Percy Wyn-Harris

Sir Percy Wyn-Harris KCMG MBE KStJ (24 August 1903 – 25 February 1979) was an English mountaineer, colonial administrator, and yachtsman. He worked in the Colonial Service in Africa and served as Governor of the Gambia from 1949 to 1958.

Early life and mountaineering Wyn-Harris was born in Acton, Middlesex on 24 August 1903 as Percy Wynne Harris (he formally changed his name to Percy Wyn-Harris in 1953). He was the son of a company director and was educated at Gresham's School, Holt, and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. As an undergraduate, he was a member of the University Mountaineering Club. In 1925, he made the first ascent without guides of the Brouillard Ridge on Mont Blanc.

In 1929, he met mountaineer Eric Shipton and together they climbed the twin peaks of Mount Kenya, making the first ascent of Nelion, the secondary summit. A member of Hugh Ruttledge's 1933 Mount Everest expedition, Wyn-Harris reached Edward Norton's record height of 8,573 m (28,126 feet). At around 8,460 m (27,920 ft), he discovered an ice axe, which was almost certainly a remnant of Mallory and Irvine's ill-fated attempt at the first ascent in 1924. Wyn-Harris returned to Everest in 1936, in an expedition again led by Hugh Ruttledge.

The Gambia Wyn-Harris was appointed as Governor of the Gambia in December 1949. His time in office coincided with a growth of nationalist sentiment in West Africa. It was his belief that the Gambia should not progress towards self-government; rather, it should maintain a permanent link with the United Kingdom and be administered locally: what he termed the 'Channel Islands option'. Wyn-Harris was also opposed to the development of political parties in the Gambia. His first constitution in 1951 increased the number of elected members of the Legislative Council from two to three. After the 1951 election, he also put up the number of unofficial members of the Executive Council and did so again with his 1953 constitution. Two of these members were granted specific portfolios and termed Ministers.

Retirement and death Between 1962 and 1969, Wyn-Harris circumnavigated the globe in his sloop Spurwing, a Gunning Grundel. He died in Petersfield, Hampshire, aged 75.

Honours 1941: Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) 1949: Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) 1950: Knight of the Order of St John (KStJ) 1952: Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG)