Sir Catchick Paul Chater

A reminiscence of a first-generation Hong Kong business tycoon

Sir Catchick Paul Chater CMG (1984–1926) was a first-generation tycoon in colonial Hong Kong. He had his finger in such centenarian enterprises as Hongkong Land, The Star Ferry, Dairy Farm and Hong Kong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company Limited (currently The Wharf Holdings Limited). Discernment and sound business acumen helped him reserve a place in the Hong Kong history. His rags-to-riches story, however, is lesser known.

Orphaned at the end of the 19th century, Chater travelled the seas and landed a job as a bank teller in Hong Kong. His diligent, meticulous disposition won the trust of his customers including the tai-pan of David Sassoon Sons & Company. Chater realised that he would need more to make a mark in business. So, he plucked up the courage and asked the Sassoon tai-pan for support. While diligence led him to become an exchange broker, prolific investments put him on a fast track to wealth. By then, he was ready to tap the infinite possibilities that Hong Kong had to offer.

Before long, Chater seized the opportunity and settled the land reclamation dispute that remained unresolved since the dawn of colonial Hong Kong. Up until the 1880s, the colonial government had made various attempts to push through with its plan to reclaim land in Central. Right in the heart of City of Victoria, lands were pricey there. Reclamation would generate significant revenues from land sales and government rent. It would on the other hand erode the interest of foreign firms along the shoreline as their docks would face immediate demolition. In view of this, Chater lobbied the government to grant those firms the right of development on the reclaimed land while it would continue to collect government rent. The plan proved a success as it retained the coastal advantage of those foreign firms. In 1889, the government kicked off Central Reclamation and the shoreline shifted northward to Connaught Road Central.

In the same year, Chater founded Hongkong Land and acquired sections of land in the newly reclaimed Central area where he also bought various buildings. These included Queen’s Building, Prince’s Building and Alexandra House which have been demolished and rebuilt over the years and remained significant to Hongkong Land today. Continuous investment successes eventually put him in the same league as the city’s most influential tycoons. He subsequently bought the stretch of No 1 Connaught Road and built his mansion Marble Hall.

Chater was equally lucky in love. Mrs Chater was 28 years his junior and the couple had no children. Chater’s love for his wife lived on in his will, which specified that no one was to sell anything in Marble Hall before the death of Mrs Chater and that Marble Hall and all the household items would go to the government after her death. During the Japanese Occupation, Marble Hall came under shellfire. After the liberation of Hong Kong, it was demolished and rebuilt as civil servants quarters. Nowadays, historical photos allow people a glimpse of the splendour of Marble Hall’s interior and a reminiscence of first-generation Hong Kong business tycoons’ rise in fortunes.

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