."