White tropical dress (colonial service, 1st class) of the Gubernatorial uniform which belonged to Sir Edward Youde, worn by him on the day he was sworn in as Governor and worn by him at numerous official ceremonies during his tenure, Hong Kong Museum of History.
Authorities and duties of the governor were defined in the Hong Kong Letters Patent and Royal Instructions in 1843. The governor, appointed by the British monarch (on the advice of the Foreign Secretary), exercised the executive branch of the government of Hong Kong throughout British sovereignty and, with the exception of a brief experiment after World War II, no serious attempt was made to introduce representative government, until the final years of British rule.
The governor of Hong Kong chaired the colonial cabinet, the Executive Council (ExCo), and, until 1993, was also the president of the Legislative Council. The governor appointed most, if not all, of the members of the colony's legislature (known colloquially as LegCo), which was largely an advisory body until the first indirect election to LegCo was held in 1985. Initially, both councils were dominated by British expatriates, but this progressively gave way to local Hong Kong Chinese appointees in later years. Historically, the governors of Hong Kong were either professional diplomats or senior colonial officials, except for the last governor, Chris Patten, who was a career politician.
In December 1996, the governor's salary was HK$3,036,000 per annum, tax-free. It was fixed at 125% of the chief secretary's salary.[1]
In the absence of the governor, the chief secretary immediately became the acting governor of the colony. The chief secretaries were historically drawn from the Colonial Office or British military. One Royal NavyVice Admiral served as administrator after World War II. Four Japanese military officers (three Army officers and one naval vice admiral) served as administrators during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in World War II.
Takashi Sakai, first Japanese administrator to serve as governor
Cecil Harcourt, first British military administrator to serve as governor (all past governors with military service had retired before assuming the post)
Sir Murray MacLehose, first non-colonial officer to serve as governor; he was a diplomat, a foreign service officer
Chris Patten, first politician to serve as governor; only governor not to don the formal dress as governor; only governor never to have held any title of nobility or knighthood during his tenure, the last Governor of Hong Kong under British rule before 1 July 1997
^House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 17 Dec 1996 (pt 3) Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
^ a bCivil and Miscellaneous Lists: Hong Kong Government. Hong Kong: Government Printer. 1973. p. 101.
^ a bEndacott, G. B. (2005) [1962]. A Biographical Sketch-book of Early Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. pp. 56–58. ISBN 962-209-742-1.
^The Chinese Repository. Volume 10. Canton. 1841. pp. 351–352.
^The Chinese Repository. Volume 11. Canton. 1842. pp. 674–676, 685.
^Norton-Kyshe, James William (1898). The History of the Laws and Courts of Hong Kong. Volume 1. London: T. Fisher Unwin. p. 10.
^"Proclamation" (PDF). The Friends of China Hong Kong Gazette Government Extraordinary. 30 June 1853.
^"Notice" (PDF). The Friends of China Hong Kong Gazette Government. 11 May 1844.
^"Government Notifications" (PDF). The Friends of China Hong Kong Gazette. 25 March 1854.
^"Government Notification" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette. 13 April 1854.
^"Government Notification No. 46" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette. 2 May 1859.
^"Government Notification No. 77 of 1859" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette. 9 September 1859.
^ a b"Government Notification No. 38 of 1865" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette. 15 March 1865.
^"Swearing in the Governor". Hong Kong Daily Press. 13 March 1866. p. 2. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
^"Government Notification No. 40 of 1866" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 12 March 1866.
^ a b"Government Notification No. 73 of 1877" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette. 11 April 1872.
^"Government Notification No. 80 of 1877" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 16 April 1872.
^ a b"Government Notification No. 47 of 1877" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 2 March 1877.
^"Government Notification No. 103 of 1877" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 23 April 1877.
^ a b"Government Notification No. 95 of 1882" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 7 March 1882.
^"Government Notification No. 147 of 1882" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 28 March 1882.
^"Government Notification No. 118 of 1883" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 31 March 1883.
^"Government Notification No. 198 of 1885" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 21 December 1885.
^"Government Notification No. 165 of 1887" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 25 April 1887.
^"Government Notification No. 403 of 1887" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 6 October 1887.
^"Government Notification No. 215 of 1891" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 7 May 1891.
^"Government Notification No. 515 of 1891" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 10 December 1891.
^ a b"Government Notification No. 44 of 1898" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 25 February 1898.
^"Government Notification No. 528 of 1898" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 25 November 1898.
^ a b"No.788 of 1903" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 21 November 1903.
^"No.518 of 1904" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 29 July 1904.
^ a b"No.288 of 1907" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 20 April 1907.
^ a b"No.81 of 1912" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette. 16 March 1912.
^"No.218 of 1912" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 4 July 1912.
^"No.219 of 1912" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 4 July 1912.
^ a b"No.346 of 1918" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 12 September 1918.
^"No. 454 of 1919" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 30 September 1919.
^"Hong Kong Hansard" (PDF). 23 November 1925. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^"No. 627 of 1925" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette. 23 November 1925.
^"No. 624 of 1925" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 1 November 1925.
^ a b"No. 70 of 19305" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 1 February 1930.
^"No. 275 of 1930" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette. 9 May 1930.
^ a b"No. 381 of 1935" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 17 May 1935.
^ a b"No. 681 of 1935" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 13 September 1935.
^ a b"No. 836 of 1935" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 1 November 1935.
^"No. 966 of 1935" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 12 December 1935.
^ a b"No. 260 of 1937" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 16 April 1937.
^"No. 755 of 1937" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 28 October 1937.
^"No. 1079 of 1941" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 6 September 1941.
^"No. 1085 of 1941" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 10 September 1941.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Governors of Hong Kong.
Places named after British monarchs, members of the Royal Family and colonial officials in Hong Kong Archived 17 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
Photos of all Hong Kong Governors
Corpus of Political Speeches, Free access to political speeches by Governor of Hong Kong and other politicians, developed by Hong Kong Baptist University Library