John Trevor Archdall Pearce

John was a boarder at the Prep, Thomas House and finally as a School Monitor in Macarthur House. He was a sergeant in the Cadet Corps and a member of the 1st Shooting Team, gaining Full Colours in his final year. John was a dedicated student winning the Form Prize for his first three years and in 1933 The Reverend Canon Wallace Mort Prize for Dux of the School. John consistently won the Form Prize for Divinity and in 1933 the Ellis Roth Prize for Mathematics. In 1927 he was awarded an OBU Bursary and in his final year was the recipient of the Broughton Scholarship. The following year having received the Broughton and Forrest Exhibition, John read Chemistry at Keble College Oxford, graduating in 1938.

John joined the British Colonial Service and after spending a further year at Oxford graduated with an MA in Law and Swahili. By then the world was at war so John enlisted in the Kenya Regiment as a private. He was quickly promoted and would go on to serve throughout Africa, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), India and Burma before being demobilised in 1946 holding the rank of Major.

John returned to Tanganyika as a District Commissioner, his job not only dealing with issues of law but with midwifery and providing basic medical aid. In 1959 John was promoted to Provincial Commissioner for the Southern Highlands and in 1961, at the time of Tanganyika’s independence he moved to the capital Dar es Salaam as Cabinet Secretary for the new Prime Minister. He declined Prime Minister Nyere’s offer to remain in the position twelve months later when the state became a republic claiming the position should be given to a local. From 1963 John spent the next 6 years as Chairman of the Public Service Commissions of Basutoland (Lesotho) and Swaziland. During this time he was responsible for drafting legislation that would help in the development of these emerging nations.

John’s next move was to Lae in Papua New Guinea where for four years from 1969 he was registrar of the newly founded Papua New Guinea University of Technology where he gained a reputation as a highly effective administrator. John left this position to move to Queensland where for ten years he cared for his ailing wife. John’s reputation for modesty, integrity and tolerance remained with him for his remaining years before he passed away in 2000.

In recognition of his dedication and enlightened work as a colonial administrator, in 1965, John was created a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George by her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.