First English Governor of the Province of Nicosia (August 1878 – May 1879) and second High Commissioner of Cyprus during the British Raj, from 23 June 1879 to 9 March 1886.
Robert Biddulph was born in London in 1835. His father was a member of parliament. Biddulph had a brilliant military career. In 1853 he joined the Royal Artillery. In 1872 he was promoted to colonel, in 1883, while serving in Cyprus, to lieutenant general, and in 1892 to general. As a young officer he took part in the Crimean War (1854-1856) and in the suppression of the Indian Rebellion of 1857-1859. During these military operations, Biddulph met Sir Garnet Wolseley, later the first High Commissioner of Cyprus (1878-1879), with whom he became close friends. In 1860, our hero took part in the Chinese War.
After four years of service in India, he returned to England in 1865. From 1871 to 1873 he served as special secretary to Secretary of War Cardwell and helped implement military reform. He continued to hold high positions in this ministry until July 1878, when Sir Garnet Wolseley selected him for service in Cyprus. After leaving Cyprus in 1886, Bidallf held various positions in England, and was governor of Gibraltar (1893–1900).
Biddulph's first appointment in Cyprus was as governor of the province of Nicosia. In this position he was very useful to the British administration of the island. Here his skills in many fields, especially in economics, came in very handy. He was appointed plenipotentiary representative for negotiations with the Ottoman Porte. Before traveling to Istanbul, he managed to discover very important data. The fact is that the Ottomans inflated revenues too much and reduced administrative expenses too much to create a larger surplus, which, according to the addendum to the treaty, England had to pay annually to the Sultan for the right to lease Cyprus.
While still in Constantinople in early May 1879, Biddulph was appointed, on Wolseley's recommendation, to succeed him as High Commissioner of Cyprus. He arrived in Larnaca. The new commissioner began to perform his duties on June 23, 1879. His appointment was welcomed by the Neon Kition newspaper: “This is a man whose face reflects his kindness. He is an important exception among his colleagues - as governor of Nicosia he did nothing wrong..." The fact is that shortly before Biddulph's arrival in Cyprus, the Greek Cypriots were greatly outraged by the behavior of the governor of Limassol Warren, as well as other governors, their authoritarian style of governance, with the help of which the military administration of Wolseley tried to break the national character of the Cypriots. Biddulph, due to his character and also because he was in Constantinople at the time, was not in the same ranks with his fellow governors in the eyes of the Cypriots. But very soon the Cypriots began not so positive about it.
Biddulph followed the same line that had been adopted by Disraeli's government: Cyprus was to be developed into a military and naval base to serve British imperial interests and at the same time was to become a model of how an enlightened administration could govern and develop the former Ottoman province. However, for such purposes, any nationalist movement had to be suppressed in the very bud. It is very possible that he shared this position, which was communicated to him by the British government on his appointment, because he was always suspicious of any attempt by the Greek Cypriots to improve their political position through the reforms they sought for a fairer share in the government of the island. One of the most important projects undertaken during Biddulph's administration was the successful control of locusts. On his initiative, roads were built between some cities and in some rural areas. areas, ports were significantly modernized through the construction of docks, and swamps were drained in the Famagusta area and other places.
Biddulph had much in common with Cyprus and its people. He traveled a lot - this man knew the island from end to end. Three years after his departure from Cyprus in 1889, he gave a lecture at the Royal Geographical Society of London on the geography of Cyprus, in which he showed a very good knowledge of the island. He visited Cyprus after retirement because one of his six daughters was married to High Commissioner Charles Harman-King. During one of these visits, Biddulph wrote and published in Nicosia on 15 April 1910 a short but very informative article, “The Currency of Cyprus under the British Occupation in 1878.” A few years earlier, in 1904, he produced another work in England related to his service in the War Office, entitled Lord Cardwell at the War Office.
During his tenure the basic principles of British rule in Cyprus were laid down.
This article was first published in the Cyprus Herald on February 11, 2022. Some information may be out of date.
