Ronald Holmes

Sir David Ronald Holmes (, 26 December 1913 – 14 June 1981) was a British colonial government official who served in Hong Kong from 1938.

In the Second World War, he was assigned to the British Army Aid Group where he actively took part in a series of guerilla actions in the Far East to resist the Japanese Army and to rescue prisoners of war from the Japanese detention camps. His contribution was recognised by the British government and he was decorated several times. After the war, Holmes played a significant role in reconstructing Hong Kong.

In 1954, he was appointed to establish the Resettlement Department, a governmental department which was responsible for constructing resettlement estates for the homeless refugees. Later on he successively served as the Director of Urban Services, the New Territories' District Commissioner and the Director of Commerce and Industry.

In 1966, Holmes replaced John Crichton McDouall as the Secretary for Chinese Affairs but not long after, the 1967 Leftist Riots broke out. During the riot, he was noted for taking control of the situation as the acting-Colonial Secretary, efficiently took command in the government and adopted a hard-line policy towards the Communists. Holmes continued to serve when the post of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs was renamed into the Secretary for Home Affairs in 1969 and he eventually stepped down in 1971. Afterwards, he immediately became the chairman of the Public Service Commission, a post he served until 1977 when he left Hong Kong.

When Holmes was serving in the government of Hong Kong, he was also successively appointed as official member of the Urban Council, Legislative Council and Executive Council. Among them, he had served for a decade in total in the Legislative Council. For his public service to Hong Kong, he was knighted in 1973.

Biography

Early years

Holmes was born on 26 December 1913 in the United Kingdom. His parents were Louis James Holmes and Emily Sutcliffe of Brighouse, West Yorkshire. In his youth, he studied at Bradford Grammar School and later graduated from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. In 1938, Holmes was employed by the government of Hong Kong as a cadet. At the time before the war, he was the Assistant Secretary for Chinese Affairs and learnt to speak fluent Cantonese.

In December 1941, the Pacific War broke out and the Japanese Army started an unexpected invasion to Hong Kong. During the Battle of Hong Kong, Holmes belonged to the British Forces Overseas Hong Kong but was soon summoned to serve under the Special Operations Executive (SOE). His major duty was to attack the Japanese army from the rear area.

British Army Aid Group

After fleeing from Hong Kong, Holmes finally reached Chongqing in early 1942 to unite with the British delegates in China. Later on, he was ordered to drive (later Sir) John Keswick, the First Secretary of the British Consulate-General Chongqing, and the consulate's attaché, Brigadier Gordon Edward Grimsdale to Shaoguan, Guangdong for a special mission to discuss with General Yu Hanmou, the Chinese Commander-in-Chief of the Seventh War Zone about the feasibility of establishing a British Army Aid Group to resist the Japanese invasion on a joint basis. Throughout the negotiation, Holmes worked as the translator for the British as well. Shortly afterwards, Colonel (later Sir) Lindsay Ride, a prisoner of war from a Japanese concentration camp in Hong Kong, successfully made his escape and arrived at Chongqing. As a result, Ride officially formed the British Army Aid Group in July 1942. Both Holmes and Paul Tsui , a close friend Holmes newly met in Shaoguan, joined the group in November and were immediately sent to station in Dong River, Huizhou. Although the military government was headed by Vice Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt, all the civil affairs were in charge by David Mercer Macdougall, the Chief Civil Affairs Officer dispatched from London, and Claude Bramall Burgess, a government cadet who was imprisoned by the Japanese during the war. Besides, Holmes and his former colleague Edmund Brinsley Teesdale were responsible for all the matters in the provisional Colonial Secretariat. To assist him in dealing with the affairs in New Territories, Holmes also appointed Paul Tsui as the Assistant District Officer, New Territories. Upon returning to Hong Kong, he rejoined the government and worked in different capacities including the Deputy Secretary for Chinese Affairs. In July 1951, he became the acting Social Welfare Officer of the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs while the holder of the position, John McDouall was absent. When McDouall resumed in 1952, Holmes was appointed to different posts including the Clerk of the Executive and Legislative Councils.

