I Was An Elephant Handler

Updated (partial) on January 24, 2013

This may possibly be the most complete succession list of Chairmen and Chief Managers of the Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation available on the internet, at the time when this post was published. Why so braggy? Quite simple, I didn't start this haply, I was looking, hard, to find a list of this nature on the internet and came away empty-handed, and therefore decided to compile my own. Back in 2010, I had the opportunity to compare notes with the HSBC GMO Archives and was glad (and thankful) to have found two new names of chairmen which I didn't have on mine. I was so much happier that in return I gave them one that they didn't have. The list, as presented below, is quite exhaustive; all I can do (and will do) is to add brief biographies to the names, starting from the less known.

Notes:

1. The country flags placed under the names of non-Chinese are for easy reference to indicate the nationalities or countries of origin of these persons. These are present days flags and some of them may not correspond with the historic period of the events in matter.

Chairman of the Board of Directors: A Succession List
1	1865/3 - 1866	Francis Chomley 孔萊	Chairman of the Provisional Committee, became HSBC Chairman on March 2, 1865; Senior partner in China of Dent and Co. 寶順洋行; Senior Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council (1864-1866); Consul of Sweden and Norway in Hong Kong (1863); Italian consul in Hong Kong (1864)
2	1867/1 - 1867/2	John Dent
3	1867/3 - 1867/5	Edward L. Cunningham	b.1823 Milton, Massachusetts - d.1889 same Milton; Managing Director of Russell and Co. in Shanghai; Founder and President (1862-1864), Shanghai Steamship Company; Assistant Consul, Sweden and Norway (Hong Kong 1871). [Cunningham was well respected for his philanthropic mind and deeds. Russell and Co. became shareholders of HSBC in 1866 and by December that year, William H. Forbes (also from Milton), Russell’s Chairman was elected as director of the bank. It puzzles me though that if Edward is in fact E. Cunningham, why him and not his Chairman who was elected to the chair? Forbes only became chairman in 1874. So, as far as I am concerned, this is non-conclusive, and needs further digging …]
4	1867/6 - 1867/11	Agathon Friedrich Woldemar Nissen	b.1836 Hamburg - d. December 28,1896 Hamburg; Member of the Provisional Committee, HSBC Deputy Chairman in 1866, became HSBC Chairman at the age of 31; Senior partner of Siemssen and Co. 禪臣洋行 since 1855; Consul for the Hansa Towns of Bremen, Hamburg and Lubeck as well as for Sweden and Norway; Vice Chairman of Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1867-1868); left Hong Kong in October 1867.
5	1867/12 - 1868/11	George Johann Hellend	A Norwegian; member of the Provisional Committee; senior partner of John Burd and Co. 畢洋行; consul for Denmark, Sweden and Norway; Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1869); Danish consul to Hong Kong (1867); Consul of Sweden and Norway to Hong Kong (1867).
6	1869	George Farley Heard	b.1837 Ipswich, Massachusetts - d.1875 aboard the S.S. Anadye in the Red Sea, returning to the United States; entered Harvard, but completed his formal education in Geneva, Switzerland; went to China in 1859 as a private secretary of John E. Ward (the American minister to China) at the negotiation of the Treaty of Tientsin; had his named changed in Suffolk County, Massachusetts in 1861, from George Washington Heard Jr. to George Farley Heard; joined his uncle’s trading firm in Canton, Augustine Heard and Co. 瓊記洋行 where his brother Albert Farley Heard (a member of the bank’s Provisional Committee) worked as senior partner; later succeeded his brother as senior partner of AHC; Russian consul to Hong Kong (1864); remained in Hong Kong with the company until its final collapse in 1875; died at sea heading back to the United States at the age of 38; buried in Aden, Yemen.
7	1870	Henry Beverley Lemann	Member of the Provisional Committee; head of Gilman and Co. 太平洋行.
8	1871 - 1972	R. Rowett	Member of the Legislative Council.
9	1872 - 1873	Thomas Pyke	Records of Thomas Pyke, as found, were scattered, but all in all portrayed a job hopper, whose station in life and the HSBC chairmanship were unseeming to each other. Pyke worked for the British opium firm Holliday, Wise & Co. as a clerk in Shanghai, along with his brother William Pyke, from 1846 to 1848. He was listed as a resident of Canton (Guangzhou) from 1849 to 1851. Undated records further showed that he worked for Gideon Nye's trading firm Nye, Parkin & Co.; Isaac Bull's firm Bull, Purdon & Co.; and H.L. Dalrymple's Birley & Co. Nye was a Massachusetts merchant who had made a fortune in China. I have written about him in the post “Philadelphia Quaker, Soldier Of Fortune”, an unusual tradesman and diplomat who in 1857 had lobbied the U.S. government to annex Formosa (Taiwan). The Hong Kong and Canton based American ships' agent Bull, Purdon & Co. was a founding member of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1861), and so was Birley. Dalrymple was appointed HSBC chairman for two terms: 1882-83 and 1890-91. Pyke was with Birley & Co. when he became HSBC chairman in 1872.
10	1873 - 1874	Solomon David Sassoon	b.1841-d.1894; grandfather of Rabbi Solomon David Sassoon (b.August 1915 London – d.May 1985) and great grandfather of Rabbi Isaac S.D. Sassoon, both of them educators and scholars.
11	1874 - 1875	William H. Forbes	Chairman of the opium firm Russell and Co.
12	1875 - 1876	Adolph (Adolf) von André	Von André (b.unk. - d. May 7, 1911, London) was a German national who engaged himself in the financing and venture capital businesses. The Hong Kong and Qing Governments only documented him under the name of Adolf André without the preposition of “von”. He was some time known as Baron Adolf von André, but official British records had only addressed him as Mr. von André, as such I suspect the aristocratic title was no more than a nickname. There was no record that showed when André came to Hong Kong or how he amassed his wealth, but it was said that he had made his fortune in Hong Kong. He was associated with a number of commercial houses either in the capacity of a director or a partner. I was able to locate these affiliations. He co-founded Melchers & Co. 美最時洋行 in Hong Kong (a firm remains operating today in Hong Kong and elsewhere) with Bremener [is there such a word, or Bremenian?] Hermann Melchers on August 1, 1866, in which firm he remained a partner between 1866 and 1889. He was listed as a director of the International Bank of London, Ltd. in 1888; a director of the Trust or Loan Company (probably Hong Kong domicile)[strange name for a financial institution] in 1889; a partner of André Reniers & Co. (co-founder William Reniers was previously a partner in Melchers & Co.) in 1889; a debenture holder of Crisp and Co., Ltd. (mercantile firm operated from Cambridge) in 1904; and a director of the couturiers Paquin and Maison Virot (year unk.). André was said to have a substantial portion of his holdings in railway interests in Spain, Australia, USA and the Philippines. He was listed as a director and a trustee of The Great Southern of Spain Railway Co., Ltd. in 1890. He was listed as a special juror in 1874 through 1877.
13	1876 - 1877	Emmanuel Raphael Belilios 庇理羅士	b.1837 Calcutta – d.1905 London; a Baghdadi Indian Jew; the longest serving director in the HSBC board (1868-1888); Senior Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council (1892-1900).
14	1877 - 1878	Hans Christian Heinrich Hoppius	b. - December 12, 1894 Hong Kong; arrived Hong Kong in 1862 at the age of twenty one; second generation successor of Woldemar Nissen in the firm Siemssen and Co. as senior partner from 1868; president of the German Club in Hong Kong since its establishment in 1865; member of the Hong Kong Commission at the 1886 Colonial and Indian Exhibition held in London; his name was shown as a director of the bank in a HSBC advertisement posted in The Straits Times (Singapore) on September 4, 1883.
15	1878 - 1879	Frederick David Sassoon 費特力克沙宣	b.1853-d.1917; of David Sassoon, Sons and Co. 沙宣洋行; younger brother of Albert Sassoon.
16	1879 - 1880	William H. Forbes	This was Forbes' second term, he previously served as Chairman from 1874 to 1875.
17	1880 - 1881	William Keswick 凱薩克	b.1834, Scottish Lowland – d.1912; 9th Tai-pan of Jardine, Matheson; founder of the Keswick family; grandnephew of William Jardine; arrived in Hong Kong in 1855; established a Yokohama branch for Jardine in 1859; became a Jardine partner in Hong Kong in 1862; left Hong Kong to be with Matheson and Co. in London in 1886; member of the Executive and Legislative Councils; Chairman of Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1870, 1877-1881, 1884-1885); Hawaiian consul to Hong Kong (1869,1885); Danish consul to Hong Kong (1880); MP for Epsom & Ewell (1899-1912); HSBC Director (1877); Deputy Chairman (1879-1880); resigned from the board in 1886 to return to London; Keswick finally connected Jardine, Matheson and HSBC thirteen years after the establishment of the bank. Jardine’s representation on the boards (of directors and the advisory one in London) had never ceased since then.
18	1881 - 1882	A. McIver
19	1882 - 1883	H.L. Dalrymple 達爾藍普	A Scott; partner of mercantile firm and opium trader Birley and Co. (renamed Birley, Dalrymple and Co. in 1883); Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1878); Justice of the Peace; name of Birley, Dalrymple and Co. was shown as one of the places where copies of the Opium Ordinance in the Straits Settlements and Labuan were available for viewing in an advertisement posted by W.H. Treacher, Governor of Sandakan, in the Straits Times (Singapore) on July 14, 1883 inviting bids for the "Tender for the North Borneo Opium Farm, 1884".
20	- 1883/12	Wilhelm Reiners	Partner of Melchers & Co. 美最時洋行 (1874-1893)
21	1883/12 - 1885	A.P. McEwan 麥伊雲	Senior partner of the opium firm Holiday Wise and Co; Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1886-1887, 1890); Chamber’s Representative to the Legislative Council (1887-1890).
22	1885-1886	Frederick David Sassoon	This was his second time in office; he previously served as Chairman from 1878 to 1879.
23	- 1886/06	A. McIver	This was his second time in office; he previously served as Chairman from 1881 to 1882.
24	1886/06 - 1887/09	Max Grote	Partner of Melchers & Co. 美最時洋行 (1884-1887).
25	1887/09 - 1888	Charles D. Bottomley	A scott; Bottomley listed his residential addresses as at Wyndham Street and Douglas Castle in 1884, the same as Douglas Lapraik. I do not know how the two were related. Lapraik was a member of the bank’s Provisional Committee and the Board of Directors.
26	1888 - 1889	John Bell-Irving	Partner of Jardine, Matheson; married Mary Jardine, niece of William Jardine (daughter of David); Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1888-1889); member of the Legislative Council (1886, 1887-1889); Hawaiian consul to Hong Kong (1887); HSBC Director (1886); Deputy Chairman 1887; resigned from the board in 1889; returned to the board in 1893; Deputy Chairman (1897-1898, 1902-1903).
27	1889/02 - 1890/02	William H. Forbes	This was his third time in office; he previously served as Chairman from 1874 to 1875 and from 1879 to 1880.
	Note: term of office began every year from February from hereon in
28	1890 - 1891	H.L. Dalrymple	This was Dalrtmple's second time in office; he previously served as Chairman from 1882 to 1883.

