Lydia Dunn, Baroness Dunn

Lydia Selina Dunn, Baroness Dunn (Chinese: 鄧蓮如; Jyutping: dang6 lin4 jyu4; pinyin: Dèng Liánrú; born 29 February 1940), DBE, JP, was the Senior Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council and Executive Council of Hong Kong from 1985–1988 and 1988–1995, after Rogerio Hyndman Lobo and Chung Sze-Yuen respectively. She has been deputy chairman of banking giant HSBC in 1992–2008.

As one of the most senior politicians in Hong Kong, Dunn had considerable influence in the Government of Hong Kong before her retirement in 1992, after Chris Patten was made Governor.

Personal life

Born in Hong Kong^[1] to Yen Chuen Yih Dunn and Bessie Dunn on 29 February 1940, Lydia Dunn is married to Michael David Thomas (Chinese: 唐明治), the Attorney General of Hong Kong from 1983 to 1988.

Education

She was educated at St. Paul's Convent School, Hong Kong, and at the College of the Holy Names and the University of California, Berkeley.

Career

She joined the Swire Group in 1964 and now she is an Executive Director of John Swire & Sons Limited and a Director of Swire Pacific Limited. She was appointed to a seat on the Legislative Council in 1976.

Being a non-executive director since 1990 and a non-executive Deputy chairman in 1992–2008 of the HSBC Group, she also served as a non-executive director of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited from 1981 to 1996.

Honours and titles

In the New Year Honours List of 1989 Dunn was elevated to the rank of Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (DBE).^[2] In 1990 Dunn was created a life peer as Baroness Dunn,^[3] of Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong and of Knightsbridge in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and became a member of the House of Lords.^[4] In July 2010, it was announced that Baroness Dunn had given up her seat in the Lords to retain her non-domiciled tax status following the passing of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.^[5]

• Miss Lydia Dunn (1940–1976)
• Miss Lydia Dunn, JP (1976–1978)
• Miss Lydia Dunn, OBE, JP (1978–1983)
• Miss Lydia Dunn, CBE, JP (1983–1989)
• Dame Lydia Dunn, DBE, JP (1989–1990)
• The Right Honourable The Baroness Dunn, DBE, JP (1990–)

Book

• In the Kingdom of the Blind (1983)

See also

• European politicians of Chinese descent

References

• Dod's Parliamentary Communications biography. Retrieved 11 March 2006. Non-subscribers of Dodonline.co.uk can gain access to the full biography through British Parliament homepage
• Forbes.com profile. Retrieved 9 February 2005.
• Buckingham University honorary graduates profile. Retrieved 9 February 2005.
• HSBC board of directors profile. Retrieved 9 February 2005.