Horace Byatt

Sir Horace Archer Byatt (22 March 1875 – 8 April 1933) was a British colonial governor. In the early part of his career he served in Nyasaland, British Somaliland, Gibraltar and Malta. Later, he served in British East Africa, becoming the first governor of the British mandate of Tanganyika. He was then the governor of Trinidad and Tobago.

Biography Byatt was born 22 March 1875 in Tottenham, Middlesex to schoolmaster Horace Byatt M.A., of Midhurst, Sussex (where he was taught by H. G. Wells at Midhurst Grammar School), and Laura (née Archer).

From 1916 he was an administrator in British East Africa, and in 1920 he became the first governor of the new British mandate of Tanganyika. As a result of this his administration gained a reputation for being humane. Byatt would not enforce any rule in the territory that he did not believe was helpful to the territory's African majority, nor would he allow "any non-African interest" to take precedence over that of the territory's African population. After a French visitor, Pierre Marbois, "carelessly" ignored the advice of a guide and was mauled by a leopard in front of Byatt, Byatt "always took care to be cautious around wildlife." Byatt was also said to be "very fond of watching the elephants," though he did not hunt them, he merely liked to observe them. He was also governor and commander in chief of Trinidad and Tobago between 1924 and 1929. Ronald (Robin) Archer Campbell Byatt CMG (1930–2019), British diplomat, High Commissioner in Zimbabwe and New Zealand, Ambassador to Morocco