Sir Reginald Edward Stubbs (; 13 October 1876 – 7 December 1947) was a British colonial governor, who was once the Governor of Hong Kong. He caused controversy while
Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019
The Governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonialism, colonial powers:
Portuguese Ceylon
* List of Captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551)
* List of Captain-majors of ...
over the
Bracegirdle Incident
:''This article refers to the political activist. For the Rear Admiral see Leighton Seymour Bracegirdle. For the fictional family of Hobbits see Bracegirdle.''
Mark Anthony Lyster Bracegirdle (10 September 1912 – 22 June 1999) was a British-born ...
.
Early life and education
Reginald Edward Stubbs was born on 13 October 1876, the son of
William Stubbs
William Stubbs (21 June 182522 April 1901) was an English historian and Anglican bishop. He was Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford between 1866 and 1884. He was Bishop of Chester from 1884 to 1889 and Bishop of O ...
, a historian and bishop of Chester and Oxford, consecutively. He was educated at
Radley
Radley is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish about northeast of the centre of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The parish includes the Hamlet (place), hamlet of Lower Radley on the River Thames. It was part of B ...
and
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12th ...
. He obtained first class honours in
Lit. Hum. in 1899.
Early Colonial Services
He entered Colonial Office in 1900 as a second-class clerk, eventually serving as acting first class clerk from 1907 to 1910, when he became a permanent 1st class clerk. In that same year, Stubbs was sent on a special mission to
Malay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...
and Hong Kong. He was a member of West African Lands Committee in 1912, and became a colonial secretary of
Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
in from 1913 to 1919.
Governor of Hong Kong
He was appointed
Hong Kong Governor
The governor of Hong Kong was the representative of the British Crown in Hong Kong from 1843 to 1997. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and commander-in-chief of the British Forces Overseas Hong Kong. ...
in 1919, a position he served until 1925.
During Stubbs' tenure, strikes were frequent, including ones that were very damaging to the Hong Kong economy, such as the
Seamen's strike of 1922
The Seamen's Strike of 1922 began on 12 January 1922, when Chinese seamen from Hong Kong and Canton (now Guangzhou) went on strike for higher wages. Led by the Seamen's Union after shipping companies refused to increase salaries by 40%, the strike ...
and the
Canton-Hong Kong strike that began in 1925.
Stubbs engaged in cordial talks with
Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...
and his supporters in Hong Kong prior to Sun's triumphal return to Canton in February 1923.
There followed, in 1925, the
general strike
A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...
that involved workers in Hong Kong and
Canton, China. The strikers demanded the annulment of the "
unequal treaties
Unequal treaty is the name given by the Chinese to a series of treaties signed during the 19th and early 20th centuries, between China (mostly referring to the Qing dynasty) and various Western powers (specifically the British Empire, France, the ...
" (Treaty of Nanking, Treaty of Peking, and New Territories land lease agreement, which, altogether, allowed British control of Hong Kong). The strikers also demanded better treatment of Chinese labourers in Hong Kong.
At first, Stubbs tried to suppress the strikers with legal and forceful means. He regarded the strike as a Bolshevik plot headed by Dr.
Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...
to overthrow the colonial government, without any attention to the pressing economic grievances at stake. He banned the Chinese Seamen's Union, the organizer of the strike and banned Dr. Sun and the Soviet military and political advisers in
Canton from entering the colony due to Sun's anti-colonial remarks. The efforts backfired and caused an exodus of more than 100,000 Chinese labourers to China.
Stubbs took a conservative stance, in line with his Chinese elite advisors, on the issue of
mui-tsai
''Mui tsai'' (), which means "little sister"Yung, ''Unbound Feet'', 37. in Cantonese, describes young Chinese women who worked as domestic servants in China, or in brothels or affluent Chinese households in traditional Chinese society. The young ...
, a form of child slavery then prevalent in the colony. He was criticized by London for acquiescence.
Stubbs rejected repeated calls among the local European community for direct election of the
Legislative Council, fearing the exclusion of local Chinese from similar rights may lead to unrest.
Both Stubbs and his Colonial Secretary
Claud Severn
Sir Claud Severn ( Chinese Translated Name: 施勳) (1869–1933) was a British colonial administrator. Severn joined the colonial civil service in British Malaya in 1894 and worked under the Governor of the Straits Settlements. In 1912, he beca ...
were replaced in 1925, having failed to quell the disorder and leaving behind a seriously damaged Hong Kong economy.
British Consul General in Canton James Jamieson criticised their leadership, seeing them as out of touch and out of date, unable to converse in Chinese and ignorant of republican China.
Stubbs received an M.A. degree during his tenure, in 1920.
Jamaica and Cyprus
After his stormy tenure as Governor of Hong Kong, Stubbs was made Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
a year later, in 1926. He would hold this position until 1932, when he was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
. He would serve in this position until 1933.
Governorship of Ceylon
In 1933 Stubbs was appointed to his last position in the Colonial Service: Governor and Commander-in-Chief of
Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
(
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
).