29th) Jacob Silas Moses (February 1891 – February 1892)
Senior partner of E. D. Sassoon and Co. 新沙遜洋行

30th) Stephen C. Michaelsen (February 1892 – February 1893)
Partner of Melchers & Co. 美最時洋行 (1884-1897); Russian consul to Hong Kong (1887)

31st) Hans Christian Heinrich Hoppius (February 1893 – February 1894)
This was Hoppius' second term, he previously served as Chairman from 1877 to 1878.

32nd) C.J. Holliday (February 1894 – February 1895)
Commander of Shanghai Volunteer Corps 萬國商團 (1881-1882, 1883-1886, 1891-1892, 1898-1900); director of Shanghai Municipal Council 上海公共租界工部局 (1883); Deputy Chairman of the bank (1894)

33rd) Jacob Silas Moses (February 1895 – February 1896)
This was Moses' second term, he previously served as Chairman from February 1891 to February 1892.

34th) A. McConachie (February 1896 – February 1897)
Senior partner of Gilman & Co.; Chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1896), Vice chair (1895, 1899); acting Chamber Representative to the Legislative Council (1884, 1895).

35th) Stephen C. Michaelsen (February 1897 – February 1898)
This was Michaelsen's second term, he previously served as Chairman from February 1892  to February 1893.

36th) James Jardine Bell-Irving (February 1898 – February 1899)
b.1857 Makerstoun, Roxburghshire, Scotland – d.?; partner of Jardine, Matheson; member of the Legislative Council (1892-1893, 1895, 1896-1899, 1901-1902); member of the Executive Council (1896-1899, 1901-1902); Chieftain of Hong Kong St. Andrew's Society (1897-1899); Chairman of the Hong Kong Cotton Spinning, Weaving and Dyeing Company (1899-1910, 1911-1914); father-in-law of Ian Maitland, 15th Earl of Lauderdale

37th) Robert M. Gray (February 1899 – February 1900)
Head of the British mercantile firm of Reiss and Co. 泰和洋行 (Reiss was an old trading firm initially established in Canton. The company was acquired by Hutchison group in 1960s); Chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1897-1900); Justice of the Peace; Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club Steward (his horses had won many racing cup for him, it was said); believed to be one of the richest men in Hong Kong; close to Augustine Heard Jr. of Augustine Heard and Co.

38th) N.A. Siebs (February 1900 – February 1901)
A German national; partner in Siemssen and Co.; member of German Club; his name was shown as a director of the bank in a HSBC advertisement posted in The Straits Times (Singapore) on January 7, 1904.

39th) James Johnstone Keswick (1901-1902)
b.1845-d.1914; Tai-pan of Jardine, Matheson (1890-1900); younger brother of William Keswick; arrived in the Far East in 1870; member of the Legislative Council (1889, 1890-1896, 1899-1901); member of the Executive Council (1899, 1900-1901); Chairman of Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1893-1894); founded Hongkong Land with Paul Chater in 1890; Chieftain of Hong Kong St. Andrew's Society (1890-1892, 1893-1894) Director of HSBC (1890-1895, 1899-1900). J.J. Keswick is not included in the list provided by HSBC GMO Archives. According to Carol Matheson Connell, A Business in Risk: Jardine Matheson and the Hong Kong Trading Industry, he was Chairman for the perior 1901-1902.

40th) Robert Gordon Shewan (February 1902 – February 1903)A Scot; b.1859 London - d. February 14, 1934 Hong Kong; came to Hong Kong at the age of twenty one in connection with Russell and Co.; director of Shewan and Co., later Shewan, Tomes and Co. 休恩托姆斯公司, which is a management company that oversaw the running of such early industries in Hong Kong as the Green Island Cement Company, Hong Kong Rope Manufacturing Company, Hong Kong Electric Tramway Co., Ltd, the Hong Kong operation of Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and the Hong Kong operation of the British Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, to name but a few; representative of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce to the Legislative Council (1902, 1904-1906); member of the Legislative Council (1919-1922); Chieftain of Hong Kong St. Andrew’s Society (1907-1908); Chilean consul to Hong Kong (1893).
Shewan purchased a power station in Canton from Russell and Co. and registered it as a new company in 1900 (or 1901), which went by the name of China Light and Power Company. He was CLP's first Chairman and remained so for over thirty years. By 1932 the principal shareholders, member of the Kadoorie family, who retain control to this day, decided they wanted to run it themselves. Shewan was asked to go, so he demanded a "golden parachute" of HK$1 million. The family thought he was asking way too much and took the claim to court. The court returned the claim not only in favor of Shewan, but also that he should be paid HK$2 million instead!

