G. S. Kennedy-Skipton

George Stacey Kennedy-Skipton (31 August 1898 – 1982) was an Irish Hong Kong politician, senior civil servant and teacher.

[1] He worked in various departments, including District Officer, Magistrate, Senior Assistant Treasurer, Food Controller from 1940 to 1941 and secretary of the Sanitary Board.

He married Helen Tow, an American woman of Scandinavian descent who was born on 15 October 1892 to a Quaker family in Iowa.

Before the Battle of Hong Kong when Hong Kong fell into Japanese hands in December 1941, Helen appealed to the Evacuation Advisory Committee against the compulsory evacuation order, which caused a heated exchange between the attorney general, Sir Grenville Alabaster, the colonial secretary Franklin Gimson and Kennedy-Skipton at the Prince's Building.

He was sacked by Gimson in the Executive Council on 11 February 1942 for disobeying orders to cease co-operating with the Japanese and refusing to report to the Stanley Camp for internment with other government officials.

A newspaper criticised the fact that the enquiry was held behind closed doors under the title of "The Strange Case of Mr. Kennedy-Skipton".