'Sir Francis Henry May' (
Chinese Translated Name: 梅含理) (
1860 -
1922) was a
British colonial administrator who became Governor of
Hong Kong.
Early life and education
May was born in
Dublin,
Ireland on
14 March,
1860. He was the 4th son of Rt. Hon. G. A. C. May, Lord Chief-Justice of Ireland. May was educated at
Harrow School and
Trinity College, Dublin, where a few of his predecessors to the Governorship of Hong Kong attended school. May received the 1st Honourman and Prizeman Classics and Modern Languages and
B.A. in
1881.
Career
In
1881, May was appointed to a Hong Kong Cadetship after a competitive examination. In
1886, he became the Assistant Protector of Chinese and private secretary to Governor Sir
George William Des Vœux. He was also the private secretary to Acting Administrator
Digby Barker from
1889 to
1891.
May would hold the office of Assistant Colonial Secretary in
1891 and Acting Colonial Treasurer in
1892. He was made a member of the Legislative Council in
1895. From
1893 to
1902, May was the Captain Superintendent of the Hong Kong Police Force, and Superintendent Victoria Gaol and Fire Brigade for Hong Kong between
1896 and
1902.
He held the position of Colonial Secretary for Hong Kong in 1902-1910, and became an acting administrator of
Hong Kong in
1903,
1904,
1906,
1907, and
1910. In 1910, May was appointed
Governor of Fiji and High Commissioner Western Pacific, a position he would hold until
1912.
Governor of Hong Kong
In
1912, May was appointed
Governor of Hong Kong, a position he occupied in his own right until
1919. It was also his last post in the Colonial Service.
May was the only Hong Kong Governor to be a target in an assassination attempt. He was fired upon near the
General Post Office as he rode in a
sedan chair after arriving from Fiji in July 1912. May was not injured; the bullet lodged in the sedan of his wife. The gunman, Li Hung Hung, had a grudge against May. Several years before, this former Police Superintendent had imprisoned Li's father, an undesirable mainland immigrant.
[Eric Cavaliero, Pedder Street was where it all happened, The Standard, August 13, 1998] Since that incident, May used an automobile as his daily method of transportation.
In
1919, May was allowed to retire, due to ill health.
Personal
May married Helena Barker in
1891. She was the daughter of Acting Administrator Major-General
Digby Barker. They had four daughters.
May died on
6 February,
1922 in Canada.
He died at Clare Priory, Suffolk, England
; not in Canada. He is buried at Clare.
Honours
★
K.St.J.
★
J.P. for Suffolk
★
C.M.G.,
1895
★
G.C.M.G.,
1919
Publications
★ "Guide to Cantonese Colloquial"
★ "Yachting In Hong-Kong"
Places named after him
May Road, a roadway in the Upper Mid-Levels District in
Hong Kong Island, and May Hall was named after him. Also,
the Helena May Foundation was named after his wife.
See also
★
History of Hong Kong
|width="25%" align="center"|Preceded by:
'
James Haldane Stewart Lockhart'
|width="25%" align="center"|'
Colonial Secretary of
Hong Kong'
1902-1910
|width="25%" align="center"|Followed by:
'Sir
Claud Severn'
|-
|width="25%" align="center"|Preceded by:
'Sir
Henry Arthur Blake'
|width="25%" align="center"|'
Governor of Hong Kong (Administrator)'
November 1903-July 1904
|width="25%" align="center"|Followed by:
'Sir
Matthew Nathan'
|-
|width="25%" align="center"|Preceded by:
'Sir
Everard F. im Thurn'
|width="25%" align="center"|'
Governor of Fiji'
1910-1912
|width="25%" align="center"|Followed by:
'Sir
Ernest Bickham Sweet-Escott'
|-
|width="25%" align="center"|Preceded by:
'Acting Administrator
Claud Severn'
|width="25%" align="center"|'15th
Governor of Hong Kong'
1912-1919
|width="25%" align="center"|Followed by:
'Acting Administrator
Claud Severn'
References
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