The Non-Executive Chairmen of HSBC

Updated September 15, 2020.

Explanatory Notes

1. An image zoom plugin has been installed to enable detailed viewing of images. A magnifying glass will appear when the cursor hovers over an image.
2. The term "dollar" and the dollar sign "$" refer to the Hong Kong dollars.
3. The country flags placed in the succession table 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.
4. The expression "It is unknown..." generally means it is unknown to me.
5. Chinese names of certain persons, establishments, and places are added for the benefit of others researching similar stories as this one, particularly when reviewing papers in the Chinese language.
6. Writings, some lengthier than the others, about contemporaries of a certain chairman can be found in footnotes of each section. They may or may not be directly related to his story, but since I've got them in my notes, I might as well share them with the readership.

The Succession List

	In Office	Name	Nat.
1	1865/3/2-1866/	Francis Chomley 孔萊
2	1867/1-1867/2	John Dent
3	1867/3-1867/5	Edward L. Cunningham
4	1867/6-1867/11	Agathon Friedrich Woldemar Nissen
5	1867/12-1868/11	George Johann Hellend
6	1869	George Farley Heard
7	1870	Henry Beverley Lemann
8	1871-1972	Richard Rowett
9	1872-1873	Thomas Pyke
10	1873-1874	Solomon David Sassoon
11	1874-1875	William Howell Forbes
12	1875-1876	Adolph (Adolf) von André
13	1876-1877	Emmanuel Raphael Belilios
14	1877-1878	Hans Christian Heinrich Hoppius
15	1878-1879	Frederick David Sassoon 費特力克沙宣
16	1879-1880 (2nd, #11)	William Howell Forbes
17	1880-1881	William Keswick 凱薩克
18	1881-1882	Alexander McIver
19	1882-1883	Henry Liston-Dalrymple 達爾藍普
20	unk.-1883/12	Wilhelm Reiners
21	1883/12-1885/	Alexander Palmer MacEwen 麥伊雲
22	1885-1886 (2nd, #15)	Frederick David Sassoon 費特力克沙宣
23	unk.-1886/6 (2nd)	Alexander McIver
24	1886/6-1887/9	Max Grote
25	1887/9-1888/	Charles David Bottomley
26	1888-1889	John Bell-Irving
27	1889/2-1890/2 (3rd, #11, #16)	William Howell Forbes
	Note: term of office began every year from February from hereon in
28	1890-1891 (2nd, #19)	Henry Liston-Dalrymple 達爾藍普
29	1891-1892	Jacob Silas Moses
30	1892-1893	Stephen Cornelius Michaelsen
31	1893-1894 (2nd, #14)	Hans Christian Heinrich Hoppius
32	1894-1895	Charles J. Holliday
33	1895-1896 (2nd, #29)	Jacob Silas Moses
34	1896-1897	Alexander MacConachie
35	1897-1898	Stephen Cornelius Michaelsen
36	1898-1899	James Jardine Bell-Irving
37	1899-1900	Roderick Mackenzie Gray
38	1900-1901	Nicolaus August Siebs
39	1901-1902	James Johnstone Keswick
40	1902-1903	Robert Gordon Shewan
41	1903-1904	Abraham Jacob Raymond
42	1904-1905 (2nd, #41)	Abraham Jacob Raymond
43	1905-1906	Herbert Edmund Tomkins
44	1906-1907	Armin Haupt
45	1907-1908	George Harold Medhurst
46	1908-1909	Henry Keswick
47	1909-1910	William Jardine Gresson
48	1910-1911 (2nd, #43)	Herbert Edmund Tomkins
49	1911-1912	Gideon Balloch
50	1912-1913	Edward Shellim
51	1913-1914	Francis Harold Armstrong
52	1914-1915	David Landale
53	1915-1916 (2nd, #52)	David Landale
54	1916-1917	Walter Leslie Pattenden
55	1917-1918	Stanley Hudson Dodwell
56	1918-1919	Percy Hobson Holyoak
57	1919-1920	John Archibald Plummer
58	1920-1921	Edward Victor David Parr
59	1921-1922	George Thomas Money Edkins
60	1922-1923	George Melville Dodwell
61	1923-1924	Archibald Orr Lang
62	1924-1925	Archibald Orr Lang
63	1925-1926 (2nd, #54)	Walter Leslie Pattenden
64	1926-1927	Dallas Gerald Mercer Bernard
65	1927-1928 (2nd, #64)	Dallas Gerald Mercer Bernard
66	1928-1929	Albert Henry Compton
67	1929-1930	Neilage Sharp Brown
68	1930-1931 (2nd, #57)	John Archibald Plummer
69	1931-1932	Charles Gordon Stewart Mackie 邁基
70	1932-1933	John Johnstone Paterson
71	1933-1934	Thomas Ernest (Tam) Pearce
72	1934-1935 (2nd, #69)	Charles Gordon Stewart Mackie 邁基
73	1935-1936 (2nd, #55)	Stanley Hudson Dodwell
74	1936-1937 (2nd, #70)	John Johnstone Paterson
75	1937-1938	Geoffrey Miskin
76	1938-1939 (2nd, #71)	Thomas Ernest (Tam) Pearce
77	1939-1940	Andrew Lusk Shields
78	1940-1941	Harrie Vaughan Wilkinson
79	1941-1942 (3rd, #70, #74)	John Johnstone Paterson

Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Company, Limited Report of the Court of Directors General Meeting of Shareholders, To be held at the Banking House of the Company, Wardley House, Hong Kong, On Monday, the 12th of February, 1866. To the Participator of the Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Co., Limited. Gentlemen – In accordance with the terms of the Deed of Settlement the Directors have now to submit to you their First annual Report on the Positions of the Company’s affairs. The first call of $25 per Share was made on the first of January 1865, and the Second call of $100 was due on the 31st of March; three payments were made with great promptness. The Company’s Offices at Hongkong & Shanghai were opened for the transaction of business in the month of April last, but were not in fair working order until the middle of May. The operations of the Bank to the 31st December have therefore extended over a period of less than eight months. The following is the statement of accounts, which have been duly audited by the Honourable W.H. Rennie and Caleb T. Smith, Esq. Abstract Statement of Liabilities and Assets of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Company Limited, on the 31st December, 1865 Liabilities Paid up Capital (3125 on 20,000 shares) $2,500,000.00 Deposits and Notes in circulations 3,384,876.62 Exchange acceptances, &c 5,731,434.62 Branches and Agencies 1,548,219.18 Profit and Loss Account 225,055.93 Sundries 7,069.07 Total $13,396,655.42 Assets Cash Balances on hand and at Bankers $1,250,388.78 Discounts, Loans, credits, &c., 3,144,446.75 Exchange Remittances, &c., 5,554,279.13 Branches and Agencies, 3,393,430.75 Preliminary Expenses, 32,827.62 Sundries 21,322.39 Total $13,396,655.42 Profit and Loss Account To Dividend at the rate of 8 per cent per annum, or $6.66 per share $133,200.00 Amount carried to Reserve Fund 33,300.00 Amount written off Preliminary Expenses, Bonus to constituents and Depositors, &c. 14,577.97 Rebate on Bills not due 31,696.66 Balance being undivided profits carried forward to next half year 12,261.00 Total 225,055.93 By amount of Profit for the Eight months ended 31st December 1865, after deducting all expense and interest paid and due $225,055.93 We have examined and audited the above accounts and find them correct. (signed) W.H. Rennie [1], C.T. Smith, Auditors

[1] William Hepburn Rennie (b.1829 Glasgow, Scotland – d.1874 St. Vincent), Auditor General of Hong Kong (1858-1870), was Acting Colonial Secretary of Falkland Islands (1856–1857) and became Lieutenant-Governor of St. Vincent (at present a Commonwealth nation known as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) (1871-1874 died in office).

James Jardine Bell-Irving #36 (1898-1899)

Bell-Irving

Information and commentaries pertaining to this term of office
Other members of the Board of Directors	Roderick Mackenzie Gray (#37)(Deputy Chairman), C. Bourmann, David Gubbay, Armin Haupt (#44), Alexander MacConachie (#34), Abraham Jacob Raymond (#41, #42), R.L. Richardson, Frederick Carl Paul Sachse1, Robert Gordon Shewan (#40), Nicolaus August Siebs (#38)
Corporate affiliation of board members	Arnhold Karberg (de), Bradley, Carlowitz (de), Gilman, Jardine, Melchers (de), Sassoon D, Sassoon ED, Shewan Tomes, Siemsen (de)
Overlaping with the Chamber of Commerce	General Committee (out of 9 committee members 5 were HKBC directors): Gray (Chair), Haupt, Kewsick, Richardson, Siebs Arbitration Committee (3 out of 5): Haupt, Richardson, Siebs Corresponding Committee (2 out of 4): Gray, Keswick

1. Sachse was a partner of the German firm Carlowitz & Co. 禮和洋行.

Selected bibliography: China Mail, September 1, 1899, p.6. Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, Annual Report for 1899. Juror List.

