Sir Claud Severn ( Chinese Translated Name: 施勳) (1869–1933) was a British colonial administrator. Severn joined the colonial civil service in

British Malaya The term "British Malaya" (; ms, Tanah Melayu British) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. ...

in 1894 and worked under the

Governor of the Straits Settlements The governor of the Straits Settlements was appointed by the British East India Company until 1867, when the Straits Settlements became a Crown colony. Thereafter the governor was appointed by the Colonial Office. The position existed from 1826 ...

. In 1912, he became Colonial Secretary of

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 ...

and remained in the post until 1925. During this period, Severn governed Hong Kong twice as acting administrator during transition periods between Governors.

Early life

Sir Claud Severn was born on 9 September 1869 in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, to

Walter Severn Walter Severn (12 October 1830 – 22 September 1904), professionally a civil servant, was known as an English water-colour artist. Life Severn was born in Frascati, near Rome, the eldest son of Joseph Severn and his wife Elizabeth, daughter o ...

(1830－1904) (at one time British Consul in Rome) and Mary Dalrymple Fergusson (1845-1916). His mother was the daughter of Sir Charles Dalrymple Fergusson, 5th Baronet. Severn went to St Peter's College, Adelaide and studied Latin and chemistry at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on ...

."Severn, Sir Claud", ''Who Was Who'', London: A & C Black, 1996. He later graduated from

Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge (formally Selwyn College in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Augustus Selwyn (1 ...

with a BA in 1890 and MA in 1913.

Colonial service

Having joined the Foreign Service in 1891 as a temporary library clerk, Severn was appointed, in 1894, private secretary to Sir Charles B H Mitchell, then Governor of the Straits Settlements. After a period of 17 years in the colonial administration of the Federated Malay States including four years as private secretary to Governor Sir John Anderson, he was appointed Colonial Secretary in Hong Kong, leading the administration under Governor Sir Frederick Lugard. He was acting governor of Hong Kong for just over a year during a transition between governors from 1918 to 1919. It was 1918 when he entertained the visiting George Morrison, the highly influential Political Advisor to the President of the Chinese Republic, who related that the appointment of the "Buffoon of Hong Kong" was "one of the jokes of our time". In 1920, at 50, he married Margaret Annie Bullock, the daughter of Thomas Lowndes Bullock who from 1899 was Professor of Chinese at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

, and they had two sons and a daughter. Both Severn and Governor Sir Reginald Stubbs retired in 1925, victims of the

general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coa ...

which all but destroyed Hong Kong that year and for which they were criticised by James Jamieson, British Consul General in Canton. Jamieson saw them as out of touch and out of date, unable to converse in Chinese and ignorant of republican China.

Later life

After his service in Hong Kong, Severn departed for

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and died at the Old Rectory,

Ewelme Ewelme () is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, north-east of the market town of Wallingford. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,048. To the east of the village is Cow Common and to the ...

, near

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

, on 8 April 1933.

Memory

Severn Road, which is located on Mount Gough in Hong Kong, was named after him.

Honours

CMG CMG may refer to: Companies * Capitol Music Group, a music label * China Media Group, the predominant state radio and television broadcaster in the PRC * China Media Group Co., Ltd., publicly listed Chinese holding company in the media sector * ...

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary For ...

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

1923

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Severn, Claud 1869 births 1933 deaths Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge Chief Secretaries of Hong Kong People from Adelaide Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire