Chow Shouson

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Chow.

(周)

The Honourable Sir Shou-son Chow LL.D, JP
Sir Shouson Chow with Governor Alexander Grantham in 1952.
Senior Chinese Unofficial Member
In office 1922-1931
Preceded by	Lau Chu-Pak
Succeeded by	Robert Kotewall
Personal details
Born	13 March 1861(1861-03-13) Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, British Empire
Died	23 January 1959(1959-01-23) (aged 97)
Alma mater	Queen's College, Hong Kong Winsted Local Grammer School

Sir Shouson Chow (Chinese: 周壽臣爵士) (1861–1959) was a Hong Kong-born businessman. He had been a Qing Dynasty official and also a notable figure in the Government of Hong Kong.

Family

Chow was born in "Little Hong Kong", a Cantonese village in north of present-day Shouson Hill. Little Hong Kong was a walled village with surname Chow (周). His father was compradore of the Canton-based Canton and Hong Kong Steamship Company. His grandfather was the head of Little Hong Kong, who helped Charles Elliot posting first official proclamation of Hong Kong Island in 1841. He had a son, named Chow Yat-Kwong.

Career

Among the third group of Chinese overseas students^{[citation needed]} in United States from Qing in 1870s, Chow studied at Phillips Academy, Andover (class of 1880)^[1] and Columbia University. After his graduation he worked in the Qing government.

In 1881 he joined the Korean Customs Service under Yuan Shikai in Korea. Later he was the president of Tientsin China Merchant Steam Navigation Company, Tientsin from 1897 to 1903, and the managing director of Peking-Mukden Railway in Imperial Chinese Railways of North China between 1903 and 1907.

He was the Customs and Trade Superintendent and Counselor for Foreign Affairs in Newchwang between 1907 to 1910. During this period he was promoted Mandarin of the Second Rank. He left government after the 1911 Revolution and became directors of various companies.

Services in Hong Kong

He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in Hong Kong in 1907. In 1918, he founded Bank of East Asia with 3 Chinese partners where he was the Chairman of director board from 1925 to 1929. In 1922 he was appointed the member of Sanitary Board, the precursor of Urban Council, and Legislative Council, where he served until 1931. In 1926, he became the first Chinese member of Executive Council and was knighted. In 1933 he earned an honorary Doctorate of Laws.

During Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong, Chow and other Chinese leading figures joined a Chinese association founded by Japanese military to manage the order of Chinese population. They did not suffer from punishment after the return of British rule.^{[citation needed]}

Memory

Shouson Hill, in the south of Hong Kong Island, is named after him.

References

1. ^ Phillips Academy Notable Alumni: 1800s

Persondata
Name	Chow, Shouson
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	13 March 1861
Place of birth	Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, British Empire
Date of death	23 January 1959
Place of death