Sir Charles Geoffry Shield Follows (4 July 1896 – 7 August 1983) was a British

colonial administrator Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...

. He was the

Financial Secretary of Hong Kong The Financial Secretary is the title held by the Hong Kong government minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters (“Department of Finance” per Article 60 of the Basic Law). The position is among the three most senio ...

from 1946 to 1951.

Early life and education

Follows (whose second name is also spelt Geoffrey) was born in

West Derby West Derby ( ) is an area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England, in the east of the city. At the 2011 Census, the population was 14,382. History West Derby Mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'', West Derby achieved significance far earlier tha ...

, Lancashire, to Arthur John Follows and Gertrude Lancaster. He was educated at

Wellington School, Somerset Wellington School is a co-educational fee-charging boarding and day school in the English public school tradition for pupils aged 3–18 located in Wellington, Somerset, England. Wellington School was founded in 1837. Wellington School is a ...

and

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

Royal College of Science The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Still to this day, graduates from t ...

(then part of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

Career

Follows served as a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in The King's (Liverpool Regiment) in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He joined the colonial service after the war. He was appointed to

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

from 1920 to 1925,

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

from 1925 to 1927,

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in Southern Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North ...

as the Chief Secretary from 1935 to 1945. He was appointed Chief Financial Advisor to the Civil Affairs Unit in Hong Kong's post-war military administration reporting to

David MacDougall David MacDougall (born November 12, 1939) is an American-Australian visual anthropologist, academic, and documentary filmmaker, who is known for his ethnographic film work in Africa, Australia, Europe and India. For much of his career he co-p ...

(Chief Civil Affairs Officer). When civilian government was restored on 1 May 1946 he was appointed

under governor Sir Mark Young. Follows outlined his financial strategy for Hong Kong to the Legislative Council on 25 July 1946. His first objective was to facilitate a rapid recovery after the period of occupation; and his second was to be financially independent of Britain as soon as possible. He oversaw a rapid recovery in the post-war economy of Hong Kong. By running significant budget surpluses within a year of taking office, he made Hong Kong financially independent of UK government support, and in October 1948 the UK government granted Hong Kong a significant degree of financial independence. Follows introduced the Inland Revenue Bill (1947) which made the temporary pre-war introduction of income tax permanent. In budget forecasting he established a tradition of conservatism, with revenues usually underestimated and costs usually overestimated versus out-turns. Subsequent Financial Secretaries were to adopt the same approach. He gave his last budget in the spring of 1951. He left Hong Kong on pre-retirement leave in May 1951. He retired to

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

, where he died in 1983.

Honours

Follows was appointed 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 ...

(CMG) in the

1945 New Year Honours The 1945 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1945 for the Britis ...

and was knighted in the

1951 New Year Honours The 1951 New Years Honours were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1951 for the Brit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Follows, Geoffrey 1896 births 1983 deaths People from West Derby People educated at Wellington School, Somerset Alumni of Imperial College London King's Regiment (Liverpool) officers Government officials of Hong Kong Financial secretaries of Hong Kong Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Bachelor