41th) A.J. Raymond (February 1903 – February 1905)
Worked for E.D. Sassoon and Co.

42th) Herbert Edmund Tomkins (February 1905 – February 1906)
Succeeded Robert M. Gray as head of Reiss and Co. in 1901; member of the Hong Kong Club

43th) Armin Haupt (February 1906 – February 1907) Haupt
A Dane; partner of Melchers and Co. 美最時洋行 (1892-1907); consul for Denmark; member of Hong Kong Club and German Club; Russian consul to Hong Kong (1898); Danish consul to Hong Kong (1899); HSBC Deputy Chairman (1906)

G.H. Medhurst

44th) G.H. Medhurst (February 1907 – February 1908)
Manager of Dodwell and Co.; member of the Hong Kong Club
Medhurst’s board included these men: Henry Keswick of Jardine, Matheson and Co. as Vice Chairman, A. Fuchs of Siemssen and Co., E. Goetz of Arnold, Karberg and co., C.R. Lenzmann of the German firm Carlowitz and Co., A. J. Raymond of E.D. Sassoon and co., Edward Shellim of David Sassoon and co., Robert George Shewan of Shewan, Tomes and Co., H.A.W. Slade of Gilman and Co. and Herbert Edmund Tomkins of Reiss and Co.

Henry Keswick

45th) Henry Keswick (February 1908 – February 1909)

46th) W.J. Gresson (February 1909 – February 1910)

47th) Herbert Edmund Tomkins (February 1910 – February 1911)
This was Tomkins' second term, he previously served as Chairman from February 1905 to February 1906.

Edward Shellim

48th) Edward Shellim (February 1912 – February 1913)
British; manager of David Sassoon, Sons and Co.; came to China in 1885; a director of Hong Kong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company, the Hong Kong Land Investment Company, the Hong Kong Tramways, the Hong Kong Land Reclamation Company, the China Sugar Refining Company, the Canton Marine Insurance Company, the China Fire Insurance Company; member of the Legislative Council (1913-1919).

50th) F.H. Armstrong (February 1913 – February 1914)

David Landale

51st) David Landale (February 1914 – February 1916)
Jardine, Matheson Tai-pan; Chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1915); member of the Legislative Council (1915); Captain of the Royal Hong Kong Golf Club (1918); naming honor: Landale Street 蘭杜街

52nd) W.L. Pattenden (February 1916 - February 1917)
Pattenden is not included in the list provided by HSBC GMO Archives; his name appeared in a HSBC advertisement posted in The Straits Times on March 9, 1916; no further information can be found on Pattenden at this time.
Pattenden's Board included these men: S.H. Dodwell as Deputy Chairman, G.T.M. Edkins, David Landale, C.S. Gubbay of E.D. Sassoon and Co., J.A. Plummer, P.H. Holyoak and Edward Shellim

53rd) Stanley Hudson Dodwell (February 1917 – February 1918)
Head of Dodwell and Co., Ltd. 天祥洋行; probably related to company founder George Benjamin Dodwell; Chairman of Dairy Farm; Chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1919, 1936, 1941) and vice chair (1916-1918, 1935, 1940); chaired the Chamber’s last General Meeting on May 13, 1941, months before the fall of Hong Kong on Christmas Day; Member of the Legislative Council (1917, 1941); President of the Royal Society of St. George Hong Kong Branch (1938/1939); Captain of the Royal Hong Kong Golf Club (1916, 1935-1936)

54th) P.H. Holyoak (February 1918 – February 1919)
Merchant; head of Reiss and Co. and later Holyoak, Massey and Co., Ltd.; Chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1917-1918, 1920-1921, 1925), Chamber representative to the Legislative Council (1915-1926); member of the Masonic order Hong Kong; Captain of the Royal Hong Kong Golf Club (1921); President of the Royal Society of St. George Hong Kong Branch (1918-1919); President of the Aero Club (1920)

55th) J.A. Plummer (February 1919 – February 1920)
Managing Director of Bradley & Co.; Chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1931); son of John Isaac Plummer, who, for twenty years, was Chief Assistant at the Royal Observatory in Hong Kong (the old Plummer retired in 1911 and died in 1925 in London)

56th) E.V.D. Parr (February 1920 – February 1921)
Was head of P & O Steam Navigation Co. in 1919; went to work for Mackinnon, Mackenzie and Co. in 1920; Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1919-1920, 1923); member of the Legislative Council (1919-1921); Captain of the Royal Hong Kong Golf Club (1919).

57th) G.T.M. Edkins (February 1921 – February 1922)
Manager of Butterfield and Swire; Chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1916); President of Royal Society of St. George Hong Kong Branch (1921/1922)

58th) G.M. Dodwell (February 1922 – February 1923)

59th) A.O. Lang (February 1923 – February 1924)
Arrived Hong Kong in 1904 to join Gibb, Livingston and Co. 仁記洋行 and became head in 1916; Chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1922), vice chair (1920, 1923, 1925-1926) and member of the Chamber General Committee (1916-1927); member of the Legislative Council (1923-1927) and Executive Council (various period since 1922); director of various firms in Hong Kong including Union Insurance Society of Canton, Hong Kong Electric, Hong Kong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown, Hong Kong Tramways, Star Ferry, Indo-China Steam Navigation, China Sugar Refining, Canton and Macau Steamboat and Peak Tramways; left Hong Kong in 1927.

60th) D.G.M. Bernard (February 1926 – February 1928)
Chairman and Managing Director of Jardine, Matheson and Co.; Chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1926-1927); member of the Executive and Legislative Councils; President of the Royal Society of St. George Hong Kong Branch (1923/1924)

61st) A.H. Compton (February 1928 – February 1929)
Manager of David Sassoon, Sons and Co.

62nd) N.S. Brown (February 1929 – February 1930)

63rd) J.A. Plummer (February 1930 – February 1931)
This was Plummer's second term, he previously served as Chairman from February 1919 to February 1920

64th) C. Gordon Mackie 邁基 (February 1931 – February 1932)
Head of Gibb Livingston and Co. and later worked for Mackinnon, Mackenzie and Co.; Chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1930, 1933-1934) and vice chair (1928); Chamber representative to the Legislative Council (1931-1935); Chieftain of Hong Kong St. Andrew’s Society (1929/1930)

J.J. Paterson - HSBC Chairman;
Jardine, Matheson Tai-pan;
Home Guard Major; and POW

65th) John Johnstone Paterson (February 1932 – February 1933)
Tai-pan of Jardine, Matheson; member of the Legislative Council (1938-1940); Home Guard Major (Paterson had fought with the Camel Corps in Iraq in the First World War) of Hong Kong Volunteer Defense Corps (under the command of Colonel H.B. Rose) positioned at the North Point power station at the outbreak of the war with Japan; became POW and kept in the Stanley Prison; after the liberation of Hong Kong in 1945, reopened the Jardine office with D.L. Newbigging; a descendant of William Jardine's sister Jean; son of William Paterson, a partner in Jardine from 1875 to 1887.

66th) Thomas Ernest 'Tam' Pearce (February 1933 – February 1934)
Merchant; b.year unknown Canton – d.December 1941, Hong Kong; son of Rev. Thomas William Pearce [1], missionary and educator in Hong Kong; very well respected businessman; bought the trading firm John D. Hutchison 和記洋行 form its founder John Du Flon Hutchison (established in 1880s) in 1917 and ran it until the outbreak of war; Dairy Farm board member; Chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1939) and vice chair (1938); Member of the Legislative Council (1940-1941); President of the Royal Society of St. George Hong Kong Branch (1930/1931); Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club steward; member of the Hong Kong Cricket Team (1903/1904, 1935/1936); father of Alec Pearce (b.1910 Hong Kong - d.1982 Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England), a well-known cricketer who played for Hong Kong; died in a gallant defense of the Hong Kong Electric power station at North Point during the battle of Hong Kong.

