Geoffry Northcote

Sir Geoffry Northcote
KCMG KStJ
Sir Geoffry Northcote KCMG KStJ
20th Governor of Hong Kong
	In office; 28 October 1937 – 6 September 1941
Monarch	George VI
Colonial Secretary	Norman Lockhart Smith
Preceded by	Sir Andrew Caldecott
Succeeded by	Sir Mark Aitchison Young
Personal details
Born	9 February 1881
Died	10 July 1948 (aged 67); Sanderstead, Surrey, England
Spouse	Edith Juliet Mary Adams
Alma mater	Balliol College, Oxford
Profession	colonial administrator
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	羅富國
Simplified Chinese	罗富国
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Luó Fùguó
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	lo4 fu3 gwok3

Sir Geoffry Alexander Stafford Northcote, KCMG KStJ (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 in Tiverton and Balliol College, Oxford. He entered the Colonial Service in 1904 and served in Kenya (the East African Protectorate) from 1904 to 1927. He became Chief Secretary of Northern Rhodesia 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 from 1935 to 1937.

Attack in Kenya

When he arrived in Kenya in 1904 as a political attache, Northcote was posted to Nyanza Province 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."^[1]

Hong Kong Governorship

Sir Geoffry Northcote (centre) and his secretaries; businessman Robert Kotewall is 2nd on the right

He became Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Hong Kong in 1937. During his tenure, the Second Sino-Japanese War 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.^[2] Meanwhile, the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) also started encroaching upon Sham Chun (Shenzhen), 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^[3]
K.C.M.G., 1935^[4]
K.St.J. 1937^[5]

Places named after him

Northcote Close, a road on Hong Kong Island, and Northcote Teachers' College (the premises is now occupied by Bonham Road Government Primary School) were named after him.

Notes

^ "Otenyo, the warrior who dared a white DC".
^ Goodstadt, Leo F. (2004). "The Rise and Fall of Social, Economic and Political Reforms in Hong Kong, 1930–1955". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch. 44: 63.
^ "No. 33722". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 June 1931. p. 3627.
^ "No. 34166". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 May 1935. p. 3598.
^ "No. 34470". The London Gazette. 4 January 1938. p. 28.

References

Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, ^{[page needed]}

Government offices
Preceded by Alexander Ransford Slater	Governor of the Gold Coast, acting 1932	Succeeded by Sir Shenton Thomas
Preceded by Sir Shenton Thomas	Governor of the Gold Coast, acting 1934	Succeeded by Sir Arnold Wienholt Hodgson
Preceded by Sir Edward Brandis Denham	Governor of British Guiana 1935–1937	Succeeded by Sir Wilfrid Edward Francis Jackson
Preceded by Sir Andrew Caldecott	Governor of Hong Kong 1937–1941	Succeeded by Sir Mark Aitchison Young

[1] "Otenyo, the warrior who dared a white DC".

[2] Goodstadt, Leo F. (2004). "The Rise and Fall of Social, Economic and Political Reforms in Hong Kong, 1930–1955". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch. 44: 63.

[3] "No. 33722". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 June 1931. p. 3627.

[4] "No. 34166". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 May 1935. p. 3598.

[5] "No. 34470". The London Gazette. 4 January 1938. p. 28.

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