Charles Henderson Ross (23 July 1864 – 23 November 1919) was a Scottish businessman. He was the

tai-pan A tai-pan (,Andrew J. Moody, "Transmission Languages and Source Languages of Chinese Borrowings in English", ''American Speech'', Vol. 71, No. 4 (Winter, 1996), pp. 414-415. literally "top class"汉英词典 — ''A Chinese-English Dictionary' ...

of the Jardine, Matheson & Co. and member of 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 Ko ...

Biography

Ross was born on 23 July 1864. He was the son of Captain Horatio Ross of Rossie and Christian Henderson, who died 1892, daughter of Charles P. Henderson of Whittington Hall,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

. He spent many years in the East, first in India and later in

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

and Shanghai. He volunteered during the Boxer Rebellion in Tianjin under the command of General

Alfred Gaselee General Sir Alfred Gaselee, , (3 June 1844 – 29 March 1918) was a soldier who served in the Indian Army. Early life Gaselee was born at Little Yeldham, Essex, the eldest son of the Reverend John Gaselee, rector of Little Yeldham, and his w ...

, the commander of the British troops sent to the relief of Beijing, and was awarded the Boxer medal with two bars. He also served in the Shanghai light horse and was the head of the old Hong Kong mounted troop. Ross joined the Jardine, Matheson & Co., the then biggest trading firm in the Far East. He moved to Hong Kong in 1910 was appointed by Henry Keswick as his substitute for all the purposes set out in a power of attorney of 5 September 1912. He was also member of the

during Henry Keswick on leave from 1911 to 1913. He was a Director of the

Hongkong and Shanghai Bank 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 ...

and the Peak Tramways, Chairman of the Whampoa Dock Co. and the Hongkong and Kowloon Wharf Co., member of the Green Island Cement Co., Chairman of the Land Investment Agency and a Director of the Land Reclamation and the West Point Building Companies. He was particularly interested in various sugar, cotton, ice, insurance, and machinery companies for which Jardine Matheson were agents. He helped founding the Hong Kong Scouts Company and took in charge of the training of the Scouts in the

New Territories The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...

. He was also a Steward of the

Hong Kong Jockey Club The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) is one of the oldest institutions in Hong Kong, having been founded in 1884. In 1959, it was granted a Royal Charter and renamed The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club (). The institution reverted to its original name ...

. He had acted as treasurer of the Coronation Fund, was prominently connected with the Horticultural Society's exhibition and donated a ground for a tennis court to the

Y.M.C.A. YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

East Point East Point is the name of several places: In Australia * East Point, Northern Territory ** East Point Military museum located in East Point, Northern Territory In Canada *East Point, Prince Edward Island In Hong Kong: *East Point, Hong Kong In ...

. Ross left Hong Kong in 1913 by the SS ''Siberia'' as Manager of Jardine Matheson's company in London appointed by Henry Keswick on 30 September 1914. He also represented Hong Kong to the Imperial Council of Commerce in 1916. Ross died 23 November 1919 in London, leaving estate of the value of £78,000. He married Eveline Isabel Bernard, daughter of Edmund Bowen Bernard and Arabella Margaret Piercy in 1910.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Charles Henderson 1864 births 1919 deaths Scottish expatriates in China Scottish expatriates in Hong Kong Scottish expatriates in India Hong Kong businesspeople HSBC people CK Hutchison Holdings Jardine Matheson Group Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Peak Tram The Wharf (Holdings) Scottish bankers Scottish chairpersons of corporations 19th-century Scottish businesspeople 20th-century Scottish businesspeople People from British Hong Kong