Hong Kong was stunned on the morning of December 5, 1986, to learn that the governor, Sir Edward Youde, had died in his sleep in Beijing during the night.
Unlike many of his predecessors, Sir Edward was a low-key governor, preferring to get the job done away from the public eye.
Yet the genuine outpouring of grief when he died left no doubt about the respect and real affection people had for him.
Perhaps it was the unexpectedness of his death that prompted thousands of people - young and old - to wait up to four hours to pay their final respects to the quietly spoken Welshman as he lay in state at Government House before his funeral. They believed he had given his life in the service of Hong Kong. One woman said at the time: 'He was Hong Kong's man, a great man and our national leader. I had never met him, but I believe he did a lot of good things for Hong Kong.'
Although Sir Edward was officially a member of the British team during the long months of onerous negotiations on the city's future, the people believed he fought in Hong Kong's corner - sometimes taking on both London and Beijing in his determination to give them a voice.
This week marks the 20th anniversary of Sir Edward's sudden death.
But who was the man who became the 26th governor of Hong Kong and where does he rate in the city's history?