67th) C. Gordon Mackie 邁基 (February 1934 – February 1935)
This was Mackie's second term, he previously served as Chariman from February 1931 to February 1932.

68th) Stanley Hudson Dodwell (February 1935 – February 1936)
This was Dodwell's second term, he previously served as Chairman eighteen years ago from February 1917 to February 1918,

69th) John Johnstone Paterson (February 1936 – February 1937)
This is Paterson's second term, he previously served as Chairman from February 1932 to February 1933

70th) G. Miskin (February 1937 – February 1938)
Managing Director of Gilman and Co., Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1941, 1946-1947)

71st) Thomas Ernest 'Tam' Pearce (February 1938 – February 1939)
This was Pearce's second term, he previously served as Chairman from February 1933 to February 1934

72nd) A.L. Shields (February 1939 – February 1940)Head of Shewan, Tomes & Co 休恩托姆斯公司, Chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1938) the vice chair (1937); the Chamber representative to the Legislative Council (1938-1944); Chieftain Hong Kong St. Andrew’s Society (1933/1934). Shields served in the Hong Kong Volunteer Defense Corps. Shields, together with Major C.M. Manners, urge Governor Marc Young, after a visit to Japanese lines and sighting the artilery and troops in reserve during a truce at 9am on Christmas Day 1941, that it was futile to continue fighting. At 3:15pm Major-General Christopher Michael Maltby, the Hong Kong garrison commander organized the defense, advised Young that no further useful military resistance was possible and then ordered all commanding officers to break off the fighting and to capitulate to the nearest Japanese commander.

73rd) H.V. Wilkinson (February 1940 – February 1941)
President of the Royal Society of St. George Hong Kong Branch (1940/1941)

74th) John Johnstone Paterson (February 1941 – February 1942)
This is Paterson's third term, he previously served as Chairman from February 1932 to February 1933 and from February 1936 to February 1937

75th) Arthur Morse (1941-1953, June 1946-1953)
b.April 25, 1892 Tipperary, Ireland - d.May 13, 1967; Morse was Chairman of the Bank’s London Advisory Committee; required by British regulators in 1941, because of the imminent fall of Hong Kong to the Japanese, to act as Chairman of the Bank; in 1943, the London Committee was empowered to act as a Board of Directors and Morse was appointed to the dual role of Chairman and Chief Manager; Senior Unofficial Member of the Executive Council (1946-1953); Naming honor: Morse Park.

76th) C. Blaker (March 1954 – March 1958)

77th) M Turner (1959-1962)

78th) Hugh David MacEwen Barton (1962-1963)
b.1911, Ireland - d.1989, England; Chairman and Managing Director of Jardine, Matheson & Co. (1953-1963), HSBC Director (1955-1959), HSBC Vice Chairman (1960-1961)

79th) W.C.G. Knowles (1964)

80th) John A.H. Saunders (1965-1972)

81st) Guy M. Sayer (1973–1977)
b.1924 London - d.2009 London; Sayer rose from rank and file within HSBC; he joined HSBC London in 1946 and was sent to the East the following year; became Manger of the Mongkok Branch in Hong Kong in 1965; Staff Controller in 1969; General Manager and Director of the Board in the following year; Deputy Chairman in 1971.

82nd) Michael A. R. Sandberg 沈弼 (1978-1986); b.May 31, 1927 Surrey - d. ;

83rd) W. Purves (1986–1993)

84th) J. Grey (1993-1996)

85th) J. Strickland (1996–1999)

86th) D. Eldon (1999–2005)

87th) Vincent Cheng (2005–2010)

88th) M.F. Geoghegan (2010- )

Group Chairman

1st) William Purves 浦偉士 (1986-1998)
2nd) John Bond 龐約翰 (1998-2006)
3rd) Stephen Green 葛霖 (2006-)

Chief Manager, Hong Kong: A Succession List

Victor Kresser, center front row

1st) Victor Kresser (1868-1870)
A Swiss Calvinist who was in Shanghai since 1860 as manager of Comptoir d'Escompte de Paris [1] 法蘭西銀行; joined HSBC as manager of the Hong Kong Office in 1864; became Chief Manager after the bank reorganized in 1868 that made the Hong Kong office the headquarters and the Shanghai office the Shanghai Branch. The Swiss, who was to operate Hong Kong's first local bank under "sound Scottish banking principles", was sacked 2 years after he was installed to the position of Chief Manager.

[1] CEP was the first French bank to enter Qing China, while the Shanghai office was the bank's first branch office ever established outside of France. The Shanghai branch was opened for the purpose to receive eight million taels of silver that China were bound to pay to France as indemnity for the Second Opium War. CEP was nationalized in 1945, and was merged with several other banks in 1966 to become BNP Paribas.

A 1873 HSBC one dollar note bearing Greig's signature

2nd) James Greig (1871-1876)
b.1834-d.unknown; Greig joined the bank in 1869; he was formerly the Hong Kong branch manager of the Asiatic Banking Corporation 亞西鴉特匯理銀行 (probably an Indian bank); best remembered for his handling of Qing China’s first public loan – in 1874 he committed the bank to a Foochow loan of GBP627,615 at the agreed but arbitrary exchange rate of 2 million taels, denominated in sterling.

Lucky Jackson

3rd) Thomas Jackson 昃臣 (1876-1886)
Representative of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce to Legislative Council (1884-1887)

4th) John Walter (1886-1887)

5th) Thomas Jackson (1887-1889)

G.E. Noble

6th) George Edward Noble (1889-1890)
b.ca.1847 - d. April 10, 1901; son of an East India merchant

7th) Thomas Jackson (1890-1891)

8th) F. de Bovis (1891-1893)

9th) Thomas Jackson (1893-1902)
Chairman of Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1901)

10th) J.R.M. Smith (1902-1910)
Vice Chairman of Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1909, 1910)

11th) Newton J. Stabb (1910-1920)
Vice Chairman of Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (1912)

ca.1910 photo of
A.G. Stephen with
his comprador

12th) A. G. Stephen (1920-1924)
Chieftain of Hong Kong St. Andrew's Society (1922-1923)

13th) A.H. Barlow (1924-1927)

14th) A. C. Hynes (1927-1930)
Member of the Legislative Council (1928-1929)

15th) Vandeleur Molyneux Grayburn (1930-1941)
Interned by the Japanese during the Japanese occupation; died in prison.

16th) Arthur Morse (1941-1953)
Served as Chairman during the same period

17th) Michael W. Turner (1953-1962)

18th) John A. H. Saunders (1962-1964)
Became Chairman in 1964

19th) Hsi-Jui Shen (1964-1972)
The position was Joint Chief Manager; b.May 5, 1902 Shanghai – d.1994 San Francisco; among the first students of Chinese descent at Dartmouth College (class of 1928) and Harvard Business School; said to be formerly a director of ROC’s Central Trust of China 中央信託局; first Chinese descent to fill the top management post of HSBC.

I found no record of Shen being connected with CTC, but there was a shanghai-born man, of similar age to Shen, by the name of Sheng Shenyi 盛升頤 alias Sheng Chen 盛臣, who was put in charge of CTC's Hong Kong Bureau in 1937 after the fallen of Shanghai. Sheng was the seventh son of famous Qing government sponsored industrialist Sheng Xuanhuai 盛宣懷 (1844-1916). Sheng also owned a trading firm, Yangzi Trading Company 揚子公司, in Hong Kong under a partnership with Kong Lingkon 孔令侃 [2] and Song Zion 宋子安 [3]. The trading company acted as agent to CTC in all arms procurements, including major ones such as the purchase of warplanes, to skim huge profits for the three. Sheng was said to have made a fortune from Yangzi, and also from CTC. No idea if these two are the same man, which is entirely possible. The surname 盛 can be pronunced as Shen or Sheng or Sing.

