Humphrey Gibbs

Gibbs died in Harare on 5 November 1990, with his funeral held at the Cathedral of St Mary and All Saints, Harare. In 2004 a memorial to Gibbs by Lettering and Sculpture Limited was unveiled in St Paul's Cathedral in London.

In June 1969, Gibbs resigned after Smith's government held and won a referendum that year making Rhodesia a republic. He remained in Rhodesia and lived the rest of his life on his farm. Throughout the 1970s he was known for supporting the cause of African nationalism, which brought him into conflict with the government of Ian Smith. Later he was appointed to Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council and was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) by Queen Elizabeth II. After independence in 1980 he decided to "stay on" and took up Zimbabwean citizenship. He stayed on his farm where he had been living since 1970 until 1983 when he moved to Harare in 1983 where he lived until his death in 1990.

In 1967, on the second anniversary of UDI, Gibbs declared that his visitors' book would be open to all those who wished to show their loyalty to The Queen, while Dupont, in response, announced that the visitors' book at his office, on the same street, would be open to all those who wished to show their support for UDI.

The Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) by the Rhodesian Front government (under Prime Minister Ian Smith) in November 1965 placed Gibbs in a very difficult position. He was intensely loyal to Rhodesia, and was a close friend of Ian Smith, but he was also equally loyal to his office as the Queen's viceroy. While understanding what had made Smith's government declare the UDI, Gibbs decided that final legality rested with the Crown, not Smith and his government.

In 1959, Queen Elizabeth II appointed Gibbs as Governor of Southern Rhodesia and appointed him a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1960.

He became active in farming administration and helped found the National Farmers Union. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly at the general election of 1948 as a United Party member, representing the constituency of Wankie, serving one term before standing down in 1954.

On 17 January 1934, Gibbs married Molly Peel Nelson (b. 13 July 1912, Johannesburg) in Bulawayo, and they had five sons together. Molly Gibbs (Lady Gibbs from 1960), was appointed as a Commander of the Order of St John of Jerusalem (CStJ) in 1960, and a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1969. Following Gibbs' death in 1990, Molly Gibbs moved to England and died on 20 January 1997 in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

Sir Humphrey Vicary Gibbs, GCVO KCMG OBE KStJ PC (22 November 1902 – 5 November 1990), was the penultimate Governor of the colony of Southern Rhodesia, from 24 October 1964 simply Rhodesia, who served until, and opposed, the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965.

Gibbs was born on 22 November 1902 in England, the third son of The Hon. Herbert Gibbs, later created, in 1923, The 1st Baron Hunsdon of Hunsdon. He was educated at Ludgrove School, Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. He moved to Southern Rhodesia in 1928, buying a farm at Nyamandhlovu, near Bulawayo.