Sir Cecil Clementi (b. 1 September 1875, Cawnpore, India – d. 5 April 1947, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom) was the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Straits Settlements and the High Commissioner for the Federated Malay States from 1929 to 1934. Proficient in Chinese languages, primarily Cantonese and Mandarin, Clementi had a long experience in dealing with Chinese problems, and was quite unpopular with the locals. His strong measures to suppress anti-colonial propaganda, which were Chinese and communist in origin, were seen as racially divisive. He resigned on grounds of ill health in 1934.
Early life
Clementi was the eldest son of Colonel Montagu Clementi, who was at one time the Judge Advocate-General in India. He was educated in St. Paul's School, London, and later attended Magdalen College in Oxford, where he was one of the most outstanding students of his cohort. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts in 1898 and Master of Arts in 1901. He was a brilliant intellectual, as evidenced by the many honours and prizes he received.
Career
Clementi joined the Colonial Service as a cadet in 1899 and was appointed to Hong Kong, where at once he became an enthusiastic student of the local culture. A year after his arrival, he passed the Civil Service Examinations in Cantonese, an achievement almost without parallel then. He later took up Mandarin and passed a proficiency examination in 1906. Four years earlier, in 1902, he had been made a member of the Board of Examiners in Chinese. He did well in Hong Kong and was promoted to Assistant Colonial Secretary by 1907. From 1911 to 1912, he was the Acting Colonial Secretary and a member of the Executive and Legislative Councils.
He left Hong Kong in 1913 for his appointment as Colonial Secretary of British Guiana (now called Guyana). In 1922, he moved to Ceylon (Sri Lanka today), where he remained as Colonial Secretary until 1925. On more than one occasion in both colonies, he was called upon to run the government as Acting Governor. In recognition of his outstanding performance as an administrator, he was appointed as Governor of Hong Kong in 1925. He was made Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (K.C.M.G.) the following year.
In November 1929, he was appointed as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Straits Settlements and the High Commissioner for the Federated Malay States. His uncle and godfather, Sir Cecil Clementi Smith, had held this appointment from 1887 to 1893. Clementi left Hong Kong for Singapore in early 1930 to take up his new responsibilities and was bestowed the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (G.C.M.G.) a year later.
He proved a man of vision, projecting in 1931 that Singapore would become the site for "one of the largest, best, and most important airports in the world". The result was Singapore's Kallang Airport which opened in 1937, and it was the finest airport in the region for its time. He resigned as Governor on grounds of ill health while on leave in England on 18 October 1934.
Travels
Clementi had a great passion for travel, and made many trips deep into the interior of China, India and many other out-of-the-way places. These adventures were the subject of his many publications. For his extensive travels, he received the Cuthbert Peek Award from the Royal Geographic Society in 1912.
Family
He married Marie Penelope Rose, daughter of Admiral Cresswell J. Eyres, in 1912. The couple had one son and three daughters.
Author
Vernon Cornelius and Valerie Chew
References
Colony’s new Governor. (1929, November 21). The Straits Times, p. 11. Retrieved July 1, 2010, from NewspaperSG database.
Olson, J. S., & Shadle, R. (Eds.). (1996). Historical dictionary of the British empire (Vol. 1, pp. 305-306). Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
(Call no.: RSING 941.003 HIS)
Sir Cecil Clementi [Obituary]. (1947, April 7). The Times, p. 7. Retrieved July 1, 2010, from The Times Digital Archive database.
Sir Cecil Clementi’s first speech in Malaya. (1930, February 5). The Straits Times, p. 11. Retrieved July 1, 2010, from NewspaperSG database.
The new Governor. (1929, November 21). The Straits Times, p. 10. Retrieved July 1, 2010, from NewspaperSG database.
Turnbull, C. M. (1989). A history of Singapore: 1819-1988 (pp.133, 136-137). Singapore: Oxford University Press.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 TUR)
Further readings
Sir Cecil Clementi [Microfilm: NL 1488]. (1934, June 15). The Straits Times, p. 11.
The information in this article is valid as at 1999 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
