The governor of Hong Kong was the representative of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

from 1843 to 1997. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and commander-in-chief of the

British Forces Overseas Hong Kong British Forces Overseas Hong Kong comprised the elements of the British Army, Royal Navy (including Royal Marines) and Royal Air Force stationed in British Hong Kong. The Governor of Hong Kong also assumed the position of the commander-in-c ...

. The governor's roles were defined in the

Hong Kong Letters Patent The expression Hong Kong Letters Patent is most commonly used to refer to the Hong Kong Letters Patent 1917, one of the principal constitutional documents of British Hong Kong (others being the Hong Kong Letters Patent 1960, the Hong Kong Letters ...

and Royal Instructions. Upon the end of British rule and the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, most of the civil functions of this office went to the chief executive of Hong Kong, and military functions went to the commander of the People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison.

The governor

Authorities and duties of the governor were defined in the

and Royal Instructions in 1843. The governor, appointed by the British monarch (on the advice of the Foreign Secretary), exercised the executive branch of the government of Hong Kong throughout British sovereignty and, with the exception of a brief experiment after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, no serious attempt was made to introduce representative government, until the final years of British rule. HK History of HK Museum Uniform of HK Governor Edward Youde

HK History of HK Museum Uniform of HK Governor Edward Youde

The governor of Hong Kong chaired the colonial cabinet, the Executive Council (ExCo), and, until 1993, was also the president of the Legislative Council. The governor appointed most, if not all, of the members of the colony's legislature (known colloquially as LegCo), which was largely an advisory body until the first indirect election to LegCo was held in 1985. Initially, both councils were dominated by British expatriates, but this progressively gave way to local Hong Kong Chinese appointees in later years. Historically, the governors of Hong Kong were either professional diplomats or senior colonial officials, except for the last governor, Chris Patten, who was a career politician. In December 1996, the governor's salary was HK$3,036,000 per annum, tax-free. It was fixed at 125% of the chief secretary's salary.House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 17 Dec 1996 (pt 3)
In the absence of the governor, the chief secretary immediately became the acting governor of the colony. The chief secretaries were historically drawn from the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of c ...

or British military. One

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

Vice Admiral served as administrator after

. Four

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

military officers (three

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

officers and one naval vice admiral) served as administrators during the

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong The Imperial Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. The surrender occurred after 18 days of fierce ...

in World War II.

Transport

The governor of Hong Kong used a

Daimler DS420 The Daimler DS420, also known as the Daimler Limousine, is a limousine made by The Daimler Company Limited between 1968 and 1992. The car was designed for official use and it was popular with chauffeur services, hoteliers and undertakers. It ...

for day to day transport and a Rolls-Royce Phantom V landaulet for ceremonial occasions. Both vehicles were removed by the

immediately following the handover to China on 1 July 1997.

Residences

* The first governor, Sir Henry Pottinger, 1st Bt., resided at the site of the now

Former French Mission Building The Former French Mission Building is a declared monument located on Government Hill at 1, Battery Path, Central, Hong Kong. It housed the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong from 1 July 1997 to 6 September 2015. Antiquities and Monuments O ...

from 1843 to 1846. It was used as the home of the Provisional Government after Japanese surrender from 1945 to 1946. The building now houses the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. His successor, Sir John Davis, 1st Bt., also lived there before moving to Caine Road. * Since the 4th governor, Sir John Bowring, the governors resided at Government House, excluding the period from 1941 to 1946. * From 1941 to 1945 the

Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

of Japanese Forces as Military Governor of Hong Kong occupied Flagstaff House as their residence. The residence was returned to the Commander of British Forces following the end of World War II.

List of governors

British administrators and governors (1841–1941)

Japanese occupation (1941–1945)

British administrators and governors (1945–1997)

Timeline

Firsts

Charles Elliot Admiral Sir Charles Elliot (15 August 1801 – 9 September 1875) was a British Royal Navy officer, diplomat, and colonial administrator. He became the first Administrator of Hong Kong in 1841 while serving as both Plenipotentiary and Chief Su ...

, first administrator * Sir Henry Pottinger, first governor and first

Irishman The Irish ( ga, Muintir na hÉireann or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common history and culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has been c ...

to serve in the role * Sir John Francis Davis, first Sinologist to serve as governor * Sir John Bowring, first Puritan to serve as governor * Sir John Pope Hennessy, first

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the Briti ...

to serve as governor * Sir Matthew Nathan, first

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

to serve as governor * Sir Francis H. May, first police chief to serve as governor and first governor being to suffer an assassination attempt (which failed) * Sir Cecil Clementi, first Indian-born and Cantonese-speaking governor * Sir Mark Young, first prisoner of war to serve as governor *

Takashi Sakai was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, known for his role as Governor of Hong Kong under Japanese occupation. Biography Sakai was born in Kamo District, Hiroshima, now part of Hiroshima city. He was educ ...

, first Japanese administrator to serve as governor *

Cecil Harcourt Admiral Sir Cecil Halliday Jepson Harcourt (translated to Chinese as zh , t= 夏慤 , j=haa6 kok3 , labels=no; 11 April 1892 – 19 December 1959) was a British naval officer. He was the ''de facto'' governor of Hong Kong as commander-in-chi ...

, first British military administrator to serve as governor (all past governors with military service had retired before assuming the post) * Sir Murray MacLehose, first non-colonial officer to serve as governor; he was a diplomat, a foreign service officer * Sir Edward Youde, first governor fluent in Mandarin; only governor to die in office * Chris Patten, first politician to serve as governor; only governor not to don the formal dress as governor; only governor never to have held any title of nobility or knighthood during his tenure, the last Governor of Hong Kong under British rule before 1 July 1997

Standards

File:Flag of the Governor of Hong Kong 1910.svg , Standard of the Governor of Hong Kong 1910–1955. File:Flag of the Governor of Hong Kong 1955.svg, Standard of the Governor of Hong Kong 1955–1959. File:Flag of the Governor of Hong Kong (1959-1997).svg, Standard of the Governor of Hong Kong 1959–1997.

References

External links

Places named after British monarchs, members of the Royal Family and colonial officials in Hong Kong

Corpus of Political Speeches
Free access to political speeches by Governor of Hong Kong and other politicians, developed by Hong Kong Baptist University Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Governor Of Hong Kong British Hong Kong Defunct positions of the Hong Kong Government Governors