# Owen Gream Ommanney

Lieutenant-Commander Owen Gream Ommanney (11 September 1898 – 4 November 1985) was a British colonial administrator in British North Borneo (now Sabah) in the early part on the twentieth century.

## Biography

Owen Gream Ommanney, born on September 11, 1898, in Mortlake, East Sheen, England, was the eldest of five children of his father, Francis Frederick Ommanney, and his mother, Olive Caroline. The 1911 Census, conducted on April 2, 1911, lists Ommanney as a boarding student at a private school in Folkestone. The house at the address Feltonfleet, Shorncliffe Road, remains an elite school today, known as “Earlscliff.”
Shortly thereafter, in May 1911, the twelve-year-old joined the Navy, serving as a cadet on a training ship until August 1914. His general behavior was described as “satisfactory” in his service record, however, he was also marked as “zealous and capable”.
From August 1914, O.G. Ommanney participated in World War I with the Navy in the rank of Midshipman. His first ship was the HMS Irresistible, which was heavily damaged and had to be abandoned during the Dardanelles Campaign. Ommanney was among those who were rescued from the sinking ship and subsequently served on the HMS Egmont and the HMS Queen Elizabeth, among others. He concluded his Navy service on March 31, 1923, with the rank of Lieutenant.
On April 16, 1923, he was hired by the North Borneo Chartered Company as a Cadet. His personal skills likely played a minor role in this hiring: his grandfather, Capt. Sir Montagu Frederick Ommanney, G.C.M.G., K.C.B., I.S.O. (1842 - 1925), had been a member of the “Court of Directors” since 1912, and his grandson's appointment was certainly a mere formality.
On July 21, Ommanney boarded the Hakozaki Maru of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line under the Master R. Shimidzuin London, arriving in North Borneo on September 5, 1923.
The young cadet was assigned to the East Coast Residency and, starting in November 1924, to the Interior Residency. He navigated the typical hurdles of a cadet career (Lower Standard Malay Exam, Higher Standard Malay Exam) before being promoted in 1925 to a regular Officer of Class B and Magistrate of the First Class. In 1926, he was appointed Assistant District Officer of Papar.
During his home leave in 1927, he married Joan Catherine Upton (1898–1990), with whom he returned to North Borneo in January 1928. There, he assumed the post of Acting District Officer for the Clarke Province in Mempakul. However, the prestigious position of District Officer ultimately went to E.W. Skinner in May, and Ommanney was transferred to Jesselton as Assistant Collector of Land Revenue. Additionally, he succeeded G.C. Woolley as Superintendent of the Printing Office, inheriting the role as Editor of the British North Borneo Herald. In the same year, Ommanney's wife fell ill, prompting him to take an extended leave to accompany her first to Hong Kong and then back to England.
On September 5, 1929, he submitted his resignation and returned to England for good.
After returning to England, he continued his career with the Ministry of Labour as H.M. Inspector of Factories. In September 1938, about one year before the start of World War II, having risen to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander, he was posted as NOIC (Naval Officer in Charge) to Aberdeen, where he was likely involved with shipyards. Following an interim position in 1942 as Base Executive Officer on the staff of the Maintenance Captain in Glasgow, he was assigned to HMS Brontosaurus in 1943. Codename HMS Brontosaurus was the No. 2 Combined Training Centre (CTC), based at Castle Toward, Dunoon, Argyll, informally known as CTC Castle Toward. It trained officers and crews to operate major landing craft in preparation for amphibious landings on unimproved beaches in North Africa, the Mediterranean, Normandy, and other locations. His final posting was in Appledore, where he also settled after his retirement.
O.G. Ommanney died on November 4, 1985, in Bideford, Devon, England. He left behind his wife Joan Catherine and a son (born December 22, 1931).