Reginald Edward stubbs entered Radley School in his early years, and later entered the Eucharist College of Christ at Oxford University on a scholarship. In college, Reginald Edward Stubbs won the first honor in the first classical literature examination in 1897, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in literature in 1899, and also won the first honor in the humanities. Later, he further obtained the qualification of master of arts in 1920.
1900 and 1 year, Reginald Edward stubbs joined the Eastern Department of the British Colony Department as a second-level document, responsible for supervising the development of the Taiwan Province Strait colony, the Commonwealth Malay States, Hong Kong and Ceylon colonies. 1907 was promoted to be an agent first-class instrument, and 19 10 became a first-class instrument. Not long after, 19 10 to191,Reginald Edward Stubbs went to Malaya Peninsula and Hongkong to inspect the salary level of foreign civil servants. After the investigation, Reginald Edward Stubbs was appointed as a member of the West Africa Land Commission with the number 19 12.
While working in the Colonies Department, Reginald Edward Stubbs was responsible for editing the second edition of the book Historical Geography of the British Colonies by Sir Charles Prestwood (1906). In addition, he is the co-editor of the list of colonial offices (191-1912).
As a civil servant working in Britain, Reginald Edward Stubbs was rarely transferred to a British overseas colony in 19 13, and served as an assistant secretary in Ceylon, during which he served as governor for many times. At 19 19, he was unexpectedly appointed as the governor, replacing Sir Francis Henry May who was in poor health. Reginald Edward stubbs officially took office on September 30th of 19 19 and became the governor of 16. ① Social development
Reginald Edward Stubbs has been actively developing infrastructure since he took office. In terms of transportation, with the increasing popularity of automobiles, Reginald Edward Stubbs made great efforts to open up roads during his tenure. In addition to the Castle Peak Road leading to the New Territories at 1920, the Shek O Highway leading to Shek O and Repulse Bay Highway leading to Repulse Bay were also built at 1924. In addition, in 192 1, Reginald Edward Stubbs approved the establishment of KMB and CMB, which led to the emergence of public bus services in Hong Kong.
Reginald Edward Stubbs also vigorously reclaimed land on Hong Kong Island, and carried out large-scale reclamation in the East District and the Seven Sisters Sea in the North Point. However, due to a series of strikes, the project was not completed during his term of office. In addition, Reginald Edward stubbs presided over the grand unveiling ceremony of 1923 Central Peace Monument. The Peace Monument is modeled after the same monument in Whitehall, London, to commemorate the soldiers killed in the First World War.
Other contributions made by Reginald Edward Stubbs during his tenure included the reconstruction of the Board of Education in June 5438+0920 and June 5438+00, the establishment of a fund of HK$/kloc-0,000,000 for the University of Hong Kong in September of the same year, and the announcement of the construction of a large-scale Chengmen Reservoir in June 5438+0923 to provide sufficient drinking water for Kowloon.
② Sister problem
In the past, Hong Kong also discussed the issue of girls from time to time, but it often ended in vain. Only in 19 19, a lady Clara Halcywood stationed in Hong Kong and her husband began to discuss the sister-in-law system, and publicly believed that the sister-in-law system in Hong Kong was equivalent to the slave trade. Reginald Edward Stubbs believes that the sister-in-law system is a tradition in China, so he is very dissatisfied with the remarks of the Hurstwood couple and rarely denounces Mrs. Hurstwood publicly. Reginald Edward stubbs also put pressure on the navy to force Hurstwood to be transferred from Hongkong.
Although Mr. and Mrs. Hurstwood returned to England, the incident did not subside. On the contrary, they launched a series of campaigns in Britain, which made British public opinion pay attention to the problem of Hong Kong girls, and even the House of Commons debated the issue. Churchill, then colonial minister, was also very dissatisfied. Churchill always had a tough style. On February 1922, he sent a telegram to Reginald Edward stubbs, asking the Hong Kong government to take corresponding action immediately. However, due to Reginald Edward Stubbs's opposition to the abolition of sister-in-law, and the strong opposition expressed by some Chinese legislators such as Shou son Chow, the Hong Kong Government repeatedly delayed Churchill's instructions. Churchill resigned in June 1922 and lost his seat in the house of commons in June 10, and failed to follow up. Therefore, the Hong Kong government successfully continued to adopt delaying tactics against his successor, Duke of Devonshire.
