John Johnstone (1881-1935) was a British businessman and rider. 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., member of the

Shanghai Municipal Council The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the merger in the year 1863 of the British Concession (Shanghai), British and American Concession (Shanghai), American list of former foreign enclaves in China, enclaves in Shanghai, i ...

and

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 ...

. He was the head of the Jardine, Matheson & Co. as well as director of numerous companies. He was member of the

and the

. He was a keen rider and bore the reputation of being the best rider East of the Suez. He succeeded in winning the Jockey Cup on a pony named Ben-y-Gloe belonging to C. H. Ross, the former tai-pan of Jardines when he first went to Hong Kong in 1903. In 1904, he won the Professional Cup on a pony named Runaway Girl, purchased from W. A. Cruickshank. From 1903 to 1919, he rode in 1,178 races, winning 334, securing 192 seconds and 186 thirds, being unplaced 466 times, excluding the record of minor events such as Off Days or Gymkhanas. He won 14 Grand Nationals in China, and at one meeting in Hong Kong rode in 30 races winning 16 of them. He was also the President of the

St. Andrew's Society Saint Andrew's Society refers to one of many independent organizations celebrating Scottish heritage which can be found all over the world. Some Saint Andrew's Societies limit membership to people born in Scotland or their descendants. Some sti ...

. He left Hong Kong on 31 March 1921 for home by the ''

Empress of Asia RMS ''Empress of Asia'' was an ocean liner built in 1912–1913 by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland for Canadian Pacific Steamships. As well as being a passenger liner in peacetime, ''Empress of Asia'' se ...

''. In 1928 he won The Foxhunters Cup at

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

riding Rathpatrick and officiated as steward at several of the northern meetings. He died at the Cheltenham meeting in 1935 where he was officiating. Jj2 2

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnstone, John 1881 births 1935 deaths British expatriates in British Hong Kong British expatriates in China British businesspeople British jockeys Hong Kong businesspeople Hong Kong jockeys Jardine Matheson Group Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong