C. Northcote Parkinson

1793

RN (1949) War in the Eastern Seas, 1793–1815 (1954) Trade in the Eastern Seas (1955) British Intervention in Malaya, 1867–1877 (1960) Britannia Rules (1977) Portsmouth Point, The Navy in Fiction, 1793–1815 (1948) Other non-fiction The Rise of the Port of Liverpool (1952) Parkinson's law (1957) The Evolution of Political Thought (1958) The Law and the Profits (1960) In-Laws and Outlaws (1962) East and West (1963) Parkinsanities (1965) Left Luggage (1967) Mrs.

1803

In 1934, then a graduate student at King's College London, he wrote his PhD thesis on Trade and War in the Eastern Seas, 1803–1810, which was awarded the Julian Corbett Prize in Naval History for 1935. ==Academic and military career== While a graduate student in 1934, Parkinson was commissioned into the Territorial Army in the 22nd London Regiment (The Queen's), was promoted to lieutenant the same year, and commanded an infantry company at the jubilee of King George V in 1935.

1823

Parkinson, who was speaking on "The Task of the Historian," began by noting the new Raffles history chair was aptly named because it was Sir Stamford Raffles who had tried to found the university in 1823 and because Raffles himself was a historian.

1867

He asked that these be passed to the Raffles Library or the University of Malaya library, instead of being thrown away, as they might aid research and help those studying the history of the country to set down an account of what had happened in Malaya since 1867.

The first volume, written by Parkinson, covered the years 1867 to 1877 and was to be published within three months thence.

the 19th and 20th centuries, an area where, according to Parkinson, little had been done, with hardly any serious research attempted for the period after 'the transfer,' in 1867.

He said that, while the period of development of the Straits Settlements under the East India Company were well-documented - the bulk of these archived at the Raffles Museum, local records after 1867 were not as plentiful and that it would be necessary to reconstruct those records from microfilm copies of documents kept in the United Kingdom.

RN (1949) War in the Eastern Seas, 1793–1815 (1954) Trade in the Eastern Seas (1955) British Intervention in Malaya, 1867–1877 (1960) Britannia Rules (1977) Portsmouth Point, The Navy in Fiction, 1793–1815 (1948) Other non-fiction The Rise of the Port of Liverpool (1952) Parkinson's law (1957) The Evolution of Political Thought (1958) The Law and the Profits (1960) In-Laws and Outlaws (1962) East and West (1963) Parkinsanities (1965) Left Luggage (1967) Mrs.

1869

He said that the arrival of the Pluto in Singapore, one of the first vessels to pass through the Suez Canal when it opened in 1869, might be described as the moment when British Malaya was born.

1870

He said that mining developed steadily after British protection had been established and that tin from Negri Sembilan in the 1870s came from Sungei Ujong and Rembau, and worked with capital from Malacca.

1877

The first volume, written by Parkinson, covered the years 1867 to 1877 and was to be published within three months thence.

1915

In 1943 he married Ethelwyn Edith Graves (born 1915), a nurse tutor at Middlesex Hospital, with whom he had two children. Demobilized as a major in 1945, he was a lecturer in history at the University of Liverpool from 1946 to 1949.

1921

The exhibition comprised a selection of photographs spanning 1921 to 1951.

1929

Peter's School, York, where in 1929 he won an Exhibition to study history at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

1932

He received a BA degree in 1932.

1934

In 1934, then a graduate student at King's College London, he wrote his PhD thesis on Trade and War in the Eastern Seas, 1803–1810, which was awarded the Julian Corbett Prize in Naval History for 1935. ==Academic and military career== While a graduate student in 1934, Parkinson was commissioned into the Territorial Army in the 22nd London Regiment (The Queen's), was promoted to lieutenant the same year, and commanded an infantry company at the jubilee of King George V in 1935.

1935

In 1934, then a graduate student at King's College London, he wrote his PhD thesis on Trade and War in the Eastern Seas, 1803–1810, which was awarded the Julian Corbett Prize in Naval History for 1935. ==Academic and military career== While a graduate student in 1934, Parkinson was commissioned into the Territorial Army in the 22nd London Regiment (The Queen's), was promoted to lieutenant the same year, and commanded an infantry company at the jubilee of King George V in 1935.

1937

He was promoted to captain in 1937. He became senior history master at Blundell's School in Tiverton, Devon in 1938 (and a captain in the school's OTC), then instructor at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1939.

1938

He was promoted to captain in 1937. He became senior history master at Blundell's School in Tiverton, Devon in 1938 (and a captain in the school's OTC), then instructor at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1939.

1939

He was promoted to captain in 1937. He became senior history master at Blundell's School in Tiverton, Devon in 1938 (and a captain in the school's OTC), then instructor at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1939.

