Sir Cecil Clementi (1875-1947), colonial administrator and traveller, began his career as a cadet in the Hong Kong Civil Service in 1899, passing examinations in both Cantonese and Pekingese. He translated and edited Cantonese Love-songs (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1904), partly to assist students with the Chinese language. In 1902 he was posted for special service under the Government of India, and for famine relief work in China's Kwang-si province in 1903. He also served as a land officer and police magistrate in the then newly leased territories in mainland China, 1903-1906. Later he travelled from Andijan in Central Asia to Kowloon, publishing Observations taken during a Journey from Kashgar to Kowloon, 1907-1908 (Hong Kong, Naronha & Co., 1911). His maps were subsequently incorporated in the Survey of India's map of Tibet and adjacent countries, and he received the Cuthbert Peek award of the Royal Geographical Society in 1912.

In 1913 he was appointed Colonial Secretary of British Guiana, where he administered the government in 1916-1917, 1919 and 1921. He and his wife also discovered a route from the Kaieteur Falls on the Potaro river to the summit of Mount Roraima on the borders of Brazil and Venezuela. While in British Guiana, he concerned himself with the colony's health, drainage, immigration and development, publishing a report on conditions in 1919, as well as The Chinese in British Guiana (Georgetown, British Guiana, "The Argosy" Co., 1915) and A Constitutional History of British Guiana (London, Macmillan & Co., 1937).

In 1922 he became Colonial Secretary in Ceylon, administering the government in 1922-1923 and 1925. In 1925 he became Governor of Hong Kong, where his primary tasks were to restore confidence inside the colony, check piracy and restore friendly relations with Canton. He was made Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong, where he established a school of Chinese classical literature and philosophy. In 1930 he was made Governor of the Straits Settlements and High Commissioner for the Malay States, his policy being to achieve federation for all nine Malay states. He also inspired the raising of the first battalion of the Malay Regiment and through his knowledge of Chinese affairs was able to check the influence of the Kuomintang and Moscow's plan for 'colonial revolution' in Malaya. He finally retired in 1934 on the grounds of ill health. He was awarded the GCMG in 1931, was a knight of grace of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, and was Master of the Mercers' Company, 1940-1941, having served on its court from 1935. In 1912 he married Marie Penelope Rose Eyres, with whom he had one son and three daughters.