Sir Francis Henry May (1860–1922) was born in Dublin on 14 March 1860, the son of the Chief Justice of Ireland, and educated at Harrow and Trinity College Dublin. In 1881 he was appointed a cadet in the Hong Kong government and spent two years in Beijing learning Chinese, becoming fluent in Cantonese. Captain Superintendent of Police from 1893 to 1901 — commanding the Hong Kong police and some British troops during the six-day war in the New Territories — he was appointed Colonial Secretary in 1902 and governed Fiji as High Commissioner for the Western Pacific from 1911 to 1912 before taking office as Hong Kong's fifteenth Governor on 4 July 1912. Landing at Blake Pier that day he was shot at by the assassin Li Hon-hung but was unhurt, insisting on going on to the City Hall to be sworn in — the only Hong Kong governor to have been the target of an assassination attempt; afterwards governors travelled by car, and May was the first to do so. His ban on the circulation of Chinese coins triggered the tram boycott of 1912–1913. He enacted the Education Ordinance of 1913 requiring private schools to register and issued the Seditious Publications Ordinance of 1914, and, with British residents called up in the First World War, founded a police school to rebuild the force. The Happy Valley racecourse fire of 26 February 1918 killed more than six hundred people and prompted a review of timber buildings and public safety. Leaving for Canada in 1918 with a heart condition, he was allowed to retire early in 1919 and died in 1922. May Road on the Mid-Levels and May Hall at the University of Hong Kong are named after him, and he lived in Hong Kong for thirty-eight years, longer than any other governor.
The only Hong Kong governor to have been the target of an assassination attempt, May regulated private schools and seditious publications and banned the circulation of Chinese coins. The Happy Valley racecourse fire of 1918, which killed more than six hundred people, forced the government to confront the safety of timber buildings and public venues; he lived in Hong Kong for thirty-eight years, longer than any other governor.
Achievements
- 1893 · Became Captain Superintendent of Police, serving until 1901.
- 1912 · Took office as Hong Kong's fifteenth Governor on 4 July and was shot at, unharmed, while landing.
- 1918 · The Happy Valley racecourse fire killed more than six hundred people and prompted a review of public safety.