Douglas James Smyth Crozier, CMG (20 March 1908 – 17 November 1976) was an Irish teacher, civil servant and the Director of Education of Hong Kong.

Biography

Crozier was born in

Ballinamallard Ballinamallard or Bellanamallard (Flanagan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 172. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a small village and townland in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 1,364 people in the 2021 C ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

(now part of

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

) on 20 March 1908. He arrived in Hong Kong around the 1930s as a history teacher at the Hong Kong government's Education Department and taught at the King's College. He was a founding member of the Hong Kong Teacher's Association. He was a Captain in the 2nd Battery of the

Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps The Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers) (RHKR(V)) (), formed in May 1854, was a local auxiliary militia force funded and administered by the colonial Government of Hong Kong. Its powers and duties were mandated by the Royal Hong Kong R ...

. He was captured by the Japanese on Christmas Day, 1941 after fighting at Stanley during the

Battle of Hong Kong The Battle of Hong Kong (8–25 December 1941), also known as the Defence of Hong Kong and the Fall of Hong Kong, was one of the first battles of the Pacific War in World War II. On the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, forces of the ...

, and was held as a prisoner of war. His wife and children were evacuated to Sydney. He spent four years imprisoned at the Argyle Street Officers' Camp, and then at Shamshuipo. After the war he became an editor of the Hong Kong Teacher's Association's journal, the ''Path of Learning''. He was appointed the Director of Education from 1950 to 1961 and also an official member of the

Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, colloquially known as LegCo, is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under People's Republic of China, China's "one country, two systems" c ...

in that capacity. He was also the member of the Court and Senate of the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

. In 1956, he became an official member of the

Executive Council of Hong Kong The Executive Council of Hong Kong (ExCo) is the Cabinet (government), cabinet of the Government of Hong Kong, acting as a formal body of advisers to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong that serves as a core policy-making organ assisting the c ...

. During his service as the Director of Education, he was responsible for the establishment of the Evening School of Higher Chinese Studies; the Grantham Training College, and the New Technical College; a seven-year primary school expansion programme; the development of post-secondary colleges towards degree-granting status, grant-in-aid schemes to three colleges; schemes that provide aid to a host of private schools in Hong Kong. Crozier retired in 1961 and returned to the United Kingdom. He died in

Tandragee Tandragee () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is on a hillside above the Cusher River, and is overlooked by Tandragee Castle. The town is in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Ballymore, County Armagh, Ballymore and t ...

on 17 November 1976 at the age of 68.

Honours

For his contributions to the development of Hong Kong's education system,

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

appointed Crozier a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

in 1957. He was also awarded an honorary degree by the University of Hong Kong in 1961. In 1969 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws from the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...

. Crozier House, one of the four houses of King George V School in Kowloon, is also named after him.

Personal life

Crozier met his wife Ann, a native Londoner, at the

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, where they were both studying education. They had three children, Julian and Corin and Douglas Jr.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crozier, Douglas James Smyth Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Hong Kong educators World War II prisoners of war held by Japan Government officials of Hong Kong Members of the Urban Council of Hong Kong 1908 births 1976 deaths British expatriates in Hong Kong