It was not until March 1923 that the Hong Kong government passed a law prohibiting the transfer of girls for profit and authorizing the Governor to register girls in Hong Kong. However, due to fierce opposition from members of the Legislative Council, the provisions on registration in the law have been suspended, so in fact, the law has not implemented any practical measures to solve the girl problem. On the issue of girls in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong government will take no further action until Reginald Edward stubbs leaves office and Sir Kim takes over.
③ New Territories Affairs
1923, Reginald Edward Stubbs announced the land price policy for building houses on agricultural land in the New Territories. Since the Hong Kong Government did not impose such restrictions in the past, and the new case damaged the property rights of residents in the New Territories, many people even thought that the land price policy was in conflict with the special provisions on expanding the Hong Kong border, which aroused strong opposition from villagers in the New Territories. In order to make the Hong Kong government withdraw its policy, the squire of the New Territories met with the China People's Home Affairs Department and Shou son Chow, a Chinese Member of the Legislative Council, and asked Reginald Edward stubbs to "withdraw his authorization", but Reginald Edward stubbs remained indifferent.
Later1August, 924, squires from Tsuen Wan, Fanling and Yuen Long formed the New Territories Agriculture, Industry and Commerce Research Association to continue to oppose the land price policy. However, Reginald Edward stubbs never gave in. It was not until King succeeded the Governor that the Hong Kong Government accepted the villagers' suggestions and withdrew its policy. On the other hand, Reginald Edward Stubbs, in order to save people's hearts and calm down the dissatisfaction of various clans in the New Territories, agreed to the request of New Territories squire Deng in 1924 to find out the whereabouts of the iron gate that was robbed after the British invaded Jiqingwei in 1898. After many twists and turns, the iron gate was finally shipped back to Ji Qingwei from Ireland on May 26th 1925. For the sake of solemnity, Reginald Edward Stubbs visited Ji Qingwei at that time and presided over the handover ceremony of the iron gate.
(4) China affairs.
On China affairs, Reginald Edward stubbs made many controversial moves. Shortly after Guangdong warlord Chen Jiongming became governor, he led the troops to expel warlords from Guangxi and Yunnan in Guangzhou in 1920+065438+ 10, welcoming Sun Yat-sen back to Guangzhou, reorganizing the military government to protect the law and launching the second movement to protect the law. A few days later, the law-enforcement military government sent a note to the diplomatic envoys in Beijing, demanding that a sum of money passed through Guangdong but turned over to the Beiyang government be handed over to the law-enforcement military government. However, due to the lack of international recognition at that time, the request was rejected by ministers of various countries.
However, Reginald Edward stubbs believed that if the trusteeship military government made a surplus, it could use it as a guarantee to borrow money from Hongkong. Therefore, Reginald Edward Stubbs boldly suggested to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to accept Sun Yat-sen's suggestion after being requested by the military government that protects the law. However, after Reginald Edward stubbs's proposal arrived at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it immediately aroused great repercussions. Lord Corson, then Foreign Secretary, believed that Reginald Edward Stubbs's proposal not only violated the consistent position of the British government, but also he was not qualified to interfere in British foreign affairs. Therefore, Reginald Edward Stubbs was irrelevant in the relevant events.
A few days later, in 192 1 1, the law-enforcement military government unilaterally announced that it would take over the domestic customs in February. At this time, Reginald Edward stubbs's position changed. In addition to immediately sending warships to protect Guangdong Customs, he also supported the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, suggesting that the military government be blocked. Faced with this tough stance and the unstable situation in Guangzhou, Sun Yat-sen was forced to shelve his plan to take over the domestic customs.