The slum area in Shek Kip Mei after the great fire on the Christmas Day of 1953. In December 1953, a major fire destroyed the slum area in Shek Kip Mei and more than 50,000 refugees were made homeless. After the disaster, then Governor Sir Alexander Grantham ordered Holmes to establish the Resettlement Department and appointed him as the Deputy Colonial Secretary and the first Commissioner of Resettlement. To resettle the homeless refugees in a short period of time, he took the lead to construct a number of resettlement estates on the burnt ground in Shek Kip Mei and in its neighbouring area. Some of the notable examples included Shek Kip Mei Estate and Tai Hang Tung Estate. Since the creation of the Resettlement Department, constructing public housing estate for resettling the poor people had become one of the primary policy goals set by the government in postwar Hong Kong. On the other hand, Holmes was also an official member of the Urban Council during his tenure as the Commissioner of Resettlement. In October 1955, when he succeeded the retired Harold Giles Richards as the Director of Urban Services, he stepped down from the Resettlement Department but was also appointed official member of the legislative council. His original post of the Commissioner of Resettlement was succeeded by Arthur Walton. During his tenure as the Director of Urban Services, Holmes witnessed the expansion of the Council that the number of unofficial members was increased to eight in 1956. It was the first time in history that unofficial member occupied half of the seats in the council. However, the demand on further reform was not satisfied by the expansion, and therefore the relationship between the unofficial members and the government became worsening under his term of office. His tenure as the District Commissioner witnessed the end of a long-time discord between the government and the Heung Yee Kuk, the non-governmental advisory body in New Territories formed by the indigenous inhabitants. Before his appointment, the Kuk had been split by internal dispute over land issue since 1957 and the government had ceased to recognise the Kuk due to its disorder. In the 13th Heung Yee Kuk election in 1959, the Kuk was once again torn into two factions and there was severe and heated quarrel over the election. Throughout the election dispute, Holmes played a key role to pacify both sides and took an active role to reconcile the dispute successfully. Later in December 1959, with the help of Holmes, the government passed the Heung Yee Kuk Ordinance which officially granted the statutory advisory status to the Kuk, thus effectively comforted the Kuk. In 1962, Holmes was promoted to the post of the Director of Commerce and Industry and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the New Year Honours. His term as Director of Commerce and Industry coincided with the blooming of the local textile industry and he paid a number of visits to different European countries aiming at negotiating trade agreement on textile and expanding the overseas market for the textile industry of Hong Kong. From May to August 1964, Holmes was on vacation so his Deputy Director, Terence Dare Sorby, acted for his position during his absence. By July of the same year, then Governor Sir David Trench reorganised the Legislative Council and the holder of the Director of Commerce and Industry was admitted to the council as an official member. Therefore, Sorby also became an acting official member of the Legislative Council until the return of Holmes in August. It was the second time for Holmes to be appointed to the Legislative Council and soon afterwards he was further appointed as an official member of the Executive Council in 1965, thus becoming a much relied official member in the two Councils.

In late 1966, the then Secretary for Chinese Affairs, John McDouall, retired to the United Kingdom and Holmes was chosen to succeed the post which McDouall had served for a decade. Nevertheless, at the time of his promotion the Cultural Revolution had just broken out in the mainland China and the situation of Hong Kong had become increasingly unstable. Under the leadership of Holmes, the government adopted a hard-line policy towards the Communists and called on the general public to denounce the leftists. Finally, the rioting ended in late 1967, and the tough stance held by Holmes was deeply appreciated by the government. He finally retired from the Commission in May 1977 and began his quiet retirement with his family in Corfu, Greece. In May 1981, Holmes and his wife paid a visit to his old friends in Hong Kong. He felt unwell during the visit and was admitted to the Queen Mary Hospital for a few weeks. The couple continued their visit after his recovery.

At a memorial service in St. John's Cathedral, Holmes was eulogised by Hong Kong Governor Murray MacLehose, Chief Secretary Sir Jack Cater and others. Secretary for Home Affairs Denis Campbell Bray hailed him as "one of the founders of post-war Hong Kong". Holmes' remains were interred in the British Cemetery on Corfu.

Family Holmes first met his future wife, Charlotte Marjorie Fisher (18 July 1920 – 14 January 2012), the only daughter of Frank Hastings Fisher, who was a former representative and manager of British American Tobacco in Japan, when he was on holiday in Australia in 1944. They were married at St. John's Church, Toorak, Victoria, at 11:00 am on 31 January 1945. Lady Holmes was a renowned botanical artist in her own right. ) Member of the Order of the British Empire (Military Division, 4 May 1943 ) Efficiency Decoration (1956 ) Commander of the Order of the British Empire (New Year Honours, 1962 ) Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (Queen's Birthday Honours, 1969 ) Unofficial Justice of the Peace (August 1969) Knight Bachelor (New Year Honours, 1973 )

Titles Ronald Holmes (26 December 1913 – 9 March 1943) Ronald Holmes, MC (9 March 1943 – 4 May 1943) Ronald Holmes, MBE, MC (4 May 1943 – November 1955) The Honourable Ronald Holmes, MBE, MC (November 1955 – 1956) The Honourable Ronald Holmes, MBE, MC, ED (1956–1958) Ronald Holmes, MBE, MC, ED (1958 – January 1962) Ronald Holmes, CBE, MC, ED (January 1962 – June 1964) The Honourable Ronald Holmes, CBE, MC, ED (June 1964 – June 1969) The Honourable Ronald Holmes, CMG, CBE, MC, ED (June 1969 – August 1969) The Honourable Ronald Holmes, CMG, CBE, MC, ED, JP (August 1969 – May 1971) Ronald Holmes, CMG, CBE, MC, ED, JP (May 1971 – January 1973) Sir Ronald Holmes, CMG, CBE, MC, ED, JP (January 1973 – 14 June 1981)