Parkinson is reported to have said "Britain spent about $500 million building a naval base there [Singapore] and the only fleet which has used it is the Japanese." A navy spokesman, then, attempting to counter that statement said that the Royal Navy's Singapore base had only been completed in 1939, and, while it was confirmed that the Japanese had, indeed used it during the Second World War, it had been used extensively by the Royal Navy's Far East fleet, after the war.

1940

In 1940, he joined the Queen's Royal Regiment as a captain and undertook a range of staff and military teaching positions in Britain.

1943

In 1943 he married Ethelwyn Edith Graves (born 1915), a nurse tutor at Middlesex Hospital, with whom he had two children. Demobilized as a major in 1945, he was a lecturer in history at the University of Liverpool from 1946 to 1949.

1945

In 1943 he married Ethelwyn Edith Graves (born 1915), a nurse tutor at Middlesex Hospital, with whom he had two children. Demobilized as a major in 1945, he was a lecturer in history at the University of Liverpool from 1946 to 1949.

1946

In 1943 he married Ethelwyn Edith Graves (born 1915), a nurse tutor at Middlesex Hospital, with whom he had two children. Demobilized as a major in 1945, he was a lecturer in history at the University of Liverpool from 1946 to 1949.

1949

In 1943 he married Ethelwyn Edith Graves (born 1915), a nurse tutor at Middlesex Hospital, with whom he had two children. Demobilized as a major in 1945, he was a lecturer in history at the University of Liverpool from 1946 to 1949.

1950

In 1950, he was appointed Raffles Professor of History at the new University of Malaya in Singapore.

Parkinson started teaching at the University of Malaya in Singapore at the beginning of April 1950. === Public lectures === The first lecture of the Raffles Professor of History was a public lecture given at the Oei Tiong Ham Hall, on 19 May.

They were also asked to consider whether the Official Film Censor should continue to be the controller of the British film s quota, and to consider the memorandum of the film trade submitted to the Governor earlier that year. === Investigating, archiving and writing Malaya's past === At the beginning of December 1950, Parkinson made an appeal, at the Singapore Rotary Club, for old log books, diaries, newspaper files, ledgers or maps accumulated over the years.

Nor can it even be taught in the schools until that writing has been done." Parkinson had been urging the Singapore and Federation Governments to set up a national archives since 1950.

1951

The exhibition comprised a selection of photographs spanning 1921 to 1951.

Send it to a library where it may some day be of great value," he said. In September 1951 the magazine, British Malaya, published Parkinson's letter that called for the formation of one central Archives Office where all the historical records of Malaya and Singapore could be properly preserved, pointing out that it would be of inestimable value to administrators, historians, economists, social science investigators and students.

By that time, the press reported, the series had expanded into a twelve-volume set. === Malayan history syllabus === In January 1951 Parkinson was interviewed by New Zealand film producer and director, Wynona “Noni” Hope Wright.

he talked about the founding of Singapore. === Special Constabulary === In the middle of April 1951, Parkinson was sworn in as special constable by ASP Watson of the Singapore Special Constabulary at the Oei Tion Ham Hall, together with other members of the staff, and students who were then placed under Parkinson's supervision.

The case was postponed a number of times, after which it was finally heard at the end of July. === Anglo-American Conference of Historians === Parkinson departed Singapore on Monday 18 June 1951 for London, where he represented the University of Malaya at the Fifth Anglo-American Conference of Historians, there, from 9 to 14 July.

1952

The Singapore campus later became the University of Singapore. Parkinson divorced in 1952 and he married the writer and journalist Ann Fry (1921–1983), with whom he had two sons and a daughter.

Hough who had resigned. In March 1952, Parkinson proposed a central public library, for Singapore, as a memorial to King George VI, commemorating that monarch's reign.

Tregonning, acting head of the History Department, and History Lecturer at the University of Malaya since 1952, was appointed to fill the Raffles History Chair left vacant by Parkinson's resignation.

1953

140 photographs were on display for a month at the British Council Hall, Singapore, showing scenes ranging from the German surrender to the opening of the Festival of Britain by the late King. He opened an exhibition of photographs taken by students of the University of Malaya during their tour of India, at the University Arts Theatre in Cluny Road, Singapore, 10 October 1953. === Victor Purcell === Towards the end of August, Professor of Far Eastern History at Cambridge University, Dr.

In June 1953 he urged the speedy establishment of a national archives, where, "in air-conditioned rooms, on steel shelves, with proper skilled supervision and proper precaution against fire and theft, the records of Malayan history might be preserved indefinitely and at small expense.