After the Guan Yu incident, in order to gain international recognition, the national defense military government held an "extraordinary congress" in April 192 1 and elected Sun Yat-sen as "extraordinary president". Sun Yat-sen officially took office on May 5 of the same year, but the Hong Kong government posted a notice on May 4, explicitly prohibiting any related celebrations in Hong Kong. Two days later, the Hong Kong government once again stated that it was forbidden to raise funds for the Hong Kong military government. After the announcement was posted, the Guangzhou military government was very dissatisfied with the Hong Kong government's practice and protested to the British Consul General in Guangzhou. On May 23rd, Reginald Edward Stubbs finally gave a reply to the incident. He believes that the Beiyang government is a legal regime recognized by Britain, so there is nothing wrong with the Hong Kong government. Reginald Edward Stubbs also said that he was not in Hong Kong when the Hong Kong government issued the notice, so he didn't know. He just apologized for the impoliteness of the notice. Reginald Edward stubbs's reply further aroused the dissatisfaction of the protector's military government. On May 24th, Wu Chaoshu, deputy foreign minister of the military government, severely criticized Reginald Edward stubbs's explanation. The British Consul General in Guangzhou and the local English newspapers also unanimously opposed Reginald Edward stubbs's actions. Under the opposition from all walks of life, the Hong Kong government finally withdrew the notice.
The relationship between Reginald Edward Stubbs and the guardian military government was not good, but it changed with the chaos of the military government. 1June, 922, Chen Jiongming instigated the June 16th Incident and drove Sun Yat-sen out of Guangzhou, but not long after, Chen Jiongming Fu was overthrown by warlords in Yunnan and Guangxi who supported Sun Yat-sen in June1June, 923, enabling Sun Yat-sen to return to Guangzhou in March of that year. At this time, Reginald Edward stubbs chose to support Sun Yat-sen who regained power, and solemnly invited him to visit Hong Kong on February 17, during which he even had lunch with Reginald Edward stubbs on February 18, and delivered a famous public speech at the University of Hong Kong on February 20. Reginald Edward Stubbs had hoped to give Sun Yat-sen great support, and he almost lost his position and official position.
However, this friendly relationship did not last, and then the Guangzhou business group incident occurred on August 1924. In this incident, China comprador Chen Lianbo of HSBC in Guangzhou was suspected of smuggling arms to Guangzhou and attempted to launch a mutiny to occupy Guangzhou. However, these private weapons were discovered by the Guangdong government in time, which eventually led to the failure of the mutiny and made Chen Lianbo flee Hongkong. At that time, public opinion generally believed that the Guangzhou Business Group incident was supported by Britain, and the general manager of HSBC even thought that Reginald Edward stubbs at least acquiesced in the incident. However, Reginald Edward stubbs was furious at these allegations and denied that Britain supported them. Although the incident was still confusing in the end, the relationship between Reginald Edward stubbs and the Guangzhou military government was always overshadowed.
Strike after strike
Dragged by the First World War, Hong Kong's postwar economy was troubled to a certain extent, and postwar inflation made everything expensive, which deeply troubled the lower classes. For example, in 19 19, the rice harvest in South Asia caused a rice shortage in Hong Kong, and the rice price even soared by 10 times, triggering a rice rush; Later, Reginald Edward stubbs entered the market to stabilize the price of rice and implemented price control, and the situation improved. However, the Hong Kong government failed to take measures to improve the lives of the lower classes, especially workers, which led to a series of large-scale industrial strikes. 1April, 920, forced by life, the Hong Kong Chinese Computer Association took the lead in asking the management for a 40% salary increase. The employer initially refused, which made 9000 workers angry and returned to the mainland. Finally, the management was forced to raise the salary by 32.5%, and the incident was solved.
Encouraged by the successful strike of the Hong Kong Chinese Machine Club, new trade unions have been established. By the end of June, 5438+0922, the Hong Kong Seamen's Union even followed the example of China Aircraft Association and launched a general strike for seafarers, demanding that foreign shipping companies such as Jardine Matheson and Swire give China seafarers a 30% salary increase, so that China seafarers would be treated equally with foreign seafarers. As there was no reply from the management, the trade union officially began to strike on June 22, 65438.
