Paul Chater

{{Short description|British businessman (1846 – 1926)}} {{EngvarB|date=November 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KBE|CMG|}} | name = Sir Catchick Paul Chater | image = Sir Catchick Paul Chater.jpg | caption = Sir Paul Chater in 1924 | alt = Solemn studio portrait of a distinguished bald gentleman with white sideburns wearing a 3-piece suit; left arm on armrest of a chair | birth_name = Khachik Pogose Astwachatoor | birth_date = 8 September 1846 | birth_place = [[Calcutta]], India | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1926|5|27|1846|9|8}} | death_place = [[British Hong Kong]] | occupation = Businessman | spouse = Maria Christine Pearson | website = | footnotes = | office = [[Senior Unofficial Member]] of the [[Executive Council of Hong Kong|Executive Council]] | term_start = 8 September 1896 | term_end = 27 May 1926 | appointer = William Robinson | governor = [[William Robinson (governor)|William Robinson]] [[Henry Arthur Blake]] [[Matthew Nathan]] [[Frederick Lugard]] [[Francis Henry May]] [[Reginald Edward Stubbs]] [[Cecil Clementi]] | successor = Sir [[Henry Pollock]] | office1 = [[Senior Unofficial Member]] of the Legislative Council | term_start1 = 1 May 1900 | term_end1 = 16 January 1906 | governor1 = Henry Arthur Blake Matthew Nathan | appointer1 = Henry Arthur Blake | predecessor1 = [[Emanuel Raphael Belilios]] | successor1 = Sir [[Kai Ho]] | awards = [[Order of British Empire]], [[Order of St Michael and St George]] }} {{Infobox Chinese | order = | showflag = | t = 遮打 | j = Ze1 daa2 | y = Jē dá }} '''Sir Catchick Paul Chater''' ({{langx|hy| Խաչիկ Փոլ Չաթեր}}; {{zh|c=遮打}}; 8 September 1846 – 27 May 1926) was a prominent British businessman of [[Armenians|Armenian]] descent in [[colonial Hong Kong]], whose family roots were in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], India.

==Biography==

===Early life=== Chater was born '''Khachik Pogose Astwachatoorean'''<ref name="AutoO6-2"/><ref name="AutoO6-3"/> ({{langx|hy|Խաչիկ Պօղոս Աստուածատուրեան}}) in [[Calcutta]], British India, one of thirteen offspring of [[Armenians|Armenian]] parents, Miriam and Chater Paul Chater. His father was a member of the [[Indian Civil Service (British India)|Indian civil service]].

Chater was orphaned at the age of seven, and he gained entry into the [[La Martiniere Calcutta|La Martiniere College in Calcutta]] on a scholarship. In 1864,<ref name=orange/> he moved to Hong Kong from Calcutta and lived with the family of his sister Anna and her husband, the Armenian-born Jordan Paul Jordan (1820–1875).<ref name="who"/><ref>[https://chrisgrant.eu/genealogy/gaspar/jordan/jordan-p.html Jordan Paul Jordan profile], chrisgrant.eu. Accessed 8 August 2023.</ref>

===Career=== [[File:Chatchick_Paul_Chater.png|thumb|175px|left|Full-length portrait of Chater, c. 1903|alt=Full-length sepia portrait of distinguished gentleman with sideburns, wearing a 3-piece suit; body slight left-tilt]] In the early days in Hong Kong, he was an assistant at the [[Bank of Hindustan, China and Japan]]. Later, with the aid of the [[Sassoon family]], he set up business as an exchange broker, resigned from the bank, and traded gold bullion and land on his own account.<ref name=who/> He took sea-bed [[Depth sounding|soundings]] at night in a [[sampan]] and was thus instrumental in plotting the reclamation of [[Victoria Harbour]].<ref name=who/> He is credited with a pivotal role in the colonial government's success in acquiring lands then held by the military, at a cost of two million pounds sterling.<ref name="orange"/>

In 1868, he and Sir [[Hormusjee Naorojee Mody]] formed brokerage company [[Chater & Mody]], a largely successful business partnership in Hong Kong, although the firm's Hong Kong Milling Company (aka [[Rennie's Mill (Hong Kong)|Rennie's Mill]]) failed in 1908 and resulted in the suicide of [[Albert Rennie]].<ref name=who/>

In 1886, he helped [[Patrick Manson]] establish [[Dairy Farm]], and he entered the [[Legislative Council (Hong Kong)|Legislative Council]] that same year, taking the place of [[Sassoon family|F.D. Sassoon]].<ref name="croucher"/> Also in 1886 Chater established Kowloon Wharf and Godown, predecessor of [[The Wharf (Holdings)]].<ref name="AutoO6-5"/>

