Alexander Grantham

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Sir Alexander Grantham
Sir Alexander Grantham

Sir Alexander William George Herder Grantham (葛亮洪 1899–1978) was a British colonial administrator who governed Hong Kong.

Contents

[edit] Early life, colonial administration career

Grantham was born on 15 March 1899 and was educated at Wellington, 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.

[edit] Legacy as Hong Kong Governor

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 hundreds 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.

[edit] Honors

[edit] Personal life

Grantham was married twice. His first marriage, in 1925, was to Maurine Samson, who died in 1970 and after whom the Gubernatorial yacht, the Lady Maurine, was named. He then married Mrs M. E. Lumley in 1972. Grantham died on 4 October 1978.

[edit] Places/Facilities named after him

Political offices
Preceded by
Sir Philip Euen Mitchell		 Governor of Fiji
1946–1947		 Succeeded by
Sir Leslie Brian Freeston
Preceded by
Sir Mark Aitchison Young		 Governor of Hong Kong
1947–1957		 Succeeded by
Sir Robert Brown Black

[edit] Bibliography

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

[edit] See also

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