At first, only10.5 million people took part in the seafarers' general strike, but with the participation of trade unions, the number of strikers rose rapidly to10.2 million, and even tens of thousands of workers returned to the mainland, resulting in hundreds of ships stranded in Hong Kong, and all walks of life gradually came to a standstill. Even there are only two China domestic helpers left in the Governor's office, which disrupted the Prince of Wales' visit to Hong Kong in April. In this incident, Reginald Edward stubbs's attitude was very tough. In addition to issuing martial law, he also ordered the closure of the Hong Kong Seamen's Union and restricted the amount of funds that workers could take when they left Hong Kong. On March 4, a group of workers who were about to leave Hong Kong were shot by the military and police when passing through Sha Tin, resulting in the death of six workers, which is known as the "Sha Tin Massacre" in history. After the tragedy, people's emotions became even more boiling. Reginald Edward Stubbs made concessions and promised to lift the ban on trade unions and compensate the families of the victims of the Sha Tin tragedy. At the same time, the management promised to raise the salary of 15 by 30% and pay back the wages of workers during the strike, and the strike officially ended.
1925, there was another general strike in Hong Kong, which was called the "provincial-port general strike" in history, and its scale was larger than that of the seafarers' general strike, and it was also the largest strike since the opening of the port. The Guangdong-Hong Kong general strike began with the May 30th massacre in 1925. On that day, a group of Shanghai students held a demonstration in the concession to protest against the illegal dismissal and beating of the Japanese cotton yarn factory. However, during the demonstration, a British policeman shot and killed the students, causing many deaths and injuries. Immediately after the tragedy, anti-imperialist and anti-British waves appeared in all parts of China. On June 19 of the same year, a general strike took place in Hong Kong under the impetus of the * * * production party. By June 2 1 day, Chinese workers in Shamian British Concession also responded to the strike, further expanding the scope of the strike. Then, on June 23rd, the Xia Ji tragedy happened in Guangzhou. When workers and students marched to sharky, they were shot down by British and French soldiers, resulting in more than 50 deaths and 100 injuries.
Reginald Edward stubbs's term of office as governor originally expired at the end of June. 1925. However, after the Guangdong-Hong Kong strike, he immediately volunteered to extend his term of office until the strike was satisfactorily resolved. Just like the seamen's strike in 1922, Reginald Edward stubbs stubbornly refused to back down in this strike, and immediately declared martial law, ordered the China police to disarm, blocked the Guangzhou government and prevented it from supporting workers. However, at the same time, at the call of trade unions, the number of workers who returned to the mainland after the strike in Hong Kong rose to 250,000 in early July, and banks even ran on July 5. All walks of life are basically at a standstill, the market order is more chaotic, and many basic services are heavily dependent on the limited maintenance of the British army.
Reginald Edward Stubbs firmly believed that the strike was directed by the * * * production party, so he urged Britain to send troops to overthrow the Guangzhou government with the participation of members of the * * * production party, but Reginald Edward stubbs's suggestion was not accepted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Later, he suggested that the British government pay 3 million yuan to bribe the Beiyang government in an attempt to end the anti-British movement in Guangzhou, but the proposal was still rejected by the British government. In the case of disappointment, Reginald Edward Stubbs even secretly used a trust fund of 50,000 yuan to secretly instruct tung wah hospital to instigate a mutiny in Guangzhou, but failed. The above-mentioned events were later exposed, causing a great uproar in public opinion against Reginald Edward stubbs, but Reginald Edward stubbs had already left Hongkong.
The general strike was deadlocked because of Reginald Edward stubbs's tough attitude and unwillingness to start a dialogue with the Guangzhou government. By the end of June, 5438+the same year 10, because Reginald Edward stubbs was too tough, the British decided that Sir Kim, who was familiar with China culture, would take over as governor. Reginald Edward stubbs left Hong Kong on 1925, 10, 3 1 and officially retired as governor. Although the climax of the strike was over when Reginald Edward stubbs left Hongkong, it didn't officially end until June 6th of the following year. Later, according to the estimate made by The Times in April 1927, although the long-term economic loss of Hong Kong was limited, it still caused an economic loss of 1 100 million pounds.
It is also worth mentioning that Reginald Edward stubbs left Hong Kong via the newly completed Queen's Pier on the day of his departure. He was the first governor to use the pier and the first governor to leave Hong Kong from Queen's Pier. Reginald Edward Stubbs retired as governor, and was transferred to Jamaica as governor on April 26th, 1926. At the same time, he was awarded the rank of Major General. Reginald Edward stubbs served as the Governor of the largest British colony in the Antilles for six years. During his tenure, he advocated that Jamaica should gradually introduce a new constitution and implement universal suffrage at a rational pace, which slowed down the pace of local independence and caused dissatisfaction among local nationalists.