In 1889, he established [[Hongkong Land]] with [[James Johnstone Keswick]].<ref name="titans"/> Hong Kong Land commenced the [[Land reclamation in Hong Kong|land reclamation]] project under the [[Praya Reclamation Scheme]] in 1890. Persuaded by the suggestion of temporary councillor [[Bendyshe Layton]] that Hong Kong should have electricity, they secretly acquired an [[Star Street (Hong Kong)|old graveyard]] in Wan Chai, where they built one of the earliest power stations in the world.<ref name=citylife/> In 1890, the [[Hongkong Electric|Hongkong Electric Company]] went into production.<ref name="AutoO6-6"/>

Chater was enthusiastic in two sports: He played for the [[Hong Kong Cricket Club]] 1st XI, and was a [[Thoroughbred horse race|thoroughbred horse racing]] enthusiast. He reportedly never missed the weekly races at the [[Happy Valley Racecourse]] in 60 years.<ref name="citylife"/> He set up the Chater Stable in Hong Kong in 1872 that won many races at Happy Valley.<ref name="AutoO6-7"/> The [[Hong Kong Champions & Chater Cup]], the [[Group One]] third leg of the [[Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing#Hong Kong|Hong Kong Triple Crown]], is named in his honour.

In 1896, Chater joined government ranks when he was appointed to the [[Executive Council of Hong Kong|Executive Council]], and served there until 1926, the year of his death.<ref name=croucher/> He was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in the [[1902 Coronation Honours]],<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Coronation Honours |date=26 June 1902 |page=5 |issue=36804| }}</ref> receiving the accolade in person from King [[Edward VII]] at [[Buckingham Palace]] on 24 October that year.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27494 |date=11 November 1902 |page=7165 }}</ref>

In 1901, Chater constructed a very fine home with imported European marble at 1, Conduit Road, Hong Kong which he named '[[Marble Hall (Hong Kong)|Marble Hall]]'.<ref name="gatekeeper"/> Therein, he housed his collection of fine porcelain. To commemorate the [[Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra|coronation]] of King [[Edward VII]] in 1902, Chater presented a statue in bronze of the King to Hong Kong, executed by [[George Edward Wade]] and unveiled at [[Statue Square]] in 1907. In 1904, Chater single-handedly financed the construction of [[St. Andrew's Church (Kowloon)|St. Andrew's Church]].<ref name=orange/>

Some titles and positions held by Chater: * Master of the Perseverance Lodge, 1873 * Steward at the [[Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club]] * Chairman of the Board of Stewards of the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, 1892–1926 * Senior [[Justice of the Peace]] in Hong Kong * District Grand Master of Hong Kong and South China, 1881–1909 * Director of [[Dairy Farm]] Co. Ltd., 1886 * [[List of diplomatic missions of Thailand|Consul]] for [[Siam]] in Hong Kong * Treasurer and Chairman of the Queen Victoria Jubilee Committee, 1887 * Member of the ''[[Légion d'honneur]]'' by the French Government at [[Tonkin]], 1892 * Member of the Public Lighting Committee, 1896 * Member of the Governor's [[Executive Council of Hong Kong|Executive Council]], 1896 * Chairman of the Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Committee, 1897 * Companion of the [[Order of St Michael and St George]], 1897 * Honorary degree of [[Doctor of Laws|LL.D.]] by the [[University of Hong Kong]]<ref name="archive2011092812"/> for services as the Honorary Treasurer, 1923

==Philanthropy== In May 1923, Chater, then treasurer of the University of Hong Kong, made a donation of $250,000 to the university at a time critical to its survival.<ref name=Mellor>{{cite book|title=The University of Hong Kong: An Informal History|publisher=Hong Kong University Press|date=1981|last=Mellor|first=Bernard|isbn=9789622090231}}</ref>{{rp|69}}

In 1924/25, Chater made the single biggest donation to any institution or organisation whilst still alive, donating 1.1 million Rupees to his alma mater, the desperately struggling La Martiniere College, thus allowing it to avoid certain closure. To honour his contribution to the school, Sir Paul Chater's name was included in the school prayer.<ref name="AutoO6-4"/>

==Legacy== [[File:Hong Kong-Admiralty House-1935.preview.jpg|thumb|200 px|Marble Hall, subject of a 1935 Christmas postcard|alt=Angled view of a large 2-storey building in Indian style architecture]] [[File:Bust of Catchick Paul Chater.jpg|thumb|200 px|Bust of Catchick Paul Chater at [[La Martiniere Calcutta|La Martiniere Boys School, Kolkata]]]] Chater died in 1926, and bequeathed Marble Hall and its entire contents, including his unique collection of porcelain and paintings, to Hong Kong. The remainder of his estate went to the [[Armenian Church of the Holy Nazareth]] in Calcutta, which runs a home for Armenian elderly, named The Sir Catchick Paul Chater Home.<ref name=who/> He was interred at the [[Hong Kong Cemetery]].

