Papers of Sir Arthur Edwin Young

Police papers, reports and correspondence, Gold Coast, 1951, Malaya, 1952-1953, Kenya, 1954

Sir Arthur Edwin Young (1907-1979) joined the Portsmouth City Police as a cadet clerk at the age of seventeen, rising through the ranks to become the youngest chief constable in the country at Leamington, 1938. He later held the rank of Assistant Chief Constable, Birmingham. During the Second World War, he served as Director of Public Safety to the Allied Control Commission in Italy. By 1946 he was Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. Three years later, he was appointed Chief Constable of the City of London. In 1951 he was sent to the Gold Coast to advise on the reorganisation of the police force. In 1952 he was asked to reorganise the Malay Police. While in Malaya he improved police efficiency through training, overhauled police administration and emphasised the force's role towards all members of the Malay community. In 1953, he returned to the City of London police. In 1954 he was appointed Commissioner of the Kenya Police. However, his belief in an independent police force and his opposition to the use of firearms did not prove popular with the Kenyan colonial administration and he resigned after nine months. In 1955 he returned to his duties as Commissioner of the City of London police. His views on police disarmament also proved controversial when he was sent by the Labour government to Ulster to implement the Hunt Report in 1969-1970. he retired in 1971.

Bodleian reader's ticket required. An embargo exists on access to the following papers 

• Report of the Assistant Commissioner, Crime, Kenya, 10th December 1954
• Report of the Assistant Commissioner, Crime, Kenya, 28th December 1954, with a covering letter to the His Excellency the Governor of Kenya

Collection level description created by Paul Davidson, Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies at Rhodes House.

Listed as no. 632 in Manuscript Collections in Rhodes House Library Oxford, Accessions 1978-1994 (Oxford, Bodleian Library, 1996).

No reproduction or publication of papers without permission. Contact the library in the first instance.

Personal papers concerning the Royal Ulster Constabulary, copies of Malayan and Kenya papers, and press cuttings, Malaya, Kenya and Ulster are held at the New Scotland Yard Reference Library and are accessible at the discretion of the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.