Colonial Service
Nathan was appointed acting governor of Sierra Leone from 1899 to 1900. In the same year, he was appointed as Governor of Gold Coast, a position he occupied until 1903. In 1902, Nathan imported into the Gold Coast a £543 French Gardner-Serpollet, paraffin-fired, steam-driven car for his use on the roads around Accra.
In 1903, Nathan was appointed as Governor of Hong Kong, a position he would serve until 1907. During his tenure, Nathan was credited with the establishment of a central urban planning and reconstruction policy, which regulated the growth of Hong Kong and built major thoroughfares in the Kowloon Peninsula. The construction of Kowloon-Canton Railway started under this period.
In 1907, Nathan was made Governor of Natal (until 1909). In that same year, he was raised to a higher rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In 1909 he returned to England and took up an appointment as secretary to the General Post Office, a position he served until 1911. He was Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue between 1911 and 1914.
Read more about this topic: Matthew Nathan
Famous quotes containing the words colonial and/or service:
“The North will at least preserve your flesh for you; Northerners are pale for good and all. There’s very little difference between a dead Swede and a young man who’s had a bad night. But the Colonial is full of maggots the day after he gets off the boat.”
—Louis-Ferdinand Céline (1894–1961)
“You had to face your ends when young
‘Twas wine or women, or some curse
But never made a poorer song
That you might have a heavier purse,
Nor gave loud service to a cause
That you might have a troop of friends.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)