When Sir Robert Hotung died, so did a piece of Hong Kong’s history

“The Colony’s most eminent and respected citizen, Sir Robert Ho Tung, [...] passed away peacefully in his sleep at 4 p.m. yesterday [...]” the South China Morning Post reported on April 27, 1956. Hotung, 93, had died of pneumonia at his residence. “Born in Hongkong some twenty years after it became British, and closely identified with its life and development, Sir Robert’s history was that of the Colony,” the story continued.

Son to a Dutch father and Chinese mother, Hotung rose from humble origins. “Born in a small house off D’Aguilar Street, Hongkong, on December 22, 1862, he was the eldest son of a large family of moderate means,” a review of his life in that day’s newspaper recorded. In 1878, he joined the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs.

“Two years later, the ambitious young man had tired of ‘dead end’ labour and joined Messrs Jardine Matheson & Company as junior assistant [...] In all he was employed with the Princely House for some twenty years. [...] Meanwhile, he had set up his own business and engaged in many commercial undertakings.