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Philip Haddon-Cave

British colonial administrator (1925–1999)

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 16, 2026
Entity authorityQ7183678 ↗
Source-derived summary

Sir Charles Philip Haddon-Cave, (Chinese: 夏鼎基; 6 July 1925 – 27 September 1999) was an Australian-born British colonial administrator. He was the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1971 to 1981 and the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong from 1981 to 1985. During his tenure of Financial Secretary, he famously coined the term "positive non-interventionism" as its chief principle, which has long-lasting effect on Hong Kong and world's economic philosophy.

Early life and government career

Haddon-Cave was born in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, son of Francis MacNamara Haddon-Cave. He had a brother, David, and sister, Pamela. He was educated at the University of Tasmania and King's College, Cambridge. He joined the British Colonial Service in 1952 was assigned to Kenya, British East Africa. In 1961, he was appointed Financial Secretary in the Seychelles. In 1963, he was transferred to work in the Hong Kong government, working in the Department of Trade and Industry. In 1965, he became the Director of Trade and Industry and was promoted Deputy Secretary of Economy.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Philip Haddon-Cave” as british colonial administrator (1925–1999). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Philip, Haddon-Cave and British.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1925, 1999, 1971, 1981—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1925-07-06. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Philip, Haddon-Cave and British providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Philip Haddon-Cave”, the useful work is to connect “british colonial administrator (1925–1999)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7183678. VIAF identifies the subject as 315603378. The Library of Congress control number is no2015050600. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1925, 1999, 1971 and 1981.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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  2. Expand the search: follow Philip Haddon-Cave primary sources, Philip Haddon-Cave archive and Philip research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Philip Haddon-Cave” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.