[2] Kong Lingkon was the son of K'ung Hsianghsi 孔祥熙, alias H.H. Kung, and Eling Soong 宋藹齡 (the eldest of the three Soong Sisters); K’ung was ROC Premier from January 1938 to December 1939.

[3] Song Zion was the younger brother of Soong Tzuwen 宋子文, alias Paul Soong, who was the son of Charlie Soong (as featured in the book “The Soong Dynasty”). A brother-in-law of H.H. Kung, Paul Soong was ROC Minister of Finance (1928–1931, 1932–1933) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (1942–1945)

CTC was established by ROC’s Central Bank in 1934 in Shanghai to undertake government’s trust insurance affairs and government procurement (including arms purchase and shipping). CTC was moved to Taipei in 1949. In 2003, A reorganization in 2003 turned CTC into a corporation with a board of directors, but retaining the same name and function.

20th) Guy M. Sayer (1970-1977)
Became Chairman in 1972

21th) Michael A. R. Sandberg (1977-1986)
Also Chairman during the same period

Group Chief Executive

1st) William Purves (1986-1993); also Chairman from 1986 to 1998
2.nd)John Bond (1993-1998); became Chairman in 1998

3rd) Keith Whitson (1998-2003)
b. March 25, 1943 Morecambe, England – d. ; joined HSBC in 1961; has worked for the HSBC Group in the United Kingdom, USA, Germany, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia; Manager Frankfurt from 1978; Manager Indonesia from 1981; Assistant General Manager Finance for Asia from 1984; General Manager of HSBC plc from 1988-1990; Executive Director of HSBC Bank USA from 1990; Executive Director and Deputy Chief Executive of HSBC plc from 1992, CEO from 1994, Deputy Chairman 1998; Chairman of the Shareholders Committee and Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt KgaA, Düsseldorf; Vice Chairman of HSBC North America Inc.; Chairman of Merrill Lynch HSBC ; Chairman of HSBC Bank AS in Turkey; a non-executive director of the Financial Services Authority (1999) and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers; knighted in 2002; retired at the AGM on May 30, 2003 after 42 years with HSBC.

4th) Stephen Green (2003-2006), became Chairman in 2006
5th) Michael Geoghegan (2006- )

The First Accountant

John Grigor,who was previously the accountant of the Bank of Hindustan.

The Seven Head Compradors of HSBC

These seven contracted bankers took care of HSBC’s China affairs for a whole century following the bank’s inception. Between 1865 and 1965 there were nineteen chief managers in HSBC Hong Kong, but only seven compradors.

1st) Lo Chung-kong 羅振綱 (1865-1877, died in office); alias Lo Pak-sheung 羅伯常
2nd) Lo Hok-pang 羅鶴朋 (1877-1892); alias Lo Sau-sung 羅壽嵩; third son of Lo Chung-kong;
3rd) Lau Wai-chuen 劉渭川 (1892-1906)
4th) Lau Boon-chiu 劉伴樵 (1906-1912)

5th) Ho Sai-wing 何世榮 (1912-1945, died in office)
b.unk., Hong Kong - d.1945 Hong Kong; the longest serving comprador of HSBC totaling 33 years; son of Ho Fook and was adopted by uncle Robert Ho-tung (Ho Fook’s elder brother); engaged by E.D. Sassoon and Co. as comprador; Robert Ho-tung provided a guarantee amount to HK$300,000 to HSBC for it to engage Ho Sai-wing as comprador; in 1934 Ho Sai-wing faced bankruptcy due to losses in share speculation (in connection with Jardine Matheson shares; as a result of the same incident, two of his brothers died from suicide and a third one, Ho Sai-kwong 何世光 abandoned his wife and son Stanley Ho and fled to Vietnam) but was bailed out by Robert Ho-tung; interned and tortured by the Japanese during the Japanese occupation; died in 1945 after Hong Kong was liberated.

6th) Tong Jung-bo 唐宗保 (1945-1953, died in office); the first comprador after WWII

7th) Lee Shun-wah 李純華 (1953-1965)
The last comprador of HSBC; maternal nephew of the fourth comprador Lau Boon-chiu; in 1960 the position was renamed "Chinese Manager 華人經理"; Lee's retirement in 1965 so ended the era of comprador for HSBC

HSBC’s Shanghai office also had seven compradors:

1st) Wang Huaishan 王槐山 (1865-1874)
2nd) Xi Zhengfu 席正甫 (1874-1904)
3rd) Xi Ligong 席立功 (1904-1922)
4th) Xi Lusheng 席鹿笙 (1922-1929)
5th) Gong Ziyu 龔子漁 (1930-1937)
6th) Gong Xingwu 龔星五 (1937-1941, 1945-1949)
7th) Gong Zhenfang 龔振方 (1949-1950)


* Additional information on this person can be found from the post Sutherland 13.

- TO BE COMPLETED -

Assassinations

Updated (partial) on February 5, 2010

"An Assassination is the targeted killing of a public figure.

Assassinations may be prompted by religious, ideological, political, or military reasons. Additionally, assassins may be motivated by financial gain, revenge, or personal public recognition."

Liu-Shifu, founder and head of the
Hong Kong based China Assassination
CorpsChina Assassination Corps

The first Hong Kong-based team of assassins

The China Assassination Corps 支那暗殺團 (1910-1912) was founded by republic revolutionary Liu Shifu 劉思複 (1884-1915) in April 1910 in Hong Kong almost immediately following the catastrophic failure of the Geng Xu New Army revolt 庚戌新軍之役 (February 12, 1910, the revolt of the First Artillery battalion, Guangdong New Army led by Ni Yingdian 倪映典). Wanting to avenge the revolutionaries killed in the uprising, the aim of the Corps was to kill Qing royalties and high officials.

The Corps (more like a squad) had twelve members including six founding members and they are Liu, Zhu Shutang 朱述堂, Xie Yingbo 謝英伯, Chen Zijue 陳自覺, Gao Jianfu 高劍父 (second in command in the Corps) and Cheng Ke 程克. The other six who joined soon after the Crops were formed are Chen Jiongming 陳炯明, Li Xibin 李熙斌, Liang Yishen 梁倚神, Ding Xiangtian 丁湘田 (long time girl friend of Liu), Lin Guanci 林冠慈 and Zheng Bian 鄭彼岸. Associate members were also admitted at a later stage.

As it may be the case for all great revolutions in the world history, the republic movement in China was quite chaotic, whereas no one and everyone was in charge. Liu’s assassin team acted on its own and wasn’t part of any cohesive or coordinated efforts by the revolutionaries. In fact, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen openly opposed the assassination tactic; but then no one did ask him for approval. Because of its stature, the group needed to support itself financially, the initial funding came from contributions from Liu’s friends and Chen Jiongming. As the funding demand grew, Li Xibin, who came from a wealthy family, took up solely the responsibility to provide for the group. He gave more than 10,000 yuan in total, chiefly by selling some of his family’s property holdings.

The headquarters of the Corps was at first located at #16 Bonham Road 般咸道, with a branch in Yaumati, where Li Xibin, Liang Yishen and others were busily engaged in making explosives. In July 1910 the headquarters was moved to #23 Mosque Street 嚤囉廟街, from where it was later moved to Tsimshatsui. It is believed that the presence of the Corps was known to the Hong Kong Government who chose not to act against the assassination organization or its members. The governor at that time was Henry Blake 卜力 (Francis Joseph Badeley 畢利 was Captain Superintendent of Police) who held a distinctly tolerant attitude towards the revolutionaries.

