Sir Hugh Clifford | |
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| 19th Governor of the Straits Settlements | |
| In office 3 June 1927 – 21 October 1929 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Preceded by | SirLaurence Guillemard |
| Succeeded by | SirJohn Scott(Acting) SirCecil Clementi |
| 24thGovernor of British Ceylon | |
| In office 30 November 1925 – June 1927 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Preceded by | Edward Bruce Alexander(Acting) |
| Succeeded by | Arthur George Murchison Fletcher(Acting) |
| Governor of Nigeria | |
| In office 8 August 1919 – 13 November 1925 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Preceded by | Sir Frederick Lugard (Governor-General of Nigeria) |
| Succeeded by | SirGraeme Thomson |
| Governor of Gold Coast | |
| In office 26 December 1912 – 1 April 1919 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Preceded by | James Jamieson Thorburn Herbert Bryan(Acting) |
| Succeeded by | Alexander Ransford Slater |
| ActingGovernor of British Ceylon | |
| In office 11 July 1907 – 24 August 1907 | |
| Monarch | Edward VII |
| Preceded by | Henry Arthur Blake |
| Succeeded by | Henry Edward McCallum |
| Governor ofNorth Borneo | |
| In office 1900–1901 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Preceded by | Leicester P. Beaufort |
| Succeeded by | Ernest W. Birch |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1866-03-05)5 March 1866 Roehampton,London, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 18 December 1941(1941-12-18) (aged 75) Roehampton, London, England, United Kingdom |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Henry Hugh Clifford Josephine Elizabeth Anstice |
| Profession | Colonial administrator |
Sir Hugh Charles Clifford (5 March 1866 – 18 December 1941) was a British colonial administrator who had held several governorships.
Clifford was born inRoehampton,London, the sixth of the eight children of Major-General SirHenry Hugh Clifford and his wife Josephine Elizabeth, née Anstice; his grandfather wasHugh Clifford, 7th Baron Clifford of Chudleigh.[1]
Clifford intended to follow his father, Sir Henry Hugh Clifford, a distinguishedBritish Army general, into the military, but later decided to join the civil service in theStraits Settlements, with the assistance of his relativeSir Frederick Weld, the thenGovernor of the Straits Settlements and also theBritish High Commissioner in Malaya. He was later transferred to the British Protectorate of theFederated Malay States. Clifford arrived inMalaya in 1883, aged 17.[2]
He first became a cadet in the State ofPerak. During his twenty years there and on the east coast of the Malay Peninsula inPahang, Clifford socialised with the localMalays and studied theirlanguage and culture deeply. He came to sympathise strongly with and admire certain aspects of the traditional indigenous cultures, while recognising that their transformation as a consequence of the colonial project which he served was inevitable. He was a Government agent of Pahang (1887-1888), Superintendent of Ulu Pahang (1889), served asBritish Resident at Pahang, 1896–1900 and 1901–1903, andGovernor of North Borneo, 1900–1901.[2]
In 1903, he left Malaya to take the post ofColonial Secretary ofTrinidad and Tobago. Later he was appointed Governor of British Ceylon (1907-1912), Governor of theGold Coast, 1912–1919,Nigeria, 1919–1925, andCeylon, 1925–1927.[2] During his service in Malaya and afterwards he wrote numerous stories, reflections and novels primarily about Malayan life, many of them imbued with an ambivalent nostalgia. His last posting was, for him, a welcome return to the Malaya he loved, as Governor of the Straits Settlements and British High Commissioner in Malaya, where he served from 1927 until 1929, after which Lady Clifford's ill-health forced his retirement.[2] Alongside his other books he wroteFarther India (the book title itself is referencing anold term referring to Southeast Asia) which chronicles European explorations and discoveries in Southeast Asia.
On 15 April 1896, Clifford married Minna à Beckett, the only child ofGilbert Arthur à Beckett. Before her death on 14 January 1907, they had one son and two daughters:[1]
On 24 September 1910 Clifford remarried, toElizabeth Lydia Rosabelle Bonham,[6]CBE,[7] daughter of Edward Bonham ofBramling,Kent, a Britishconsul. ACatholic, she was the widow of Henry Philip Ducarel de la Pasture ofLlandogo Priory,Monmouthshire. Clifford thus became stepfather toE. M. Delafield, author of theProvincial Lady series.
Clifford died peacefully on 18 December 1941 in his native Roehampton. His widow, Elizabeth, died on 30 October 1945.[1]
Several schools in Malaysia are named Clifford School in his honour, such as;
Clifford Pier in Singapore was built between 1927 and 1933, and was named after Sir Hugh Clifford when he was the former Governor of the Straits Settlements between 1927 and 1930. It was opened on 3 June 1933.[8]
Clifford is briefly referred to inV. S. Naipaul'sThe Mimic Men.[9] Though he was Colonial Secretary of Trinidad and Tobago (second in command to the Governor), in the book he is named as a former Governor of Isabella, a fictitious Caribbean island based on Trinidad.
Clifford was appointedKnight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1909,Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in the1921 Birthday Honours,[10] andKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in 1926.
Works by or aboutHugh Clifford atWikisource
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | British Resident of Pahang 1896–1900 | Succeeded by Arthur Butler |
| Preceded by D.H. Wise | British Resident of Pahang 1901–1905 | Succeeded by Cecil Wray |
| Preceded by | Governor of North Borneo 1900–1901 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | ActingGovernor of Ceylon 1907 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Herbert Bryan(acting) | Governor of Gold Coast 1912–1919 | Succeeded by Sir Alexander Ransford Slater(acting) |
| Preceded byas Governor-General of Nigeria | Governor of Nigeria 1919–1925 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of Ceylon 1925–1927 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of Straits Settlements and British High Commissioner in Malaya 1927–1930 | Succeeded by |
(withitalics * for the Acting) | |
| Resident of Singapore (1819–1826) | |
| Governors of the Straits Settlements (under British India) (1826–1867) | |
| Governors of the Straits Settlements (under Colonial Office) (1867–1942) |
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| Japanese Mayor of Syonan (1942–1945) |
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| British Military Administration of the Straits Settlements (1945–1946) | |
| Governors of the Crown Colony of Singapore (1946–1959) | |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
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