Mark Aitchison Young

Sir Mark Aitchison Young (Chinese: 楊慕琦; 30 June 1886 – 12 May 1974) was a British colonial administrator, who is best remembered for his service as the Governor of Hong Kong at the time of the Japanese invasion of the territory in 1941. Born in British India, the son and grandson of senior members of the Indian Civil Service, Young followed in the steps of his two elder brothers and became a colonial administrator, serving in Ceylon, Sierra Leone, Palestine, before becoming governor of Barbados and of Tanganyika. Young assumed the governorship of Hong Kong in 1941, three months before the outbreak of the Pacific War. During the Battle of Hong Kong, Young refused to capitulate on numerous occasions, before surrendering on Christmas Day, 1941 in order to avoid further bloodshed. Young then became a Japanese prisoner-of-war until 1945. After a period of recovery, Young returned to Hong Kong in 1946 as its governor, Young introduced limited democratic reforms in Hong Kong, which were undone by his successor, Sir Alexander Grantham. Retiring to England, Young died in Winchester in 1974.