{{Short description|British banker (1892-1967)}} {{For|the historian|Arthur D. Morse}} {{More citations needed|date=July 2016}} {{Infobox person | name = Sir Arthur Morse | image = Sir Arthur Morse.jpg | alt = | caption = Arthur Morse | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1892|04|25}} | birth_place = [[Bohercrowe]], [[County Tipperary]], [[Ireland]] | death_date= {{death date and age|df=y|1967|05|13|1892|04|25}} | occupation = Banker | alma_mater = [[Foyle College]], [[Derry]] }}
'''Sir Arthur Morse''' {{post-nominals||size=100%|country=GBR|KBE|JP}} ([[Chinese language|Chinese:]] 摩士) (25 April 1892 – 13 May 1967) was the head of [[The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation]] during and after World War II. He was a British banker born in [[County Tipperary]] in [[Ireland]]. He worked in [[Shanghai]], London and [[Tianjin|Tientsin]] and finally many years in Hong Kong. He rebuilt [[HSBC]] and did much to revive Hong Kong after the war, retired in 1953 and moved to London where he died in 1967.<ref name="thesilverbowl1">{{cite web|url=https://www.thesilverbowl.com/misc/FarEast/1967May16-ObitArthurMorse.html |title=The Silver Bowl 1967 Obit of Sir Arthur Morse |website=Thesilverbowl.com |date= |accessdate=2016-07-21}}</ref>
Morse was born in 1892 in [[Bohercrowe]], County Tipperary, Ireland and his father Digby Scott Morse was a [[Bank of Ireland]] agent.<ref name="thesilverbowl1"/> and Lizzie Jane Holmes.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite ODNB|author=Frank H. H. King |url=http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/50275 |title=Morse, Sir Arthur (1892-1967), banker : Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - oi |date= 2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/50275 |accessdate=2016-07-21}}</ref>
Morse attended [[Foyle College]] in [[Derry]], before embarking on his banking career with HSBC.<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
==Career==
===HSBC===
By 1940, Hong Kong was under the threat of [[Battle of Hong Kong|Japanese invasion]] with the majority of branches in East Asia already in the hands of the Japanese. Morse was sent to London by the then-Chief Manager of the bank, Sir [[Vandeleur Grayburn]], to lead the bank and shift the headquarters to London to avoid the [[Bank reserves|reserves]] being frozen in New York and San Francisco by the American authorities in the case of a Japanese take over in Hong Kong. On 16 December 1941, 9 days before Japanese occupation, Morse was appointed as the Commissioner and General Manager of the bank.
During the war, most of the staff in the Far East became [[prisoners of war]] and hundreds of them died. The Chief Manager, Sir Vandeleur Grayburn and his designated successor [[David C Edmondston]] died whilst prisoners in Hong Kong.
In 1943, the London Advisory Committee were empowered to act as a [[Board of Directors]] and he became the Chairman and Chief Manager of the bank.
In 1946, he moved the headquarters of the bank back to Hong Kong and the bank resumed its role as the central bank in Hong Kong. He involved himself in the revival of the infrastructure of the city, as well as the bank, his success in the latter task shown by the improving financial position of the bank starting a trend which continued after the end of his service in the bank in 1953.
His was succeeded by Sir [[Michael Turner (banker)|Michael Turner]]. Turner had been interned in Singapore at [[Changi Prison]] during the war.
===Public services===
Arthur Morse participated many public bodies in Hong Kong and was an unofficial member of the [[Executive Council of Hong Kong]] during his stay in Hong Kong after the war. In 1945, Morse supported a failed move to establish a popularly elected Municipal Council in the colony.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Miners|first1=N. J.|date=1986|title=Plans for Constitutional Reform in Hong Kong, 1946-52|journal=[[The China Quarterly]]|language=en|volume=107|issue=|pages=466|issn=0305-7410|doi=10.1017/S0305741000039862|s2cid=154299156 }}</ref> Morse was knighted for his service to the colony in 1949.
==Places and buildings named after him==
* [[Morse Park]] * Morse Hut and Morse House, headquarters of [[The Scout Association of Hong Kong]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.zeit.de/2003/39/HSBC_Bank Der Geld-Taipan (in German)] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080703155916/http://www.hsbc.com/1/2/about-hsbc/group-history/group-history-1900-1945 HSBC - Group History 1900-1945] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080905222249/http://www.hsbc.com/1/2/about-hsbc/group-history/group-history-1946-1979 HSBC - Group History 1946-1979]
{{s-start}} {{s-bus}} {{s-bef | before = [[John Johnstone Paterson|J. J. Paterson]]}} {{s-ttl | title = Chairman of [[Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation]] | years = 1941–1953}} {{s-aft | after = [[Cedric Blaker]]}} {{s-bef | before = [[Vandeleur Grayburn|Sir Vandeleur Grayburn]]}} {{s-ttl | title = Chief Manager of [[Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation]] | years = 1943–1953}} {{s-aft | after = [[Michael Turner (banker)|Sir Michael Turner]]}} {{s-sport}} {{s-bef | before=[[P. Tester]]}} {{s-ttl | title=Chairman of the [[Hong Kong Jockey Club]]| years=1946–1952}} {{s-aft | after=[[Donovan Benson|D. Benson]]}} {{s-end}} {{HSBC Chairmen and CEOs}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morse, Arthur}} [[Category:1892 births]] [[Category:1967 deaths]] [[Category:Hong Kong businesspeople]] [[Category:Chairmen of HSBC]] [[Category:Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong]] [[Category:Irish knights]] [[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]