Jack Boles

Sir John Dennis Boles (25 June 1925 – 1 July 2013), was a British Colonial Service officer in North Borneo, and later in England worked for the National Trust, serving as its Director-General from 1975 to 1983. Early life A son of Geoffrey Boles, an officer in the Royal Navy, Boles was born at Waterlooville, near Portsmouth, while his father was attached to HMS Vernon, the navy's on-shore School of Gunnery. His father later became a land agent in Devon and the family settled at Talaton, near Ottery St Mary. The young Boles was educated at West Downs School and Winchester College, and in 1943 on leaving school he joined the British Army. Career In November 1944 Boles was commissioned into the Rifle Brigade, but a motorcycle accident kept him out of the fighting in Europe. From 1945 to 1946 he was stationed in Egypt. After leaving the army Boles joined the Colonial Service, learning Arabic and Hebrew for working in Mandatory Palestine, but instead was posted as a district officer to North Borneo, a British protectorate which had suffered from Japanese occupation. He learned to speak Malay and stayed there for seventeen years, becoming a district commissioner. North Borneo was moving towards becoming part of an independent Malaysia, and Boles became Secretary to the last British Governor, Sir William Goode. After independence, which took place on 16 September 1963, he stayed on for a further year as Secretary to the new federal Government of Malaysia's Minister for Land and Natural Resources.