Cedric Blaker (19 November 1889 – 18 June 1965) was a British entrepreneur in China and Hong Kong. He was the chairman of the

Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (), commonly known as HSBC (), was the parent entity of the multinational HSBC banking group until 1991, and is now its Hong Kong-based Asia-Pacific subsidiary. The largest bank in Hong K ...

, the ''

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...

'' and the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce and also an unofficial member of the Executive Council and the

Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's " one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the power centre of Hong Kong ...

. His son, Baron Blaker, was a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

minister.

Biography

Blaker was born in

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

, England, on 19 November 1889 to the Reverend Cecil Renshaw Blaker and Annie Kirtley Blaker. His father was the first priest at

Turners Hill Turners Hill is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The civil parish covers an area of , and has a population of 1,849 (2001 census) increasing to 1,919 at the 2011 Census. The village is located three ...

from 1877 to 1914. He had a brother called Brian Oscar Blaker. He first went to China in 1911 to work for

Butterfield and Swire Swire Group () is a Hong Kong- and London-based British conglomerate. Many of its core businesses can be found within the Asia Pacific region, where traditionally Swire's operations have centred on Hong Kong and mainland China. Within Asia ...

, resigning in 1915 to join the armed forces. He served as a lieutenant in the

Royal Sussex Regiment The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot ...

in France from 1916 to 1919 during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

. After the war, he returned to China and joined the Gilman & Co., a trading firm in China and became its director. He was interned during the

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong The Imperial Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the Governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young, Sir Mark Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of British Hong Kong, Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. The surr ...

and survived the war. After the war, he remained active in the public life. In 1949, he was first appointed unofficial member of the

as a representative of the

Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC; ) was founded on 29 May 1861, and is the oldest and one of the largest business organizations in Hong Kong. It has around 4,000 corporate members, who combined employ around one-third of Hong Kon ...

during the absence of P. S. Cassidy. He replaced H. J. Collar to be elected to the Legislative Council in 1953 in which he served until 1958. Between 1953 and 58, he was the chairman of the

, one of the leading financial institutions of the world. In 1953 and from 1956 to 57, he was the chairman of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. He was also chairman of the ''

'', one of the major English newspapers in Hong Kong. He was Vice-Consul and Consul-General for Sweden at Hong Kong and was awarded Insignia of Chevalier (First Class) and Insignia of Commander of the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III. It was u ...

for his service in 1940 and 1955 respectively. He also appointed Honorary Consul for Greece at Hong Kong in 1946. In 1958, he was awarded Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) for his public services in Hong Kong. Blaker married Louise Chapple, a New Zealander on 30 June 1921 at the Church of St Margaret's, Westminster Abbey, in London. The couple had two sons, Peter Allan Renshaw Blaker and Derek John Renshaw. Peter, who was born in Hong Kong who would later become a Minister of State for the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

under Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

from 1981 to 1983. He lived in

Scaynes Hill Scaynes Hill is a village in the civil parish of Lindfield Rural in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts ...

, Sussex, England, in his later life and died on 18 June 1965, aged 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blaker, Cedric 1889 births 1965 deaths British people in British Hong Kong Hong Kong bankers Hong Kong newspaper people Chairmen of HSBC Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Commanders of the Order of Vasa Knights First Class of the Order of Vasa Royal Sussex Regiment officers British Army personnel of World War I 20th-century British businesspeople People from Turners Hill Military personnel from Sussex