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Charles St. George Cleverley or Cleverly (Chinese: 基化厘 or 急庇利; 8 July 1819 – 14 August 1897) was the second Surveyor General in Hong Kong. He worked under the Colonial Secretary and was responsible for public infrastructure, town planning and land auction.

Career

Cleverly is famous for the construction of Government House. The construction began in October 1851 and finished in October 1855.

His name was often registered in the Hong Kong Government Gazette in relation to the public auction of crown land and buildings.

Family

Cleverly was born in Bloomsbury, London, one of five sons of the physician Samuel Cleverley, doctor to the Duke of Kent and Duke of Cambridge. His grandfather William Cleverley owned a shipyard beside the River Thames in London. He built many large ships for the British East India Company.

He married Ah Gow Li (died 1847), with whom he had a daughter, Augusta Cleverly (1846–1930). He married secondly Mary Pope (1818–1875), with whom he had a son, Charles Frederick Moore Cleverly (1852–1921), who was the father of Sir Osmund Somers Cleverly, the Principal Private Secretary of Prime Ministers Stanley Baldwin, and Neville Chamberlain.

He died at his home in Great Malvern, Worcester.

Memory

Cleverly Street in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, is named after him.

References

1. "Government House – History". Archived from the original on 17 November 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
2. "The Cleverly Family". Archived from the original on 18 May 2005.
3. "Cleverly, Sir Osmund Somers". Who Was Who. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u54138. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
4. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1966, 1973–1995
5. Yanne, Andrew; Heller, Gillis (2009). Signs of a Colonial Era. Hong Kong University Press. p. 84. ISBN 978-962-209-944-9.
6. 道路名稱(五)英官員命名道路 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 24 December 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2007.

• 1819 births
• 1897 deaths
• Government officials of Hong Kong