Bracegirdle affair
In 1937, he was prevailed upon by the White planters to become involved in an illegal attempt to deport
Mark Anthony Bracegirdle
:''This article refers to the political activist. For the Rear Admiral see Leighton Seymour Bracegirdle. For the fictional family of Hobbits see Bracegirdle.''
Mark Anthony Lyster Bracegirdle (10 September 1912 – 22 June 1999) was a British-born ...
, an Australian planter who had gone over to the side of the workers and joined the
Lanka Sama Samaja Party
The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP (Literal translation, literally: Lanka Socialist Party, Sinhalese language, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil language, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமா ...
(LSSP). Bracegirdle was served with the order of deportation on 22 April and given 48 hours to leave, but he defied the order, going into hiding instead. The Colonial Government began a man-hunt, but was unsuccessful. The LSSP started a campaign to defend him. At that year's May Day rally at Price Park, Colombo placards declaring 'We want Bracegirdle – Deport Stubbs' were displayed, and a resolution was passed condemning Stubbs, demanding his removal and the withdrawal of the deportation order.
On 5 May, in the
State Council State Council may refer to:
Government
* State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President
* State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...
, the LSSP members Dr
N.M. Perera
Nanayakkarapathirage Martin Perera, commonly known as Dr. N. M. Perera ( Sinhala එන්.එම්.පෙරේරා ; 6 June 1904 – 14 August 1979), was one of the leaders of the Sri Lankan Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP). He ...
and
Philip Gunawardena
Don Philip Rupasinghe Gunawardena (11 January 1901 – 26 March 1972) was a Sri Lankan Marxist politician and leftist. A founder of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, the first political party in Ceylon which was known for having introduced Trotskyi ...
moved a
vote of censure on the Governor for having ordered the deportation of Bracegirdle without the advice of the acting Home Minister. Even the Board of Ministers had started feeling the heat of public opinion and the vote was passed by 34 votes to 7.
On the same day there was a 50,000-strong rally at
Galle Face Green
Galle Face is a ocean-side urban park, which stretches for along the coast, in the heart of Colombo, the financial and business capital of Sri Lanka. The promenade was initially laid out in 1859 by Governor Sir Henry George Ward, although t ...
, which was addressed by Dr N.M. Perera, Philip Gunawardena, and
S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, condemning Stubbs. Bracegirdle made a dramatic appearance on the platform at this rally, but the police were powerless to arrest him. They managed to arrest him a couple of days later, but a writ of
habeas corpus
''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
was served and the case was called before a bench of three Supreme Court judges presided over by Chief Justice Sir
Sidney Abrahams
Sir Sidney Solomon Abrahams (11 February 1885 – 14 May 1957), nicknamed Solly, was a British Olympic athlete and 26th Chief Justice of Ceylon (Sri Lanka). He was the older brother of famed Olympian Harold Abrahams.
Early life
Born in Birmi ...
. The brilliant
H.V. Perera, the county's leading civil lawyer, volunteered his services free on behalf of Bracegirdle; he was made a
King's Counsel
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...
(KC) on the day that Bracegirdle appeared in court. On 18 May order was made that he could not be deported for exercising his right to free speech, and Bracegirdle was a free man.
Stubbs retired shortly afterwards.
Retirement
A year after his retirement, Stubbs became the vice-chairman of West India
Royal Commission (until 1939) and Chairman of Northern Division Appellate Tribunal for Conscientious Objectors from 1941 to 1947.
Personal life
Stubbs married Marjory Stubbs in 1909. The couple had two sons and one daughter. He died on 7 December 1947.
Honours
*
CMG, 1914
*
KCMG KCMG may refer to
* KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China
* Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour
* KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA
* KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...
, 1919
*
GCMG
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III.
It is named in honour ...
, 1928
*Honorary Fellow, Corpus Christi College, 1926
*Hon.
LL.D.
Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...
, University of Hong Kong, 1926
Recognition
*
Stubbs Road
Stubbs Road is a road located in Mid-Levels East, Central, Hong Kong, which connects Happy Valley to The Peak area on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, through an area near the Wong Nai Chung Gap. It runs uphill from Queen's Road East and goes thr ...
in the eastern
Mid-Levels on
Hong Kong Island
Hong Kong Island is an Islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong, island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km ...
was named after him.
*The
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
n
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
award, the
Stubbs Shield, is named after him.
Revival of Royal vs Trinity boxing dual after lapse of 50 years
/ref>
See also
*History of Hong Kong
The region of Hong Kong has been inhabited since the Old Stone Age, later becoming part of the Chinese Empire with its loose incorporation into the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC). Starting out as a farming fishing village and salt production site, ...
*Sri Lanka Independence Struggle
The Sri Lankan independence movement was a peaceful political movement which was aimed at achieving independence and self-rule for the country of Sri Lanka, then British Ceylon, from the British Empire. The switch of powers was generally kno ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stubbs, Edward
Governors of British Ceylon
Governors of Hong Kong
Governors of Jamaica
1876 births
1947 deaths
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford
People educated at Radley College
People from Oxford
Ceylonese Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
20th-century Hong Kong people
20th-century British politicians
Chief Secretaries of Ceylon