The Corps was voluntarily dissolved in the beginning of 1912 [1] after the success of the Xinhai Revolution 辛亥革命. As almost all written records were destroyed, no one knows clearly how many people were killed by members of the Corps. Judging, however, from the known cases, assassination did not seem a very fruitful enterprise for the Corps:

Cheng Ke, the turncoat
assassinIn July 1910, Cheng Ke was sent to Bejing as the point man to plot the assassination of the Prince Regent Zaifeng in Peking 攝政王載灃 (the father of the Last Emperor of China, Puyi). Cheng turned against the Corps and went to work for Yuan Shikai 袁世凱, thus ending the mission. In 1924, Cheng became the Interior Minister in the Beiyang government 北洋政府. He was appointed the mayor of Tianjin in 1935. Cheng (1878-1936), like Liu Shifu and Gao Jianfu, studied in Japan. He graduated from the law school of the prestigious Tokyo Imperial University.

Li Zhun, the
hard-to-kill admiral A plot to bomb Guangzhou Naval Viceroy Li Zhun (1871-1936) 廣東水師提督李準 was approved by the Corps in April 1911 and was to be carried out by Lin Guanci (1833-1911) and an associate member Chen Jingyue 陳敬岳 (1867-1911) who was a school teacher in Singapore before coming to Hong Kong to join the republic movement. On August 13, 1911, Lin and Chen intercepted Li on his way back to the naval headquarters in Guangzhou. Two bombs went off killing more than 20 soldiers and sedan chair bearers. Li escaped death with two broken ribs and serious wounds in his chest and both arms. Lin was shot death on the spot, while Chen was stopped a short while later at a roadblock. Chen was executed on November 7. Li, the key revolutionary adversary who was responsible for crushing several revolts in Guangdong, asked a personal truce with the Corps after this failed assassination attempt. Months later, Li assisted in the independence of Guangzhou by holding back his forces against the revolutionaries. Li became a famous calligrapher after retiring from all official engagements in 1917 and lived until 66.

This photo was taken only moments before the shooting started.
The leading sedan chairs carried F. H. May and his wife - Helena.Deadly Welcoming Committee

The first and only attempt to assassinate a colonial governor

Target: Henry Francis May, 15th Governor
Date: July 4, 1912
Place: Connaught Road, in front of the new General Post Office (present day Worldwide Housw)
Result: Failed
Assassin: Li Hung Hung, captured, later imprisoned

Henry Francis May [2] was the only Hong Kong Governor to be a target in an assassination attempt. He was fired upon near the General Post Office as he rode in a sedan chair after arriving from Fiji on July 4, 1912 to assume office of the 15th colonial governor. May was not injured, thanks to a Sikh policeman who graped the shooter's arm just in time; the bullet lodged in the sedan of his wife. The gunman, Li Hung Hung (or Li Hon Hing), aged 25, had a grudge against May. Several years before, May, as then Police Superintendent, had imprisoned Li's father, an undesirable mainland immigrant. Since the failed assassination, May used an automobile as his daily method of transportation. Li was brought to trial and sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labor. On June 13, 1918, May pardoned Li who had only served 6 years in jail. H. F. May was the colonial officer who lived in Hong Kong longer than all others - 38 years during different periods.

Norman J. Miners gave a full account of the event as well as the sociocultural background of Hong Kong in his paper: 'The Attempt to Assassinate the Governor in 1912'. A historian of Hong Kong, Prof. Miners taught in the University of Hong Kong and is the author of 'The Government and Politics of Hong Kong' and 'Hong Kong Under Imperial Rules 1912-41'.



Theatrical Murder
The first assassination targetting a cultural figure and committed during a cultural performance

Target: Li Shaofan, Cantonese opera comedian
Date: 1919
Place: Wo Ping Theatre 和平戲院  [3]
Result: Succeeded
Assassin: Unknown, case never solved

Popular comedian, Li Shaofan 李少帆, of the Guangzhou based Cantonese opera company “Ren-shou-nian” 人壽年班  was shot dead while performing on stage at the Wo Ping Theatre. The gun shots came from the audience. a man's robe together with a handgun was found in one of the front-row daybeds (the best seats are actually daybeds where people can half sit half lie-down); the killer was never caught.

An unconfirmed story theorized the assassin to be a professional soldier, and that the kill order was given by military strongman General Liu Zhiliu 劉志陸 (1889-1942). Liu, who became a full general at the young age of 28, was at the time head of the Guangzhou garrison. Liu's concubine, Du Adie 杜阿蝶, was a big fan of Li and when Liu was assigned to a new position away in Shantou (Swatow), Du made up some excuses and stayed behind only to begin a semi-open liaison with Li, that also involved the spending of a great amount of money. News got to Liu, who immediately returned to Guangzhou to confront Du. Before long, Li was shot dead in Hong Kong while Du was found stabbed to death in the suburb of Guangzhou.

If this is true, it didn't affect Liu's military career at all, as he continued to rise to the rank of warlord and took command of Yue-jun's (Guangdong Corps) 2nd Army 粵軍第二軍 and the13th Army of the Zhilu (the Beijing national capital area and Shandong) Allied Corps 直魯聯軍第十三軍. When he was tired of soldiering and meanwhile loaded with cash, Liu went to Shanghai in 1939 and styled hmeself as an industrialist; whilst there, he became a close friend of Shanghai gang bosses - Du Yuesheng 杜月笙 and Huang Jinrong 黃金榮. When Japanese occupied Shanghai, Liu was asked by the Japanese Army to become mayor. Denying the appointment [4], Liu escaped to Hong Kong and then went to Guangzhou, where he received the commission as the Administrator for the Chaozhou-Shantou Areas. He died from heart attack in 1942 at the age of 53 while still holding the Administrator position.



Opium King Slain
The first "God Father"-like underworld assassination

Target: Lee Hysan
Date: April 20, 1928
Place: Central, between Kau U Fong and Wellington Street
Result: Succeeded
Assassin: Unknown, case never solved

The Hawaii-born and America-educated Lee Hysan 利希慎 (1879-1928) was the son of California gold digger Lee Leung Yik 利良奕 of Hong Kong. After having secured some starting up money, the elder Lee returned to Hong Kong in 1896 with his family and started up a retailing business for men’s undergarment, but soon found a much lucrative dealing in opium. Driven by the adventurer’s instinct and business acumen, he soon became a prominent figure in that field. Meanwhile, his son Lee Hysan completed his high school education at the Queen’s College 皇仁書院 and whereat he later taught. The family business flourished further when Lee Hysan, whose business experience had by now included a stint at HSBC, inherited it from his father in the 1910s; property development became an important element in the portfolio thenceforth. In the following years, Lee aggressively acquired lands and properties, which included a landmark purchase in 1923 from Jardine, Matheson and Co. for several street blocks in the area known today as Causeway Bay. Lee is remembered by the naming of Hysan Avenue and Lee Garden Road. Lan Fong Road was named after his wife, Wong Lan Fong.

In the 1920s, Lee’s opium business began to expand to Macau where he, under the auspicious of a firm Yue Shing Hong 裕盛行, procured a monopoly to deal in opium, a system similar to “opium farmer” used in Hong Kong. Lee duly served as the General Manager (CEO) of the firm. The Portuguese Macau Government suddenly revolted the monopoly in 1927 claiming that the government would itself handling all trading in opium thenceforth. Unbeknown to Lee at first, the Macau Government had in fact resold the monopoly to another Macau company for the sum of HK$120,000. When Lee found out he took the Government to court. Several death threats had targeted Lee during the process of litigation causing Lee to be extra careful wherever he went. On April 16, 1928, the court returned in favor of Lee. Four days after the court handed down the ruling, at 1:00pm on April 20, Lee was shot in Central between Kau U Fong 九如坊 and Wellington Street 威靈頓街 while on route to his favorite luncheon club, the Yu Kee Club 裕記會所. The 49 years old “King of Opium” 港澳公煙大王 took three bullets and died on the same day, probably not knowing that one day his family would secure a prominent position in Hong Kong and even flourished beyond the land he was once proclaimed King [5].

An engine from the Kashmir Princess was recovered
from the Natuna SeaKashmir Princess, Mayday Mayday

The first foreign-government-sponsored assassination

Target: PRC Premier Zhou Enlai
Date: April 11, 1955
Place: Chartered aircraft Kashmir Princess
Assassin: Chow Tse Ming 周梓銘 (aka Chow Kui 周駒)
Result: Chow crashed the plane that was supposed to carry Zhou Enlai, but the Premier never boarded the plane. Chow fled to Taiwan and did not face trial anywhere.

A file photo of a Lockheed 749A Constellation. This
particular one, “Star of Delaware”, belonged to TWAChinese Premier Zhou Enlai was scheduled to fly from Hong Kong to Jakarta to attend the Asia-Afro Bandung Conference on April 11 1955. The plane he was supposed to board was “Kashmir Princess”, a chartered Lockheed L-749 Constellation owned by Air India. Having been informed that there was a last minute change in the VIP manifest and Premier Zhou would not be taking this flight after all, and the crew from the Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Co. (HAECO) had finished servicing the plane, Captain D.K. Jatar took the Kashmir Princess up the sky at 0425 GMT with eleven passengers and a eight-member crew (himself including). At approximately 0925 GMT, three distress signals were sent by the flight crew that said #3 engine had been shut down due to a fire that was caused by an explosion; the aircraft’s position over the Natuna Islands was also given before the radio went dead. The remains of the aircraft were found two days later about a mile from the shore of one of the smaller islands of the Natuna Islands. The flight engineer, navigator and first officer were the sole survivors. Raymond Wong 黃作梅 (1916-1955), the second Hong Kong branch director of Xinhua News Agency since its establishment in the colony was amongst the deceased.

Zhou Enlai flew to Rangoon 3 days after the crashOn May 26, an Indonesian board of inquiry investigating the crash announced that a time bomb with an American-made MK-7 detonator was responsible for the crash and it was highly probable that the bomb was installed in Hong Kong. China’s Foreign Ministry, however, seemingly was able to come to the conclusion that the plane was bombed long before the official investigation had even started, as it issued a statement the day following the crash. It described the bombing as "a murder by the special service organizations of the United States and Chiang Kai-shek". In response to China’s statement, governor Alexander Grantham issued a statement maintaining that the plane was not tampered with in Hong Kong but, upon informed of the result of the formal investigation, directed the Police Force to offer a reward of HK$100,000 for information leading to the arrest of those responsible. Subsequent to questioning more than 70 people connected with servicing the Air India flight, police investigation focused on a HAECO janitor Chow Tse Ming. On September 3, the government announced that a warrant for Chow’s arrest had been issued, but the alleged assassin had somehow fled to Taiwan, and that the British government had ask Taiwan for Chow’s extradition to Hong Kong.

Three days after the crash, Premier Zhou Enlai flew to Rangoon to meet with Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Burmese Prime Minister U Nu before continuing on to Bandung to attend the conference. The September 1994 edition of China Quarterly (of the Oxford University) said, “Evidence now suggests that Zhou knew of the plot beforehand and secretly changed his travel plans, though he did not stop a decoy delegation of lesser cadres from taking his place."

Gu Zheng-Wen, the
KMT spymasterA former Taiwan intelligent service official Gu Zheng-Wen 谷正文 openly admitted, when interviewed by the China Times Weekly in 1995, that Taiwan was responsible for the failed assassination. The plot was planned and executed by then head of the clandestine mission Zhou Bin-Cheng 周斌成 and staff Chen Hong-Ju 陳鴻舉. The time bomb was placed by Chow for a reward of HK$600,000. Chow never faced trial anywhere.

Radio Announcer Ambushed, Burned Alive
The assassination that woke up the people of Hong Kong

Target: Lam Siu Boh 林少坡 (stage name: Lam Bun 林彬) (1930-1967)
Date: 8:45am, August 24, 1967
Place: Waterloo Road, Kowloon Tong
Result: Succeeded
Assassin: A death squad, no one was arrested

Good Shot, Dead Shot

Targe: Harry Lam Hon Lit 林漢烈
Date: About 9am, November 30, 2002
Place: Luk Yu Teahouse 陸羽茶室, 24-26, Stanley Street, Central
Result: Succeeded
Assassin: Yang Wen 楊文

[1] What happened to the twelve after the assassin role?

Liu Shifu 劉思複

Zhu Shutang 朱述堂 - head of the Tongmenghui in Guangdong 同盟會廣東主盟人, captured and executed by warlord Long Jiguang 龍濟光 in c.1913

A photo taken on December 20,1912 of the staff of the First Guangdong Art Exhibition at its opening. Three assassins were present - sitting down in the center was Chen Jiongming, to his left: Xie Yingbo, and to his right: Gao Jianfu. They were respectively Chairman, Advisor and Vice Chairman of the Exhibition

Xie Yingbo 謝英伯 (1882 Meixian, Guangdong-1938 Guangning, Guangdong) – Founding head of the Tongmenghui for the Hong Kong and Macau region, under the direction of Sun Yat-Sen, co-founded “China Daily” 中國日報 – the mouthpiece for the revolutionaries - in Hong Kong in January 1900 (the office of the newspaper was situated at #20, Stanley Street in Central), became the Editor-in-Chief of China Daily in 1910, Co-founded the “Mun Hey News” 民氣報 in New York (the office of the newspaper was situated at #14, Bowery Street, close to the Coney Island Beach) in 1915 as a vehicle to promote the anti-Yuan Shikai campaign, obtained license to practice law in Guangzhou in 1916 and became a prominent lawyer, known as one of the “big 4” lawyers in Guangzhou, established the Guangzhou Journalism Academy 廣州新聞學院 in 1923, elected one of the seven members in KMT’s Central Control Committee 中央監察委員 in 1926, became the founding chairman of the Guangdong Press Club 廣東省新聞記者協會 in 1929, appointed curator of the Guangzhou Municipal Museum from 1934 to 1938, appointed District Attorney for Guangdong in 1935, shot dead by Japanese warplanes in October 1938 while en route to Guangning county, retreating with the High Court from Guangzhou. He was 57.

Chen Zijue 陳自覺 - was at one time the principal of the Hong Kong Practical Schoool for Girls (note: or Women) 香港實踐女校, a college of Home Economics modeled after the Aoyama Jissen Jogakko 青山実践女学校 (the famous revolutionary, feminist and writer Qiu Jin 秋瑾 attended this school in Tokyo in c.1904). Situated at #25 Gage Street 結志街 in Central, the Hong Kong school was in fact a façade for Tongmenghui for use to recruit female revolutionaryies and to hide those escaped to Hong Kong wanted by the Qing government in the Mainland.