Roderick Mackenzie Gray #37 (1899-1900)

Gray

Information and commentaries pertaining to this term of office
Other members of the Board of Directors	Nicolaus August Siebs (#38)(Deputy Chairman), Ernst Goetz1, Armin Haupt (#44), Robert Hunter Hill2, James Johnstone Keswick (#39), Alexander MacConachie (#34), Abraham Jacob Raymond (#41, #42), Frederick Carl Paul Sachse3, Edward Shellim (#50), Robert Gordon Shewan (#40)
Corporate affiliation of board members	Arnhold Karberg (de), Bradley, Carlowitz (de), Gilman, Jardine, Melchers (de), Sassoon D, Sassoon ED, Shewan Tomes, Siemsen (de)
Overlaping with the Chamber of Commerce	General Committee (out of 9 committee members 5 were HKBC directors): Gray (Chair), Haupt, Kewsick, Richardson, Siebs Arbitration Committee (3 out of 5): Haupt, Richardson, Siebs Corresponding Committee (2 out of 4): Gray, Keswick

1. Goetz was a partner of the German firm Arnhold Karberg & Co. 德商瑞記洋行.
2. Hill was a partner of Bradley & Co. 德記洋行.
3. Sachse was a partner of the German firm Carlowitz & Co. 禮和洋行.

Selected bibliography: China Mail, September 1, 1899, p.6. Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, Annual Report for 1899. Juror List.

Nicolaus August Siebs #38 (1900-1901)

Undated photograph of Nicolaus August Siebs taken in Hong Kong. Credit: wremer-chronik.

Siebs was born on August 17, 1840 in Wremer in Lower Saxony, Germany to Eibe-Hinrich Siebs.
He joined the trading firm of Siemsen & Co. in 1865 as a shipping clerk and rising to the top position of a partner in 1881.
Siebs served on the General Committee (1900-1901) and the Arbitration Committee (, 1894-1895, 1900-1901) of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (1901). He was a director of Hong Kong Land Investment and Agency Co., Ltd. (1906), the board of which was comprised of, with the exception of its chairman, C.W. Dickson, all HSBC men, viz. Paul Chater (HSBC Chief Manager), A. Haupt, A.J. Raymond, E. Shellim and H.P. White.
Siebs died in 1910. (to be completed) 1896 head of hong kong resided at Victoria Lodge, Peak Road 1906 Hans August Siebs E.A.H. Siebs

Information and commentaries pertaining to this term of office
Other members of the Board of Directors	Roderick Mackenzie Gray (#37), James Johnstone Keswick (#39), Armin Haupt (#44), David Meyer Moses1, Abraham Jacob Raymond (#41, #42), Frederick Carl Paul Sachse, Robert Gordon Shewan (#40), R.L. Richardson2, Henry Adolphus Warre Slade3
Corporate affiliation of board members	Arnhold Karberg (de), Gilman, Jardine, Melchers (de), Reiss, Sassoon D, Sassoon ED, Shewan Tomes, Siemsen (de)
Overlaping with the Chamber of Commerce	General Committee (out of 9 committee members 6 were HKBC directors): Thomas Jackson (Chair), Haupt, Kewsick, Richardson, Siebs, Tomkin (#43, #48) Arbitration Committee (4 out of 5): Haupt, Richardson, Siebs, Tomkin Corresponding Committee (2 out of 4): Jackson, Keswick

1. Moses was a partner of David Sassoon Sons & Co.
2. Richardson was later replaced by Paul Witkowski, partner of Arnhold Karberg & Co. 禮和洋行.
3. Slade was a partner of the firm Gilman & Co. 太平洋行.

Selected bibliography: China Mail, August 18, 1900, p.5. The Directory & Chronicle of China, Japan, Straits Settlements, Malaya, Borneo, Siam, the Philippines, Korea, Indo-China, Netherlands Indies, Etc. 1906. Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, Annual Report for 1894, 1900. Juror List.

Nicolaus August Siebs #38 (1900-1901)

Undated photograph of Nicolaus August Siebs taken in Hong Kong. Credit: wremer-chronik.

Siebs was born on August 17, 1840 in Wremer in Lower Saxony, Germany to Eibe-Hinrich Siebs.
He joined the trading firm of Siemsen & Co. in 1865 as a shipping clerk and rising to the top position of a partner in 1881.
Siebs served on the General Committee (1900-1901) and the Arbitration Committee (, 1894-1895, 1900-1901) of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (1901). He was a director of Hong Kong Land Investment and Agency Co., Ltd. (1906), the board of which was comprised of, with the exception of its chairman, C.W. Dickson, all HSBC men, viz. Paul Chater (HSBC Chief Manager), A. Haupt, A.J. Raymond, E. Shellim and H.P. White.
Siebs died in 1910. (to be completed) 1896 head of hong kong resided at Victoria Lodge, Peak Road 1906 Hans August Siebs E.A.H. Siebs