Chater's wife lived in Marble Hall as a life tenant until her death in 1935.<ref name=gatekeeper/><ref name="AutoO6-9"/> Ownership then passed to the government. It became "Admiralty House" – the official residence of the Naval Commander-in-Chief, and was commandeered by [[Japanese occupation of Hong Kong|Japanese during their occupation]]. It accidentally burned down in 1946, and the government buildings occupied the site since its demolition in 1953. Government residences named 'Chater Hall Flats' are today located on the site of Marble Hall.<ref name=gatekeeper/>

Chater amassed a large collection of historical pictures and engravings relating to China which he gifted to the colony. The ''Chater Collection'' was subject to a work by its curator, James Orange, in 1924, at which time the collection stood at 430 items. Its backbone was the collection of Wyndham Law of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service, and included oil paintings, watercolours, sketches, prints and photographs, most of which are based on landscape scenes of the South China [[Treaty ports|trading ports]] in the 18th and 19th centuries, and of British activities in China.<ref name=orange/> The ''Chater Collection'' was dispersed and largely destroyed during the [[Japanese occupation of Hong Kong|Japanese occupation]], and only 94 pieces (now an important part of the collection of the [[Hong Kong Museum of Art]]) are known to have survived.<ref name="AutoO6-10"/>

Chater's nephew (Anna's son) [[Gregory Paul Jordan]] was instrumental in developing medical services and education in Hong Kong and in the founding of the [[University of Hong Kong]]. He was its second vice-chancellor.<ref name=Mellor />{{rp|64}}

On the occasion of the 171st anniversary of Paul Chater's birth, a bust of Paul Chater was unveiled at the [[La Martiniere Calcutta|La Martiniere Boys School, Kolkata]].<ref name="telegraphindia171832"/>

* [[Chater Garden]] * [[Chater House]] * [[Chater Road]]<ref name=titans/> * [[Catchick Street]]<ref name=titans/> * [[Peking Road]] was named Chater Street until 1909, when it was renamed to avoid confusion with Chater Road.<ref name="AutoO6-11"/>

==See also== * [[Robert Hotung]] * [[List of Executive Council of Hong Kong unofficial members 1896–1941]]

==References== {{Reflist |refs=

<ref name="AutoO6-2">Biography: Who Was This Man? CHATER. Liz Chater published 2010</ref>

<ref name="AutoO6-3">[http://hetq.am/en/diaspora/liz-chater/ “This was such a fantastic discovery for me and the first I knew that I had Armenian ancestors in my family”]{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, HETQ online, 29 March 2010</ref>

<ref name="AutoO6-4">''Armenians in India'': Mesrovb Seth, P.551</ref>

<ref name=orange>James Orange (1924). ''[http://ebook.lib.hku.hk/CTWE/B36599554 The Chater Collection: Pictures Relating to China, Hongkong, Macao, 1655–1860] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200214192738/http://ebook.lib.hku.hk/CTWE/B36599554/ |date=14 February 2020 }}''.</ref>

<ref name=who>England, Vaudine (16 December 2007) "Who was this man Chater?", Page 11, ''[[South China Morning Post]]''</ref>

<ref name=croucher>Vaudine England and Elizabeth Sinn, [https://books.google.com/books?id=nw1bTZV4BaAC&dq=%22paul+chater%22+hku&pg=PA40 ''The Quest of Noel Croucher: Hong Kong's Quiet Philanthropist''] (Hong Kong University Press, 1998)</ref>

<ref name="AutoO6-5">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L4UoAwAAQBAJ&q=kowloon+wharf+and+godown+was+founded+in+1886&pg=PA194 |title=The China Coast : Trade and the First Treaty Ports |author=Robert Nield |via=Google Books |date= June 2010|publisher=Joint Pub. |isbn=9789620429873 |accessdate=8 September 2019}}</ref>

<ref name=titans>Jason Wordie, [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=27127&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=19990418&sear_year=1999 Land-grabbing titans who changed HK's profit for good] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522042337/http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=27127&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=19990418&sear_year=1999 |date=22 May 2011 }}, 18 April 1999</ref>

<ref name=citylife>[http://www.citylifehk.com/citylife/eng/history_0810.jsp "The Legacy of Sir Catchick Paul Chater"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708160606/http://www.citylifehk.com/citylife/eng/history_0810.jsp |date=8 July 2011 }}, ''City Life''. Retrieved 28 January 2011</ref>