1955

In 1958, while still in Singapore, he published his most famous work, Parkinson's Law, which expanded upon a humorous article that he had published in the Economist magazine in November 1955, satirising government bureaucracies.

He noted that Chinese working side-by-side with Europeans, did better with their primitive methods and made great profits when they took over mines that Europeans abandoned. Arranged by the Indian University Graduates Association of Singapore, Parkinson gave a talk on "Indian Political Thought," at the USIS theatrette on 16 February 1955. On 10 March 1955, he spoke on "What I think about Colonialism," at the British Council Hall, Stamford Road, Singapore at 6.30 p.m.

He noted, however, that the problems of supervising archives and collecting old documents, had still to be solved. In January 1955 Parkinson formed University of Malaya's Archaeological Society and became its first President.

1956

Hundreds of amateurs will delve into mysteries of the past." In April 1956 it was reported that 'For the first time, a long-needed Standard History of Malaya is to be published for students.' According to the news report a large-scale project, developing a ten-volume series, the result of ten years of research by University of Malaya staff, was currently in progress, detailing events dating back to the Portuguese occupation of 1511, to the, then, present day.

1957

For example, on 16 October 1957, at 10 a.m., he spoke on this at the International Women's Club programme talk held at the Y.W.C.A.

1958

In 1958, while still in Singapore, he published his most famous work, Parkinson's Law, which expanded upon a humorous article that he had published in the Economist magazine in November 1955, satirising government bureaucracies.

After serving as visiting professor at Harvard University in 1958, the University of Illinois and the University of California, Berkeley in 1959–60, he resigned his post in Singapore to become an independent writer.

Canton, in early June 1958, as reported by Reuters, and made the front page of the Straits Times on the 9th of June.

Reporting from London on Saturday 14 June 1958, Hall Romney wrote, "Prof.

He was to return in October at the start of the new academic year. === Resignation === In October 1958, while still on sabbatical in America – together with his wife and two young children, he had set off for America in May 1958 for study and travel and was due to return to work in April 1959 – Parkinson, through a letter sent from New York, resigned his position at the University of Malaya.

1959

His efforts were unsuccessful and the two campuses were established in 1959.

After serving as visiting professor at Harvard University in 1958, the University of Illinois and the University of California, Berkeley in 1959–60, he resigned his post in Singapore to become an independent writer.

Admiralty and Air Ministry..." In March 1959, further publicity occurred when, the Royal Navy in Singapore took umbrage at a remark Parkinson had made during his talk, about his new book on the wastage of public money, in Manchester, shortly before.

Emeritus Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Oxford, Richard Storry, writing in the Oxford Mail, 16 May 1962, noted, "The fall of Singapore is still viewed with anger and shame in Britain." On Thursday 10 September 1959, at 10 p.m., Radio Singapore listeners got to experience his book, Parkinson's Law, set to music by Nesta Pain.

He was to return in October at the start of the new academic year. === Resignation === In October 1958, while still on sabbatical in America – together with his wife and two young children, he had set off for America in May 1958 for study and travel and was due to return to work in April 1959 – Parkinson, through a letter sent from New York, resigned his position at the University of Malaya.

In Parkinson's case, however, the council determined that that resignation had been submitted after the regulations came into effect, and a decision had been made to write to him, asking that he report back to work before a certain date, failing which the council said it was free to take any action they thought appropriate. In July 1959, K.

1960

While there, he initiated an important series of historical monographs on the history of Malaya, publishing the first in 1960.

The serialised program continued until the end of February 1960.

It was estimated that the last volume would be released after 1960.

It was not till 1960 that British Intervention in Malaya (1867-1877), that first volume, finally found its way on bookshelves and into libraries.

1962

Emeritus Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Oxford, Richard Storry, writing in the Oxford Mail, 16 May 1962, noted, "The fall of Singapore is still viewed with anger and shame in Britain." On Thursday 10 September 1959, at 10 p.m., Radio Singapore listeners got to experience his book, Parkinson's Law, set to music by Nesta Pain.

1969

His writings from this period included a series of historical novels featuring a fictional naval officer from Guernsey, Richard Delancey, during the Napoleonic era. In 1969 he was invited to deliver the MacMillan Memorial Lecture to the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland.

1984

There was nothing in the press about whether the matter between Parkinson and the university had been resolved, or not. == Later life and death == After the death of his second wife in 1984, in 1985 Parkinson married Iris Hilda Waters (d.

1985

There was nothing in the press about whether the matter between Parkinson and the university had been resolved, or not. == Later life and death == After the death of his second wife in 1984, in 1985 Parkinson married Iris Hilda Waters (d.

1993

After two years there, they moved to Canterbury, Kent, where he died in March 1993, at the age of 83.




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