(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 Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, British Empire |
| Died | 23 January 1959 (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.
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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.
Among the third group of Chinese overseas students 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.
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.
Shouson Hill, in the south of Hong Kong Island, is named after him.