David Clive Crosbie Trench

Sir David Trench
24th Governor of Hong Kong
In office 14 April 1964 – 19 November 1971
Preceded by	Sir Robert Brown Black
Succeeded by	Lord MacLehose of Beoch
Personal details
Born	2 June 1915(1915-06-02)
Died	4 December 1988(1988-12-04) (aged 73)
Spouse(s)	Margaret Gould
Alma mater	Jesus College, Cambridge
Profession	soldier, colonial administrator

Sir David Clive Crosbie Trench, GCMG, MC, DL (Chinese: 戴麟趾) 2 June 1915 – 4 December 1988 was a British soldier and colonial governor.

Early life

Trench was educated at Tonbridge School, Tonbridge, Kent and graduated from Jesus College, Cambridge with the degree of Master of Arts (M.A.).

War service

In 1938, Trench entered the Colonial Service as a cadet in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate and was seconded to the Western Pacific High Commission in 1941. He was also commissioned into the Royal Artillery (Supplementary Reserve). From 1939 to 1945, he fought in the Second World War and served in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate Defence Force from 1942 to 1946. For this, Trench was awarded the decoration of the Military Cross and the US Legion of Merit in 1944. He attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1947 and studied at the Joint Services Command and Staff College in Swindon, Wiltshire in 1949.

Colonial administration career

In 1950, Trench became Assistant Secretary to the Deputy Defence Secretary for Hong Kong. He eventually held the office of Deputy Financial Secretary in 1956 and Commissioner of Labour and Mines in 1957. In 1958, Trench studied at the Imperial Defence College in London.

Trench served as Deputy Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong between 1959 and 1960. He left Hong Kong to take up the office of High Commissioner for the British Western Pacific Territories between 1961 and 1964, only to be appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Hong Kong between 1964 and 1971. There were rumors that he was involved in several major corruption activities during his stay in Hong Kong.

Personal life

Trench married Margaret Gould on 18 August 1944. The couple had one daughter, Katherine Elizabeth. Trench was also a distant kinsman of the Barons Ashtown, and one of his distant relatives, Sir Nigel Clive Cosby Trench, also worked in the Foreign Service and succeeded to the Barony of Ashtown in 1990.

Sir David Trench died on 4 December 1988, aged 73.

Offices and honours

David Trench Rehabilitation Centre

• C.M.G., 1960
• K.C.M.G., 1962
• K.St.J., 1964
• Honorary LL.D. degree from Hong Kong University, 1968.
• G.C.M.G., 1969
• Governor of Hong Kong, 1964 to 1971
• President of St. John Ambulance Brigade and Association in Dorset since 1972.
• Chairman, Dorset Area Health Authority from 1973 to 1982.
• Deputy Lieutenant of Dorset, 1977
• The Trench Methadone Clinic and the David Trench Rehabilitation Clinic, both in Hong Kong, are named after him.
• Ching Cheung Road in Kwai Chung in Kowloon,Hong Kong was named after him.

See also

Biography portal

• History of Hong Kong

Government offices
Preceded by Sir John Gutch	High Commissioner for the Western Pacific 1961–1964	Succeeded by Sir Robert Sidney Foster
	Governor of the Solomon Islands 1961–1964
Preceded by Edmund Brinsley Teesdale	Governor of Hong Kong 1964–1971	Succeeded by Lord MacLehose of Beoch

Persondata
Name	Trench, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	2 June 1915
Place of birth
Date of death	4 December 1988
Place of death