Information and commentaries pertaining to this term of office
Other members of the Board of Directors	Roderick Mackenzie Gray (#37), James Johnstone Keswick (#39), Armin Haupt (#44), D.M. Moses, Abraham Jacob Raymond (#41, #42), P. Swehse [unsure], Robert Gordon Shewan (#40), R.L. Richardson1, Henry Adolphus Warre Slade2
Corporate affiliation of board members	Arnhold Karberg (de), Gilman, Jardine, Melchers (de), Reiss, Sassoon ED, Shewan Tomes, Siemsen (de)
Overlaping with the Chamber of Commerce	General Committee (6 out of 9): Thomas Jackson (Chair), Haupt, Kewsick, Richardson, Siebs, Tomkin (#43, #48) Arbitration Committee (4 out of 5): Haupt, Richardson, Siebs, Tomkin Corresponding Committee (2 out of 4): Jackson, Keswick

1. Richardson was later replaced by Paul Witkowski, partner of Arnhold Karberg & Co.
2. Slade was a partner of the firm Gilman & Co. 太平洋行.

Selected bibliography: China Mail, August 18, 1900, p.5. The Directory & Chronicle of China, Japan, Straits Settlements, Malaya, Borneo, Siam, the Philippines, Korea, Indo-China, Netherlands Indies, Etc. 1906. Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, Annual Report for 1894, 1900. Juror List.

Gideon Balloch #49 (1911-1912)

Balloch

Information and commentaries pertaining to this term of office
Other members of the Board of Directors	Robert Shewan (#40) (Deputy Chairman), Francis Harold Armstrong (#51), Andrew Forbes1, Gustav Adolf Georg Friesland2, Henry Keswick (#46), Carl Robert Lenzmann3, Silas Simon Levy4, Fritz Lieb5, William Logan6, George Harold Medhurst (#45), Nicolaus August Siebs (#38)

1. Forbes was a partner of the Scottish firm Bradley & Co. 德記洋行.
2. The Bremen-born Friesland was a partner of the German firm Melchers & Co. 美最時洋行
3. The Hamburg-born Lenzmann was a partner of the German firm Carlowitz & Co. 禮和洋行.
4. Levy, a Jew, was a clerk with the Iraqi-Indian Jewish firm E. D. Sassoon & Co. 新沙遜洋行.
5. The German-born Lieb was the manager of the German firm Arnhold, Karberg & Co. 德商瑞記洋行.
6. Logan was an assistant of an assistant with the Iraqi-Indian Jewish D. Sassoon & Co. 老沙遜洋行.

Selected bibliography: China Mail, February 1, 1911, p.5. The Industrial History of Hong Kong Group [internet]. Juror List 1911 kneider.info [internet]

David Landale #52 (1914-1915)
also #53 (1915-1916)

Landale

State of the bank
Court of Directors1

1. China Mail, February 1, 1915, p.9

David Landale #53 (1915-1916)
also #52 (1914-1915)

State of the bank
Court of Directors1	Walter Leslie Pattenden (#54) (Deputy Chairman), Stanley Hudson Dodwell (#55, #73), George Thomas Money Edkins (#59), Charles Sassoon Gubbay2, Percy Hobson Holyoak (#56), John Archibald Plummer (#57), Edward Shellim (#50)

1. China Mail, February 1, 1915, p.9
2. Gubbay was a Jewish merchant with the firm E. D. Sassoon & Co., Ld.

Archibald Orr Lang #61 (1923-1924)
also #62 (1924-1925)

Lang

The state of the bank
Court of Directors1

1. China Mail, February 2, 1923, p.13

Archibald Orr Lang #62 (1924-1925)
also #61 (1923-1924)

The state of the bank
Court of Directors1	Dallas Gerald Mercer Bernard (#64, #65) (Deputy Chairman), Albert Henry Compton (#66), George Thomas Money Edkins (#59), Percy Hobson Holyoak (#56), Walter Leslie Pattenden (#54), John Archibald Plummer (#57), Nowell Lake Watson2, Henry Percy White3

1. China Mail, February 2, 1924, p.13
2. Watson was the manager of Asiatic Petroleum Co., Ld.
3. White was a merchant with the firm Douglas, Lapraik & Co.

Walter Leslie Pattenden #63 (1925-1926)
also #54 (1916-1917)

The state of the bank
Court of Directors1	Henry Percy White (Deputy Chairman), Benjamin David Fleming Beith2, William Henry Bell3, Albert Henry Compton (#66), Percy Hobson Holyoak (#56), Archibald Orr Lang(#61, #62), John Archibald Plummer (#57), Thomas Graham Weall4, George Macdonald Young5

1. China Mail, February 2, 1925, p.5
2. Beith was an assistant with the firm Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ld. He probably was a proxy representing Jardine.
3. Bell was a merchant with the firm Asiatic Petroleum Co., Ld.
4. Weall was a merchant with the firm Dodwell & Co., Ld.
5. Young was an assistant manager of Butterfield & Swire.

To Be Cmopleted