Claude Scudamore Jarvis: Difference between revisions

Major '''Claude Scudamore Jarvis''' [[Order of St Michael and St George|CMG]] [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] (born 20 July 1879 in [[Forest Gate]], [[London]], died 8 December 1953 in [[Ringwood]], [[Hampshire]]) was a British colonial governor, Arabist and naturalist noted for his knowledge of and rapport with the desert Bedouin.▼

He married Mabel Jane Hodson, daughter of a member of the US embassy staff in London, in 1903. They had one daughter. Jarvis then combined part-time military service in [[Ireland]] with freelance journalism until the [[First World War]] broke out.▼

Jarvis's interest in [[Arab people|Arabs]] and the [[Arabic language]] grew from wartime army service in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] and [[Egypt]], then a British [[protectorate]]. He was seconded to the new Egyptian frontiers administration by the British high commissioner, Sir [[Reginald Wingate]], serving first in the Western desert and then in [[Sinai]]. His Arabic and knowledge of Bedouin customs allowed him as governor of Sinai from 1923 to intercede successfully in local disputes and to clamp down on banditry and [[illegal drug trade|drug trafficking]]. He also traced the remains of a Roman and Byzantine settlement in northern Sinai, and by damming the local [[Wadi]] Gedeirat and restoring the stone channels succeeded in recreating an oasis.▼

In 1933 while Governor of Sinai Jarvis was appointed an [[Order of the British Empire|Officer of the Order of the British Empire]].<ref name="obe">{{LondonGazette |issue=33946 |date=2 June 1933 |startpage=3810 |supp=x |accessdate=31 July 2011}}</ref> The King of Egypt had early in 1931 awarded him with the Insignia of the Third Class of the [[Order of the Nile]].<ref name="nile">{{LondonGazette |issue=33746 |date=2 August 1931 |startpage=5466 |supp=x |accessdate=31 July 2011}}</ref>▼

Jarvis took early retirement in 1936 and was appointed a [[Order of St Michael and St George|Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG)]]. He then devoted himself to natural history, writing and farming. He joined the staff of the magazine ''[[Country Life (magazine)|Country Life]]'' in 1939, contributing a column, ''A Countryman's Notes'', for 14 years. He was awarded the Lawrence Medal by the [[Royal Society for Asian Affairs|Royal Central Asian Society]] in 1938.<ref>[http://www.telawrence.info/telawrenceinfo/ref/memmed.shtml T.E. Lawrence studies website]. Retrieved 25 July 2010.</ref> He died at his Ringwood home, Chele Orchard, on 8 December 1953.<ref>Biographical information: {{cite web | url= http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/34160| author = Ronald Wingate | title = Jarvis, Claude Scudamore (1879–1953)| work = Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edition| publisher = Oxford University Press, 2004 | date = May 2006 |accessdate= 25 July 2010}}</ref>▼