<ref name="AutoO6-6">Wiltshire, Trea. [First published 1987] (republished & reduced 2003). Old Hong Kong – Volume Two. Central, Hong Kong: Text Form Asia books Ltd. Page 11. ISBN Volume One 962-7283-60-6</ref>

<ref name="AutoO6-7">[[Austin Coates|Coates, Austin]] ''China Races'', Oxford University Press (China) (2 February 1984) pp133-140</ref>

<ref name="gatekeeper">{{cite web|url=https://gwulo.com/node/7200|title=Marble Hall Gatekeeper's Lodge [1901– ] {{!}} Gwulo: Old Hong Kong|website=gwulo.com|access-date=7 July 2019}}</ref>

<ref name=archive2011092812>[http://www3.hku.hk/hongrads/index.php/archive/graduate_detail/16 Congregation (1923) – Sir Catchick Paul CHATER, Doctor of Laws] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928122749/http://www3.hku.hk/hongrads/index.php/archive/graduate_detail/16 |date=28 September 2011 }}, University of Hong Kong</ref>

<ref name="AutoO6-9">According to her gravestone, Lady Maria Christine Chater was born 6 May 1879 and died 11 March 1935; but according to her birth certificate she was born 6 May 1873 in Granberga, Nora (U), Sweden</ref>

<ref name="AutoO6-10">Press Release (23 March 2007). "[http://www.news.gov.hk/en/citylife/070323/html/070323en20002.htm Chater art collection goes on show]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}", Hong Kong Museum of Art</ref>

<ref name=telegraphindia171832>{{cite news|title=A friend in need|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/1170909/jsp/calcutta/story_171832.jsp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909100014/https://www.telegraphindia.com/1170909/jsp/calcutta/story_171832.jsp|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 September 2017|accessdate=9 September 2017|newspaper=The Telegraph|location=India|date=9 September 2017}}</ref>

<ref name="AutoO6-11">[http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkgro/view/g1909/11841.pdf ''The Hong Kong Government Gazette''], 19 March 1909</ref> }}

==External links== {{Commons category|Catchick Paul Chater}} * [http://www.vohuman.org/Article/Hormusjee%20Naorojee%20Mody.htm Article about Hormusjee Naorojee Mody with Chater & Mody] * [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~sirpaulchater/ Catchick Paul Chater – ongoing family history research by distant relative Liz Chater]} *[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2560696269174710602 Documentary on Sir Paul Chater], Henrik Terchonian (2005) Armenian Holy Church of Nazareth, Kolkata *{{YouTube|79be5qH_dNs|Sir Catchick Paul Chater Documentary Film – Armenian Church Pilgrimage to Hong Kong 2005 (YouTube video)}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|hk}} {{s-bef|before=[[Frederick David Sassoon]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Unofficial Member]] |district=[[Justices of the Peace]]|years=1886}} {{s-aft|after=[[Frederick David Sassoon]]}} {{s-bef|before=[[Frederick David Sassoon]]}} {{s-ttl|title=Unofficial Member |district= Justices of the Peace|years=1888–1906}} {{s-aft|after=[[Henry Edward Pollock]]}} {{s-bef|before=[[Emanuel Raphael Belilios]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Senior Unofficial Member]] | years=1900–1906}} {{s-aft|after=[[Kai Ho]]}} {{s-sport}} {{s-bef | before = [[Phineas Ryrie]]}} {{s-ttl | title = Chairman of the [[Hong Kong Jockey Club]] | years = 1892–1926}} {{s-aft| after=[[H. P. White]]}} {{s-off}} {{s-new|rows=2|office}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Unofficial Member]] of the [[Executive Council of Hong Kong]] | years=1896–1926}} {{s-aft|after=[[Chow Shou-son]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Senior Unofficial Member#Executive Council|Senior Unofficial Member of the Executive Council]] | years=1896–1926}} {{s-aft|after=[[Henry Pollock|Sir Henry Pollock]]}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chater, Catchick Paul}} [[Category:1846 births]] [[Category:1926 deaths]] [[Category:People from British Hong Kong]] [[Category:Hong Kong people of Armenian descent]] [[Category:Indian people of Armenian descent]] [[Category:Jardines (company)]] [[Category:La Martiniere Calcutta alumni]] [[Category:Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong]] [[Category:Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong]] [[Category:Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George]] [[Category:Ethnic Armenian businesspeople]] [[Category:British people of Armenian descent]] [[Category:Knights Bachelor]] [[Category:Emigrants from British India]] [[Category:Hong Kong businesspeople]]