Ho Fook (; 30 November 1863 – 29 August 1926), alias Ho Chak-sang, JP, was a prominent Hong Kong

Eurasian Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

compradore A comprador or compradore () is a "person who acts as an agent for foreign organizations engaged in investment, trade, or economic or political exploitation". A comprador is a native manager for a European business house in East and South East Asia ...

and philanthropist.

Early life

Ho was born in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

in 1863 to Charles Henri Maurice Bosman and Sze Sze.

Education

Ho studied at the Government Central School (later became the Queen's College).

Career

After graduating, Ho joined a Chinese shipping firm in

Haiphong Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the Red River delta. Haiphong wa ...

as a clerk and later worked as a translator at the Registrar-General's department. He joined a legal firm called Denneys & Mossop in 1882 as an interpreter and worked at the firm for three years. In 1891, he was appointed assistant compradore to the Jardine, Matheson & Co. under his elder brother

Robert Hotung Sir Robert Ho Tung Bosman, (22 December 1862 – 26 April 1956), also known as Sir Robert Ho Tung, was a businessman and philanthropist in British Hong Kong. Known as "the grand old man of Hong Kong" (), he was knighted in 1915 (Knight Bachel ...

who was the chief compradore. He succeeded his brother as the chief compradore of the firm in 1900 and his younger half brother

Ho Kom-tong Ho (or the transliterations He or Heo) may refer to: People Language and ethnicity * Ho people, an ethnic group of India ** Ho language, a tribal language in India * Hani people, or Ho people, an ethnic group in China, Laos and Vietnam * Hiri Mo ...

became his assistant. His son, Ho Leung, succeeded his father to become the chief compradore of the Jardine, Matheson & Co. after his retirement. He was appointed many public offices as the leader of the Chinese community. He was appointed

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

in 1892 and was appointed to 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 ...

in 1917 as one of the representatives of the Chinese community on retirement of

Wei Yuk Sir Boshan Wei Yuk (1849 – 16 December 1921) was a prominent Hong Kong businessman and member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. Early life, education, and business career Sir Boshan was born in Hong Kong in 1849, the son of Wei Kwong ...

and served until 1921. In 1926, he was appointed to the Board which advised the government upon the distribution of the Trade Loan. He was also member of the District Watchmen's Committee, member of the Chinese Permanent Cemetery Committee, the Chinese Public Dispensaries Committee, advisory committee of the

Tung Wah Hospital Tung Wah Hospital is a Charitable hospital in Hong Kong under the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals. Located above Possession Point, at 12 Po Yan Street in Sheung Wan, it is the first hospital established in Colonial Hong Kong for the general publ ...

and

Po Leung Kuk The Po Leung Kuk, founded as the Society for the Protection of Women and Children, is a charitable organisation in Hong Kong that provides support for orphaned children, education and other services. History In the late 19th century, ab ...

, the two most prominent charitable organisations in the colony. He was also the managing director of the local newspaper, ''

Hongkong Telegraph ''The Hongkong Telegraph'' () was a Hong Kong newspaper founded in 1881. History It was first published as an afternoon daily on 15 June 1881 from offices on Wellington Street. It was founded by Robert Fraser-Smith, who was also the paper's ed ...

''. With

Lau Chu-pak Lau Chü-pak (5 June 1867 – 3 May 1922) was a Hong Kong merchant and politician. Lau Chu-pak was admitted to Queen's College in the same year as Sun Yat-sen. He became a clerk at the Hong Kong Observatory and later went into business and ...

