Andrew Caldecott
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Sir Andrew Caldecott (Chinese Translated Name 郝德傑) (1884 - 1951) was a British colonial administrator.
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[edit] Early Life, Education
Sir Andrew Caldecott was born on 26 October 1884 in Kent, England. His father was a cleric. Caldecott was educated at Uppingham, and Exeter College, Oxford, where he became an Honorary Fellow in 1948.
[edit] Colonial Services career
Between 1907 and 1935, he held various appointments in the Malayan Civil Service, including:
- Acting Controller of Labour
- Under-Secretary to the Straits Settlements
- Commissioner of Lands Federated Malay States
- Secretary for Postal Affairs
- Acting British Resident at Negri Sembilan
- Acting British Resident at Perak
- and British Resident at Selangor.
Later in his time in Malaya, Caldecott served as:
- Chief Secretary to the Government of the Federated Malay States (1931-1933)
- Colonial Secretary to the Straits Settlements (1933-1935)
- Officer Administering the Government of the Straits Settlements and High Commissioner for the Malay States (1934).
Through his experience in the Malayan administration, Caldecott was famous for his ability to settle quarrels between different ethnic groups.
[edit] Governor of Hong Kong
In 1935, Caldecott was appointed governor of Hong Kong. His tenure was the shortest in Hong Kong colonial history, for he was appointed the second last governor of Ceylon a little more than a year later to handle the threat to the British administration caused by the overwhelming national liberation movement in Ceylon. When arriving in Hong Kong to assume the Governorship, Caldecott, unusually, elected to wear civilian dress, something that would not happen again until the arrival, in 1992, of the last colonial Governor, Chris Patten.
It was during Caldecott's tenure that Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport received its first regular arrival, the "Dorado" and the Queen Mary Hospital opened as an adjunct hospital to the Hong Kong University (the hospital is now under the control of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority). His tenure also saw the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, with more than 100,000 refugees from the Chinese Mainland flooding into Hong Kong to escape the conflict.
[edit] Personal life
Caldecott married Olive Mary in 1918. They had one son and one daughter. After Olive Mary's death in 1943, Caldecott married again 1946 to Evelyn May. Caldecott died on 14 July 1951.
[edit] Awards and honours
- C.M.G., 1932
- K.C.M.G., 1937
- G.C.M.G., 1941
- C.B.E., 1926
- K.B.E., 1935
- K.St.J., 1936
- Awarded M.A. in Oxon
- Awarded LL.D. in Ceylon
- Malayan Commissioner, British Empire Exhibition, 1924-5
- Member, Royal Asiatic Society (M.R.A.S.)
- Fellow, Royal Society of Arts (F.R.S.A.)
- Honorary Fellow, Royal Philharmonic Society, 1947
[edit] Books he authored
- History of Jelebu
- Not Exactly Ghosts, London: Arnold, 1947 (Including: "A Room in a Rectory", "Branch Line to Benceston", "Sonata in D Minor", "Autoepiphany", "Whiffs of the Sea", The Pump in Thorp's Spinney", "Light in the Darkness", "Decastroland", A Victim of Medusa", "Fits of the Blues", "Christmas Reunion", "In Due Course".)
- Fires Burn Blue, London: Arnold, 1948 (Including: "An Exchange of Notes", "Cheap and Nasty", "Quintet", "Authorship Disputed", "Final Touches", "What's in a Name", "Under the Mistletoe", "His Name was Legion", "Tall Tales but True", "A Book Entry", "Seeds of Remembrance", "Seated One Day at the Organ".)
[edit] Placed named after him
Caldecott Road - a road in New Kowloon was named after him. Caldecott Close in Singapore was also named after him, as is Caldecott Hill, and Andrew Road.
[edit] See also
- History of Hong Kong
- Tarik O'Regan (great grandson)
- William Rowan Hamilton (grandfather)
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir William Peel |
19th Governor of Hong Kong 12 December 1935 – 16 April 1937 |
Succeeded by Sir Geoffry Alexander Stafford Northcote |
| Preceded by Sir Reginald Edward Stubbs |
Governor of Ceylon 1937–1944 |
Succeeded by Sir Henry Monck-Mason Moore |
