Alexander Grantham

This article is about Governor of Hong Kong. For the fireboat, see Alexander Grantham (fireboat).

Sir Alexander Grantham GCMG


15th High Commissioner for the Western Pacific
In office 1 January 1945 – 1947
Monarch	George VI
Preceded by	(vacant)
Succeeded by	Sir Brian Freeston
17th Governor of Fiji
In office 1 January 1945 – 1947
Monarch	George VI
Preceded by	Sir Philip Mitchell
Succeeded by	Sir Brian Freeston
22nd Governor of Hong Kong
In office 25 July 1947 – 31 December 1957
Monarch	George VI Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Sir Mark Young
Succeeded by	Sir Robert Black
Personal details
Born	(1899-03-15)15 March 1899 London, England
Died	4 October 1978(1978-10-04) (aged 79) London, England
Citizenship	British
Spouse(s)	Maurine Samson 1925-1970 (her death) M. E. Lumley 1972-1978 (his death)
Relations	Warren de la Rue Thomas de la Rue William Grantham
Alma mater	Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Pembroke College, Cambridge, Imperial Defence College
Occupation	Soldier, Colonial administrator
Religion	Christian

Sir Alexander William George Herder Grantham, GCMG (葛量洪 1899–1978) was a British colonial administrator who governed Hong Kong and Fiji.

Early life, colonial administration career

Grantham was born on 15 March 1899 and was educated at Wellington, the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and Pembroke College, Cambridge.

He was gazetted in the 18th Hussars in 1917 and joined the Colonial Administrative Service in Hong Kong in 1922. He was the Deputy Clerk of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for a short period in 1933. In 1934, He was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple and attended the Imperial Defence College later that year.

Grantham became Colonial Secretary of Bermuda from 1935 to 1938, and of Jamaica from 1938 to 1941. He then served as Chief Secretary of Nigeria from 1941 to 1944 and as Governor of Fiji and High Commissioner for the Western Pacific from 1945 to 1947.

Immediately after his tenure as High Commissioner ended, he became Governor of Hong Kong, until 1957.

Legacy of governorship

His tenure marked the beginning of a unitary housing policy by the Hong Kong Government. In December 1953, a fire burned down a large slum area in Shek Kip Mei, Kowloon, killing nine and leaving many homeless. It was under Grantham's administration that the government began to build settlement houses for the homeless. From that point on, the government was deeply involved in low-cost public housing programmes that allowed many Hong Kong people who could not afford to own a flat to live in government-owned housing estates at relatively low cost. The housing programme eventually evolved over time to allow people to buy low-cost housing and receive favourable loans to buy their own houses.

Honours

Honorary Fellow, Pembroke College, Cambridge
Honorary Doctorate of Laws degree, Hong Kong University
C.M.G., 1941
K.C.M.G., 1945
G.C.M.G., 1951

Personal life

Grantham was married twice. His first marriage, in 1925, was to the well-travelled Maurine Samson, daughter of the late Amos Roland Samson and Liberty "Libby" Cole (Neal) of Champaign County, Illinois. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, she had lived in Boise, Seattle, San Francisco and Honolulu before their marriage. The Governor's official yacht, a Hong Kong health clinic and locomotive were named "Lady Maurine" after her. After she died in 1970, Grantham married Mrs M. E. Lumley in 1972. Grantham died on 4 October 1978.

Places/Facilities named after him

Grantham Hospital in Aberdeen, Hong Kong
Grantham College of Education in Hong Kong
Alexander Grantham, a fireboat of the Fire Services Department of the Government of Hong Kong
Sir Alexander, a EMD G12 Diesel-electric locomotive #51, introduced in Hong Kong in 1955 and on display at the Hong Kong Railway Museum

Bibliography

Alexander Grantham (1965). Via ports, from Hong Kong to Hong Kong. Hong Kong University Press.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexander Grantham.

A film clip "Longines Chronoscope with Sir Alexander Grantham" is available for free download at the Internet Archive

Government offices
Preceded by Sir Philip Euen Mitchell	Governor of Fiji 1946–1947	Succeeded by Sir Brian Freeston
Vacant Title last held by Sir Harry Luke	High Commissioner for the Western Pacific 1946–1947	Succeeded by Sir Brian Freeston
Preceded by Sir Mark Aitchison Young	Governor of Hong Kong 1947–1957	Succeeded by Sir Robert Brown Black

Governors of Hong Kong

Pottinger Davis Bonham Bowring H. Robinson MacDonnell Kennedy Hennessy Bowen Des Vœux W. Robinson Blake Nathan Lugard May Stubbs Clementi Peel Caldecott Northcote Young Grantham Black Trench MacLehose Youde Wilson Patten

Governors of Fiji

Sir Hercules Robinson Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon Sir William Des Vœux Sir Charles Mitchell Sir John Bates Thurston Sir George Thomas Michael O'Brien Sir William Allardyce Sir Henry Moore Jackson Sir Everard im Thurn Sir Charles Henry Major Sir Francis Henry May Sir Ernest Bickham Sweet-Escott Sir Cecil Hunter-Rodwell Sir Eyre Hutson Sir Murchison Fletcher Sir Cecil Barton Sir Arthur Richards Sir Harry Luke Sir Philip Euen Mitchell Sir John Rankine John Ferns Nicoll Sir Alexander Grantham Sir Brian Freeston Sir Ronald Garvey Sir Kenneth Maddocks Sir Derek Jakeway Sir Robert Sidney Foster

Authority control	VIAF: 203943242 SUDOC: 082346925

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