TheDistrict Officer (abbreviated toD.O.), was a commissioned officer of one of the colonial governments of theBritish Empire, from the mid-1930s also a member of theColonial Service of theUnited Kingdom, who was responsible for a District of one of the overseas territories of the Empire.

The district officer was an administrator and often also amagistrate and was the link between the professional and technical services of the colonial government and the people of his district. He was at the heart of colonial administration throughout most of the British Empire, although not inBritish India, where the same functions were carried out by members of theIndian Civil Service, nor in the self-governingDominions.^[1][2]

District Officers wore uniforms, according to the climate, but their formal tunic with gold braid was usually reserved for ceremonial occasions.

Until the 1930s, each overseas possession had its own administrative service, and prospective District Officers needed to apply to one or more of them. Once in post, an officer wishing to transfer to another colony orBritish protectorate had to make a new application to its government. However, in the 1930s a unified Colonial Service was created, with a number of sub-services, and each of its officers was a member of the civil service of a particular territory and also of one of the sub-services of the Colonial Service managed by theColonial Office, based inWhitehall.^[1]

Before being appointed, a candidate was first a District Officer Cadet, undergoing a rigorous training, and was then promoted to Assistant District Officer, usually after two years of successful probation and after passing examinations.^[3] On being appointed as a District Officer, he took on the administration of a District, usually in the territory of the Empire where he was.^[1]

Because of the number of districts, many District Officers remained in the same role until leaving the Colonial Service. If they were promoted, they became first District Commissioners, then Provincial Commissioners. Some rose to the pinnacle of being colonial Governors, although men were also appointed as Governors whose previous careers had been in other services. In particular, the Governors ofHong Kong,Gibraltar,Malta, andBermuda were almost invariably seniorBritish Army orRoyal Navy officers.^[1]

• Sir Reginald Fleming Johnston (1874-1938) a District ofWeihaiwei, later a tutor to the former EmperorPuyi
• Sir Colin Allan (1921–1993), a New Zealander who was a District Officer in the Solomon Islands and laterGovernor of the Seychelles
• Reginald Applin (1869–1957), a District Officer of theNorth Borneo Chartered Company, later aConservativemember of parliament
• William R. Bell (1876–1927), Australian-born District Officer ofMalaita in theBritish Solomon Islands
• Ian Blelloch (1901–1982), a District Officer in Malaya
• Sir Jack Boles (1925–2013), a District Officer and District Commissioner in North Borneo, later Director-General of the National Trust
• Anastasios Christodoulou (1932–2002), a District Officer in Tanganyika, later Secretary General of theAssociation of Commonwealth Universities
• Oscar Cook (1888–1952), a District Officer inNorth Borneo, later a writer
• Sir Douglas Hall, 14th Baronet (1909–2004), a District Officer in Africa, laterGovernor of British Somaliland
• Edwin Richard Hallifax (1874–1950), a District Officer in Hong Kong, later acting Colonial Secretary
• Mark Herdman (1932–2015), a District Officer in Kenya, laterGovernor of the British Virgin Islands
• Tom Iremonger (1916–1998), a District Officer in the Western Pacific, later a Conservative member of parliament
• Gwilliam Iwan Jones (1904–1995), a District Officer inBende,Nigeria
• Sir Donald Luddington (1920–2009), a District Officer in Hong Kong, laterHigh Commissioner for the Western Pacific andGovernor of the Solomon Islands
• Sir Foley Newns (1909–1998), a District Officer in Nigeria, later Cabinet Secretary
• Sir James Pollock (1883–1982), a District Officer inRamallah, later District Commissioner forJerusalem andNorthern Ireland Senator
• Victor Purcell (1896–1965), a District Officer onChristmas Island, later an academic
• Tunku Abdul Rahman (1903–1990), a District Officer ofKedah, later Prime Minister of Malaya and of Malaysia
• Jerome Udoji (1912–2010), a District Officer inNigeria, becoming the first African to be appointed in the Colonial Service, later Nigerian Minister of Finance
• Sir Donald Tsang, a District Officer in Hong Kong, later theChief Executive of Hong Kong
• Harry Graham Willis (1875-1943), a District Officer, later Provincial Commissioner, inRhodesia
• Keith Wookey (1912–1963), a District Officer and later Resident in North Borneo

• Sanders of the River (a film of 1935 about a District Commissioner in Nigeria)
• The Scarlet Spear (a film of 1954 about a District Officer in Africa)
• Pacific Destiny (a film of 1956 about a District Officer Cadet in Oceania)

• John Morley,Colonial Postscript: The Diary of a District Officer 1935–56 (London: Radcliffe Press, 1992)
• Edgar Wallace,Sanders of the River (1911)
• K. G. Bradley,The Diary of a District Officer (1943)
• Arthur Grimble,A Pattern of Islands (1952)

• Colonial records -National Archives
• Anthony Kirk-Greene,The District Officer in the African Colonial Novel at britishempire.co.uk

• Governance of the British Empire

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata