HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Sir Geoffry Alexander Stafford Northcote, KCMG
KStJ The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (), commonly known as the Order of St John, and also known as St John International, is an order of chivalry constituted in 1888 by royal charter from Queen Victoria and dedica ...
(羅富國;9 February 1881 – 10 July 1948) was a British colonial administrator.


Early life, education, and early colonial services career

Northcote was the son of Reverend the Hon. Arthur Francis Northcote, fourth son of the 1st Earl of Iddesleigh. The 1st Baron Northcote was his uncle. He was educated at
Blundell's School Blundell's School is an Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent co-educational boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school in the English Public School (United Kingdom), public school tradition, located in Tiverton, Devon, T ...
in Tiverton and
Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...
. He entered the Colonial Service in 1904 and served in
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
(the East African Protectorate) from 1904 to 1927. He became Chief Secretary of
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 ...
a year later, and served there until 1930. Afterwards, Northcote served as the Chief Secretary of Gold Coast, until 1934 and as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of
British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...
from 1935 to 1937.


Attack in Kenya

When he arrived in Kenya in 1904 as a political attache, Northcote was posted to
Nyanza Province Nyanza Province (; ) was one of Kenya's eight administrative provinces before the formation of the 47 counties under the 2010 constitution. Six counties were organised in the area of the former province. The region is located in the southwes ...
which was then part of Uganda. In early 1905, he accompanied a punitive expedition to Kisii land in South Nyanza. The expedition seized and slaughtered livestock and torched houses as punishment for raids the Kisii had carried out on neighbouring groups. In 1907, Northcote was deployed as the District Commissioner of Kisii. The Kisii, who nicknamed him ''Nyarigoti'', considered him their mortal enemy. On 18 January 1908, in the middle of a punitive expedition he was leading, Northcote was attacked with a spear and injured by a warrior called Otenyo. When Otenyo was caught, he was tried and executed in public by a firing squad and then beheaded. When Northcote learned of these attacks to revenge the attack on him, which ended up costing 160 lives, he wrote to his father, "It would take too long to describe the idiocy, obstinacy and want of military operations."


Hong Kong Governorship

He became Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Hong Kong in 1937. During his tenure, the
Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...
broke out, and battles broke out throughout Mainland China. In order to safeguard the Colony, Northcote immediately declared Hong Kong a neutral zone. As the war proceeded, Canton (Guangzhou) was occupied by the Japanese, causing a population boom as refugees rushed into Hong Kong. Northcote proposed more provision of housing and social services to serve the needs of the poor. Meanwhile, the
Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...
(IJA) also started encroaching upon Sham Chun (
Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...
), leading the Hong Kong government to adopt various measures to cope with the emergency, such as the construction of air-raid shelters and blackout practices. Northcote also withdrew the plan of expanding social services. After taking six-months' leave in the UK, Northcote returned to Hong Kong in March 1941. Poor health forced him to retire that year, and he left when his appointment expired in September 1941.


Personal life

Northcote married Edith Juliet Mary Adams on 27 October 1910; she was the daughter of James Adams VC. The couple had three sons: Maxwell Adams Stafford, Arthur Geoffrey Stafford, and Amyas Henry Stafford. Northcote died in July 1948, aged 67.


Honours

* C.M.G., 1931 * K.C.M.G., 1935 * K.St.J. 1937


Places named after him

Northcote Close, a road on
Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...
, and Northcote Teachers' College (the premises is now occupied by Bonham Road Government Primary School) were named after him.


See also

*
History of Hong Kong The region of Hong Kong has been inhabited since the Paleolithic, Old Stone Age, later becoming part of the Chinese Empire with its loose incorporation into the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC). Starting out as a Walled villages of Hong Kong, farming ...
*
Earl of Iddesleigh Earl of Iddesleigh ( ), in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1885 for the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh, Sir Stafford Northcote ...
* Warrior Otenyo


Notes


References

* Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, {{DEFAULTSORT:Northcote, Geoffry Alexander Stafford Governors of British Guiana Governors of Hong Kong 1881 births 1948 deaths Chief secretaries of Northern Rhodesia Chief secretaries of the Gold Coast (British colony) Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights of the Order of St John Geoffry People educated at Blundell's School Civil servants from London 20th-century Hong Kong people 20th-century British politicians