, they founded the

Chinese General Chamber of Commerce The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (CGCCHK; ) is a non-profit organization of local Chinese firms and businessmen based in Hong Kong. It was founded in 1900 by Ho Fook and Lau Chu-pak, two prominent leaders of the Chinese community during th ...

in 1900. In 1921, Ho and fellow Legislative Councilor

Lau Chu Pak Lau Chü-pak (5 June 1867 – 3 May 1922) was a Hong Kong merchant and politician. Lau Chu-pak was admitted to Queen's College in the same year as Sun Yat-sen. He became a clerk at the Hong Kong Observatory and later went into business and ...

established the Society for the Protection of the Mui Tsai in defense of the

mui-tsai ''Mui tsai'' (), which means "little sister"Yung, ''Unbound Feet'', 37. in Cantonese, describes young Chinese women who worked as domestic servants in China, or in brothels or affluent Chinese households in traditional Chinese society. The young ...

system, a form of child slavery with the support of Chinese community leaders like

Ts'o Seen Wan Tso Seen-wan, (, 10 November 1868 – 20 January 1953), also Ts'o Seen Wan, S. W. Tso or S. W. Ts'o, was a distinguished Hong Kong lawyer, politician, businessman and educationalist. Formerly served in Legislative Council, Sanitary Board and Di ...

Chow Shou-son Sir Shouson Chow (; 1861–1959), KBE, LLD, JP, also known as Chow Cheong-Ling (), was a Hong Kong businessman. He had been a Qing dynasty official and prominent in the Government of Hong Kong. Family Chow is said to have been born in Wong ...

and

. He served as vice-president of the Ellis Kadoorie Chinese School Society and member of the Court of the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...

. he was also the founder of the annual scholarship for students at the Queen's College and the University of Hong Kong. His donation to the University of Hong Kong also became the foundation of the School of Physiology.

Death

Ho suffered from a

relapse In internal medicine, relapse or recidivism is a recurrence of a past (typically medical) condition. For example, multiple sclerosis and malaria often exhibit peaks of activity and sometimes very long periods of dormancy, followed by relapse or r ...

on 29 August 1926 and died in the afternoon.

Family

Ho Fook's father was a man of Jewish Dutch ancestry named Charles Henri Maurice Bosman (1839–1892) and his mother was Madame Sze, a local woman of Bao'an (present-day

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...

) heritage. His brothers Sir

and half brother Ho Kom-tong (same mother:father Kwok Hing-yin (郭興賢) ) were also prominent social figures in Hong Kong. Ho Kom-tong's daughter Grace Ho (何愛瑜) was the mother of

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

. Ho Fook had thirteen sons and five of them survived when Ho Fook died. All of them were educated in England and three of whom worked as compradores for various foreign companies, Ho Leung was the chief compradore of the Jardine, Matheson & Co. after his father, Ho Iu was the compradore of the

Mercantile Bank of India, London and China The Mercantile Bank of India, London and China, later Mercantile Bank Ltd (), was an Anglo-Indian bank with business focus in the Far East. It was founded in Bombay in 1853 as the Mercantile Bank of Bombay; and later in 1857 was renamed to Mer ...

, and Ho Ki was the compradore of E.D. Sassoon & Co. Ho Wing, another son of him who was adopted by Robert Hotung was also the compradore 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 ...

. There were also Ho Kwong and S. C. Ho in which the latter was member of the

Sanitary Board The Urban Council (UrbCo) was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon (including New Kowloon). These services were provided by the council's executive arm, the Urban Services ...

. Ho Fook had also five daughters. One of Ho Fook's grandsons,

Stanley Ho Stanley Ho Hung-sun (; 25 November 192126 May 2020) was a Hong Kong-Macau billionaire businessman. His original patrilineal surname was Bosman, which was later sinicized to 何 (Ho). He was the founder and chairman of SJM Holdings, which owns ...

, was a casino and shipping magnate. Ho Fook lived at No. 10,

Caine Road Caine Road is a road running through Mid-Levels, Hong Kong. It connects Bonham Road to the west (at the junction with Hospital Road and Seymour Road), and Arbuthnot Road, Glenealy, Hong Kong, Glenealy and Upper Albert Road to the east. The road ...

(now the site of Caritas House and the Catholic Diocese Centre).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ho, Fook 1863 births 1926 deaths Hong Kong people of Dutch-Jewish descent Hong Kong businesspeople Hong Kong philanthropists Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Jardine Matheson Group Alumni of Queen's College, Hong Kong Ho family