Matthew Nathan

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Sir Matthew Nathan GCMG, (Chinese Translated Name 彌敦) (3 January 1862 – 18 April 1939) was a British soldier and civil servant, who variously served as the Governor of Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, Hong Kong, Natal and Queensland.

Contents 1 Early life and career 2 Colonial Service 3 Personal life 4 Honours 5 Places named after him 6 See also 7 References

[edit] Early life and career

Sir Matthew Nathan was born in Paddington, England. He was of Jewish descent and the second son of businessman Jonah Nathan and Miriam Jacob Nathan. His brothers were Major F. L. Nathan, R.A. an officer of the Royal Artillery and Superintendent of Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills; Sir Nathaniel Nathan was colonial judge in Trinidad and Tobago.

Nathan was educated at Royal Military College, Sandhurst and Royal Engineers' School, Chatham in 1880-1884 when he was gazetted to Royal Engineers in 1880.

Nathan was sent to military expeditions to Sudan (1884-5) and to Lushai, India (1889-1894). He was promoted to the position of Captain in 1889 and became the secretary to the Colonial Defence Committee between 1896 and 1898. Nathan was promoted to Major in 1898.

[edit] Colonial Service

Nathan was appointed acting governor of Sierra Leone from 1899 to 1900. In the same year, he was appointed as Governor of Gold Coast, a position he occupied until 1903.

In 1903, Nathan was appointed as Governor of Hong Kong, a position he would serve until 1907. During his tenure, Nathan was credited with the establishment of a central urban planning and reconstruction policy, which regulated the growth of Hong Kong and built major thoroughfares in the Kowloon Peninsula. The construction of Kowloon-Canton Railway started under this period.

In 1907, Nathan was made Governor of Natal (until 1909). In that same year, he was raised to a higher rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Eventually, Nathan returned to England and took up an appointment as secretary to the General Post Office, a position he served until 1911.

Nathan became the Chairman of the Board of Ireland Revenue between 1911 and 1914. He served as under-secretary for Ireland in from 1914 to 1916. In that same year, he was appointed as secretary to the Ministry of Pension, a position he held until 1919.

In 1920, Nathan was appointed Governor of Queensland. He served in that position until 1925. It was to be his last post within the Colonial Services. During his tenure, Nathan actively promoted British migration to Queensland. In 1922 he founded, along with Henry Caselli Richards, the Great Barrier Reef Committee. After his appointment expired, Nathan left Queensland for retirement in Somerset, England.

[edit] Personal life

Nathan was a lifelong bachelor, and rumors were rife at the time about his alleged affairs with a number of women. Nathan died in England in 1939.

[edit] Honours

• K.C.M.G., 1902
• G.C.M.G., 1908

[edit] Places named after him

Nathan Road, the main commercial artery in the Kowloon Peninsula (otherwise known as the Golden Mile), was named after him, as were Nathan Nathan Heights, suburbs of Brisbane (the capital city of Queensland, Australia) and Nathan Street in the Canberra suburb of Deakin.[1]

[edit] See also

• History of Hong Kong

[edit] References

• Paul D. Wilson, 'Nathan, Sir Matthew (1862 - 1939)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, MUP, 1986, pp 667-668
• Sir Matthew Nathan at the Jewish encyclopedia

Preceded by Sir Frederic Cardew	Governor of Sierra Leone 1899–1900	Succeeded by Sir Frederic Cardew
Preceded by Frederick Mitchell Hodgson	Governor of Gold Coast 1900–1903	Succeeded by John Pickersgill Rodger
Preceded by Sir Francis Henry May, (Acting Administrator)	13th Governor of Hong Kong 1904–1907	Succeeded by Lord Frederick Lugard
Preceded by Sir Henry Edward McCallum	Governor of Natal 1907–1909	Succeeded by Paul Sandford
Preceded by Sir Hamilton John Goold-Adams	Governor of Queensland 1920–1925	Succeeded by Sir Thomas Goodwin