Sir Robert Perceval Armitage (21 December 1906 – 7 June 1990) was a British colonial administrator who held senior positions in Kenya and the Gold Coast, and was Governor of Cyprus and then of Nyasaland during the period of decolonisation. Early years Armitage was born on 21 December 1906 in Nungambakkam, Madras, the first child of Frank and Muriel Armitage. His father was commissioner of police in Madras city. At the age of ten he was sent to Highfield School at Liphook, Hampshire, where he was captain of the cricket team in his final year. From 1920 to 1925 he attended Winchester College. He became a district and secretariat officer in Kenya. Armitage married Gwladys Lyona Meyler (b. 2 May 1906, Natal) on 18 February 1930 in Highlands Cathedral, Nairobi, Kenya. Their children were Robert Jeremy, born on 16 June 1932 in Poole, Dorset, England and Richard Hugh Lyon, born on 30 May 1937 in Canford Cliffs, Dorset, England. Gold Coast In July 1948, Armitage was financial secretary of the Gold Coast. After the governor had said he was willing to consider the creation of an agricultural bank, Armitage said his government was "deeply committed in principle" to taking action and "would find it difficult to retreat". In 1949, Armitage was chairman of a committee to consider establishing a national bank. He tried to dampen nationalist demands by ruling out the idea of a Reserve Bank, but did not succeed. By 1950, Armitage was Minister of Finance of the Gold Coast. At the end of 1950 the colonial government proposed to increase export duties on cocoa. The world price for the crop was rising, and the government felt that the planters would waste increased profits on luxuries, while the government would use it for development plans. Armitage was prepared to face opposition from cocoa producers, but prayed for five years of rising world prices to solve all economic problems. Armitage recommended appointment of a first-rate economic expert to manage the economy during the cocoa boom. He said the country "is rapidly moving out of the extremely restricted economy of the years before the war and so the holder should be someone who has experience of financial and economic matters, at least in other parts of Africa and possibly experience from other parts of the world". In his budget speech in 1953, Armitage explained the policy he had followed: "(Sterling) balances