1932, 10 year1October 29th, Reginald Edward Stubbs was transferred to Cyprus as the governor for about one year. During this period, Cyprus coincided with the rise of the Greek annexation movement. The local Greek Cypriots are eager to merge with Greece, but the Turkish Cypriots and the British expressed their opposition with one voice. As the Greek Cypriots made many troubles, and even burned down the Governor's residence in 193 1, Reginald Edward stubbs generally followed the policy of his predecessor, suppressed those who supported integration, and increased the power of the Cypriot Governor through laws.
On February 23rd, 1933, 1933, Reginald Edward stubbs was re-appointed as the Governor of Ceylon. During his term of office, he repeatedly rejected the proposal of the Ceylon members in the Parliament of Ceylon to amend the Constitution of Donovan Homor, and thought it was too early to make the Constitution a fully responsible government. Reginald Edward stubbs's method is supported by Tamil and Muslim communities in Ceylon. Because the Donovan Constitution, which came into effect at 193 1, enables all ethnic groups and farmers in Ceylon to participate in politics in a balanced way, they are worried that once the Constitution is amended, Ceylons will have the advantage and factional conflicts will be induced.
In addition, the feud between the white farmers and the local Ceylon people also deepened during the tenure of Reginald Edward stubbs. 1937, the "Bracegirdle Incident" broke out. Mark Bracegirdle, an Australian leftist, went to Ceylon on 1936 to provide assistance to local farm workers, and from time to time he criticized the unreasonable treatment provided by farm owners. At that time, many farm owners in Ceylon were very disgusted with Bracegirdle, thinking that he was white, but he betrayed the interests of white people. Results Under the pressure of the farm owner, Reginald Edward Stubbs decided to expel Bracegirdle on April 22nd, 1937.
Immediately after the expulsion order was issued, Brace Girl went into hiding, and his party Lanka Sama Samaja even mobilized people to take to the streets to demonstrate and protest, shouting the slogan "We want Brace Girl to expel Reginald Edward stubbs" and demanding that Reginald Edward stubbs step down. As in the past, Reginald Edward stubbs took a hard line, ignored the demonstrations and refused to revoke the expulsion order. On May 5 of the same year, the Council of State of Ceylon passed a motion by 34 votes to 7 votes, condemning Reginald Edward Stubbs for issuing an expulsion order without consulting the Minister of the Interior. On the same day, as many as 50,000 people demonstrated in support of Bracegirdle. During this period, Bracegirdle even appeared suddenly, but the arrest warrant held by the police at the scene has expired, so it is impossible to arrest him.
A few days later, the police successfully arrested Bracegirdle and charged him. But at the same time, Langkawi's Socialist Party sent a peer to the Supreme Court to question the validity of the expulsion order issued by Reginald Edward stubbs. The case was closed on May 18 of the same year. Sir Sidney Abrahams, the presiding judge, thought that Reginald Edward Stubbs should not deport someone for exercising his freedom of speech, so he ruled in favor of Bracegirdle and declared the deportation order invalid. Shortly after the Bracegirdle incident, Reginald Edward stubbs officially retired and returned to Britain on June 30th, ending his 18 colonial career. After his retirement, Reginald Edward Stubbs retired to Bearsted, Kent, England, but he was still very enthusiastic about public affairs. 1938, Reginald Edward stubbs was appointed vice-chairman of the Royal Commission of the West Indies. Later, the Committee established the West India Welfare Fund, which distributed 1 million pounds a year, and set up an administrative department to activate the social and economic development of the region.
In his later years, Reginald Edward stubbs was appointed as a magistrate in Kent. At 194 1, he was the chairman of the Court of Appeal of the Northern Division. Reginald Edward stubbs died of heart failure in Belstead on February 7th,1947,65438+at the age of 7 1. Its estate was appraised on March 23rd 1948, and the result was * * * worth 34,558 pounds, 3 cents10p.