Alexander Grantham

British colonial administrator and diplomat (1899–1978)

This article is about Governor of Hong Kong. For the fireboat, see Alexander Grantham (fireboat).

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|

Sir Alexander Grantham

GCMG

22nd Governor of Hong Kong
In office
25 July 1947 – 31 December 1957
Monarchs| George VI
Elizabeth II
Colonial Secretary| David Mercer MacDougall
John Fearns Nicoll
Sir Robert Brown Black
Edgeworth Beresford David
Preceded by| Sir Mark Aitchison Young
Succeeded by| Sir Robert Brown Black
17th Governor of Fiji
In office
1 January 1945 – 1947
Monarch| George VI
Preceded by| Sir Philip Mitchell
Succeeded by| Sir Brian Freeston
15th High Commissioner for the Western Pacific
In office
1 January 1945 – 1947
Monarch| George VI
Preceded by| (vacant)
Succeeded by| Sir Brian Freeston
Personal details
Born|

Alexander William George Herder Grantham

(1899-03-15)15 March 1899
London, England
Died| 4 October 1978(1978-10-04) (aged 79)
London, England
Spouses|

Maurine Samson, Lady Grantham

(m. 1925; died 1970)​

M. E. Lumley, Lady Grantham

(m. 1972)​

Relations| Warren de la Rue
Thomas de la Rue
Sir William Grantham
Alma mater| Royal Military College, Sandhurst
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Imperial Defence College
Occupation| Soldier, Colonial administrator
Chinese name
Chinese| 葛量洪
| Transcriptions

Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin| Gě Liànghóng
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping| got3 loeng4 hung4

Sir Alexander William George Herder Grantham, GCMG (Chinese: 葛量洪; 15 March 1899 - 4 October 1978) was a British colonial administrator who governed Hong Kong and Fiji.

## Early life, colonial administration career

[edit]

Grantham was born on 15 March 1899 and was educated at Wellington, the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and Pembroke College, Cambridge.

He was gazetted in the 18th Hussars in 1917 and joined the Colonial Administrative Service in Hong Kong in 1922. He was the Deputy Clerk of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for a short period in 1933. In 1934, he was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple and attended the Imperial Defence College later that year.

Grantham became Colonial Secretary of Bermuda from 1935 to 1938, and of Jamaica from 1938 to 1941. He then served as Chief Secretary of Nigeria from 1941 to 1944 and as Governor of Fiji and High Commissioner for the Western Pacific from 1945 to 1947.

Immediately after his tenure as High Commissioner ended, he became Governor of Hong Kong, until 1957. He opposed his predecessor, Sir Mark Young's proposal of expanding social services on the grounds that the local Chinese population cared little about social welfare.[1] Instead, he proposed the election of Unofficial members of the Legislative Council among British subjects only with the Governor holding reserved power to override LegCo decisions.[2]

## Legacy of governorship

[edit]

His tenure marked the beginning of a unitary housing policy by the Hong Kong Government. In December 1953, a fire burned down a large slum area in Shek Kip Mei, Kowloon, killing nine and leaving many homeless. It was under Grantham's administration that the government began to build settlement houses for the homeless. From that point on, the government was deeply involved in low-cost public housing programmes that allowed many Hong Kong people who could not afford to own a flat to live in government-owned housing estates at relatively low cost. The housing programme eventually evolved over time to allow people to buy low-cost housing and receive favourable loans to buy their own houses.

## Honours

[edit]

* Honorary Fellow, Pembroke College, Cambridge
* Honorary Doctorate of Laws degree, Hong Kong University
* CMG, 1941
* KCMG, 1945
* GCMG, 1951

## Personal life

[edit]

Grantham grew up partly in Tianjin, where his father practised law. Both his father and brother were killed in World War I. His mother then remarried, to Johan Wilhelm Normann Munthe, and the family moved to Beijing.

Grantham was married twice. His first marriage, in 1925, was to the well-travelled Maurine Samson, daughter of the late Amos Roland Samson and Liberty "Libby" Cole (Neal) of Champaign County, Illinois. The Governor's official yacht, a Hong Kong health clinic, and a locomotive, were named "Lady Maurine" after her.[3] His first wife died in 1970, and Grantham married (Mrs) M.E. Lumley in 1972. He died on 4 October 1978.

## Honours

[edit]

* United Kingdom :
* Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (C.M.G.) (1941)[4]
* Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (K.C.M.G.) - Sir (1945)[5]
* Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (G.C.M.G.) - Sir (1951)[6]

## Places/facilities named after him

[edit]

* Grantham Hospital in Aberdeen, Hong Kong
* Grantham College of Education in Hong Kong
* Alexander Grantham, a fireboat of the Fire Services Department of the Government of Hong Kong
* Sir Alexander, an EMD G12 Diesel-electric locomotive No. 51, introduced in Hong Kong in 1955 and on display at the Hong Kong Railway Museum[3]

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Alexander Grantham (1965). Via ports, from Hong Kong to Hong Kong. Hong Kong University Press.

## See also

[edit]

* History of Hong Kong

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Goodstadt, Leo F. (2004). "The Rise and Fall of Social, Economic and Political Reforms in Hong Kong, 1930–1955". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch. 44: 66.
2. ^ Miners, N. J. (1986). "Plans for Constitutional Reform in Hong Kong, 1946-52". The China Quarterly. 107: 475. doi:10.1017/S0305741000039862. ISSN 0305-7410.
3. ^ a b The Kowloon Canton Railway (British Section) Part 5 – The Post War Years (1945 to 1978), Tymon, IHHKG, 9 June 2016.
4. ^ "No. 35029". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1941. p. 5.
5. ^ "No. 37119". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 1945. p. 2938.
6. ^ "No. 39243". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 June 1951. p. 3064.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexander Grantham.

* A film clip "Longines Chronoscope with Sir Alexander Grantham" is available for viewing at the Internet Archive

Government offices

Preceded by

Sir Philip Euen Mitchell

|  Governor of Fiji
1946–1947  | Succeeded by

Sir Brian Freeston

Vacant

Title last held by

Sir Harry Luke |  High Commissioner for the Western Pacific
1946–1947
Preceded by

Sir Mark Aitchison Young

|  Governor of Hong Kong
1947-1957  | Succeeded by

Sir Robert Brown Black

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