Gao Jianfu 高劍父 (1879 Panyu, Guangdong - 1951 Macau) - took part in the Constitutional Protection Movement 護法運動 during the early years of the republic China, was appointed the head of the Guangdong Bureau of Arts and Craft 廣東省工藝局 and the principal of the First Class A Technical Institute of Guangdong 廣東第一甲種工業學校, became a noted painter of Chinese brush painting and developed the Lingnan style of painting 嶺南畫派 (inspired by Western and Japanese painting disciplines – Gao studied Western-style painting in Macau in 1903 and attended the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1906), established the (Truth Pictorial) magazine 真相畫報 in 1914 that was published in Guangzhou, resigned all government engagements in 1920, organized the first ever Guangdong Art Exhibition in 1921 – chiefly to promote the Lingnan style of painting, moved to Macau in 1938 to evade Japanese invasion in southern China, returned to Guangzhou in 1946 after the war, became the principal of Guangzhou Municipal School of Fine Arts 廣州市立藝術學校, moved to Macau again to evade the civil war and died there in 1951 at the age of 72. The painter-turned-revolutionary–turned-assassin-turned-militia-commander-turned-government-official-turned-arts-school-principal was originally trained as an apothecary.

Cheng Ke 程克 (1878 Kaifeng, Henan - 1936 Tianjin) - appointed Counselor to the Interior Ministry and a Presidential staff (presidency of Yuan Shikai) in 1912, appointed governor of Hanzhong Dao in Shanxi 陝西漢中道道尹 in 1914, appointed governor-general of Altay 阿勒泰地區(1915-18), elected a member of the House of Representatives in 1918, appointed Justice Minister as well as President of the Laws Amendment Agency (1923-24), appointed Interior Minister (1924) of the Beiyang government, became mayor of Tianjin between July and November in 1935. Cheng died in Tianjin at the age of 58.

Chen Jiongming,
lawyer-turned-assassin-
turned-warlord

Chen Jiongming 陳炯明 (1878 Haifeng, Guangdong – 1933 Hong Kong) - Chen established the Canton Army in 1916 and became the military governor of Guangdong (essentially a warlord)(1920-1923) and civic governor of Guangdong (1920-1922) and military governor of Guangxi (1921-1922). He was instrumental in backing Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's Constitutional Protection Movement 護法運動 and helped Sun  restore power after the Guangdong-Guangxi War 桂粵戰爭. He disagreed with Sun on how the country was to be united, and over the Northern Expedition. Sun wanted the use of military force to install a centralized government to be controlled by Kuomintang (KMT), while Chen advocated a federalism system using the early model of the United States as an example. On June 16, 1922, Chen's army bombarded Sun's office and residence causing Sun to flee on a ship. The armies of Chen and KMT engaged in several battles between 1923 and 1925. Chen was defeated in 1925 and fled to Hong Kong where he created a political party by the name of "China Public Interest Party" 中國致公黨 and continued to be critical towards KMT, and Chiang Kai-shek who defeated him in 1925. He died in Hong Kong in 1933 at the age of 55. Chen was originally trained as a lawyer.

Li Xibin 李熙斌
Liang Yishen 梁倚神

Ding Xiangtian 丁湘田– lifelong companion of Liu Shifu (the two never got married, Liu, in his anarchism believes, is against marriages), the two had a son in 1912

Lin Guanci 林冠慈 (1883-1911) - shot dead while attempting to assassinate Admiral Li Zhun, the Naval Viceroy of Guangdong on August 13, 1911. He was 24. Remembered as one of the "Four Martyrs of Honghuagang" 紅花崗四烈士 (the other three were: Chen Jingyue 陳敬岳, Wen Shengcai 溫生才 and Zhung Mingguang 鍾明光, they were all assassins; Chen was also killed in the same mission as Lin), Lin was buried at the Guangzhou Martyrs Memorial Garden.

Zheng Bian 鄭彼岸 - fled to the United States to evade persecution by warlord Long Jiguang 龍濟光 in 1914, returned to China from the United States at the invitation of the Zhongshan County in Guangdong to compile a county history in 1937, became the curator of the Zhongshan Memorial Library in 1947, became the Vice Curator of the Guangdong Cultural Heritage Institute in 1951, died in 1975 at the age 96. For an assassin, he lived a very long life.

[2] Short Biograph of H. F. May

1860    Born, Dublin, Ireland
1881    Graduated, Trinity College, Dublin
1881    Colonial Administration Cadet, Hong Kong
1886    Private Secretary to G. W. Des Voeux, 10th Governor of Hong Kong
1891    Assistant Colonial Secretary, Hong Kong
            Married to Helena Barker
1893    Captain Superintendent of Police, Hong Kong
1902    Colonial Secretary, Hong Kong
1910    Governor of Fiji
1912    15th Governor, Hong Kong
1919    Retired
1922    Died, Suffolk, England

Honors:            K. St. J., J.P. For Suffolk, C.M.G. (1985), G.C.M.G (1919)
Publications:   Guide to Cantonese Colloquial, Yachting in Hongkong
Namesake:      May Road, May Hall, Helena May Foundation

[3] Wo Ping Theatre was formerly the Empire Cinematograph Theatre 奄派亞影畫戲院, which was built in 1903 and was Hong Kong's first movie cinema. It was situated on Des Voeux Road Central near Jubilee Street. The Fire Department Headquarters was built on the site of the theatre in 1927 after the latter's dismantle in 1921. The Hang Seng Bank Headquarters was erected on the same site in 1963 and has been there ever since.

[4] The mayor position was later taken by his junior from the Baoding Military Academy 保定軍校 - Lieutenant General Ren Yuandao 任援道.

[5] Son: Richard Charles Lee 利銘澤 (1905-1983), inhirited business from father in 1928, although not appointed to the top position until after WII, served as directors in no less than 60 companies including many listed companies, became the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the N M Rothschild & Sons (Hong Kong) Limited when it opened in Hong Kong in 1973, appointed to the Urban Council (1953-1960), Legislative Council (1959-1965) and Executive Council (1961-1966), became Vice Chairman of Po Leung Kuk (1960-1966), became the Grand Master of Freemasonry for the Hong Kong and Far East District (1961-1983) including the oversight of the Freemasonry in Japan in the 60s and 70s, became Chairman of the Trust Fund established for the Freemasonry for the Hong Kong and South China District (1961-1983), became Permanent Honorary Member of the Hong Kong Japanese Club, became the Vice Chairman of the Council of the Chinese University, created a CBE, close to the Beijing ledership.

Hong Kong Governor David Trench officiated at the
opening of TVB, Run Run Shaw (left) sat next to
Harold HW LeeSon: Harold HW Lee 利孝和 (1910-1980), practiced law in Hong Kong as a barrister in 1932, appointed Chairman of the China Stabilization Fund 中國平准基金會 in 1943, appointed Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of ROC and Special Assistant to ROC’s Ambassador to the United Nations in 1946, co-founded Hong Kong Television Broadcast Limited (TVB)(Hong Kong’s First Wireless TV company) in 1967 and became its first Chairman of the Board of Directors; he continued to hold the position for 14 years until he died.

Nephew: Quo-wei Lee 利國偉 (1918- ), joined Hang Seng Bank as a junior clerk in 1946, became the Bank's Chairman in 1983, Non-executive Chairman (1996-1997) and Chairman Emeritus (1998-2004), became Chairman of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (1988-1991), became an adviser to the Board of HSBC Holdings PLC (1991-1997), appointed to the Legislative Council (1968-1978) and the Executive Council (1976-1978, 1983-1986), appointed Chairman of the Board of Education in 1976 and Chairman of the Education Commission in 1984, became Chairman of the Council of the Chinese University in 1982, created CMG in 1977 and a Knight Bachelor in 1988, awarded a Grand Bauhinia Medal in 1997.

Granddaughter: Vivienne Poy 利德蕙 (1941 Hong Kong - ), daughter of Richard Charles Lee, went to Canada in 1959 as a student, married Neville G. Poy 伍衛權 who is the brother of Adrienne Clarkson - Governor General of Canada (1999-2005) - in 1962, founded the fashion house of Vivienne Poy Mode in 1981, appointed (by Jean Chrétien) Senator for Toronto in 1998 and became Canada’s first Asian senator, selected as Chancellor of the University of Toronto in 2002.

- TO BE COMPLETED -