just given birth to their youngest child,
Kathleen Louisa, a few months earlier. She was active in the local community,
particularly in her role as President of the Ladies Recreation Club of Hong
Kong. In the end, his tenure as Chief Manager and their place at the pinnacle
of Hong Kong society had only lasted a little over a year.

Unfortunately, George’s tenure also suffered in comparison
with his predecessor, Thomas Jackson. He lacked the charm, the royal jelly,
that Jackson had in abundance. As H.D. Sharpin, a junior staff member,
described him years later:

He seemed rather aloof in general, and not talkative. My only contact
with him was pressing him to countersign D/Drafts etc for waiting customers. He
was inclined to be lazy about this, and seemed rather bored with the work, I
think. I remember once ,as I was going in to see him, a lady stopped me and
asked if she could see Mr. Noble. I told him a lady wished to see him. He
grunted and said “Is she pretty?” from which he got the reputation of being a
bit of a gay dog – probably quite undeserved.

Noble was one of those men whose record as a banker did end
up being judged more favourably in hindsight. During his brief tenure as Chief Manager,
he had been under considerable pressure to exceed what he believed were prudent
credit ratings for brokers. Perhaps his ill health was part of the reason that
he eventually buckled. Had he been more socially gifted than he was, he might
have been cut some slack, and might have been judged less harshly at the time.

With