Thomas Sutherland, Vanity Fair, 1887-10-22

Sir Thomas Sutherland, ( 16 August 1834 – 1 January 1922) was a Scottish banker and politician, initially elected to represent the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

and then as a

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

. He founded

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 ...

which was the founder member of

HSBC Group HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational corporation, multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In ...

and directed the P&O Company.

Early life

Sutherland was the son of Robert Sutherland and Christian Webster of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. He was educated at

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

Career

Sutherland got his start clerking in the London office of the

Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company P&O (in full, The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company) is a British shipping and logistics company dating from the early 19th century. Formerly a public company, it was sold to DP World in March 2006 for £3.9 billion. DP World c ...

(P&O). Soon after, P&O promoted Sutherland to superintendent, assigning him to

British Hong Kong Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the Briti ...

to manage the firm's Asian operation. In 1863 he became the first chairman of the

Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock was a Hong Kong dockyard, once among the largest in Asia. History Founded in 1866 by Douglas Lapraik and Thomas Sutherland, the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company (known as Hong Kong Kowloon and Whampoa Dock Compa ...

. In order to help finance the burgeoning trade between China and Europe, and explore the potential for China—United States trade, Sutherland established

in 1865 and became its first vice-chairman. He was appointed 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 Kong ...

from 1865 to 1866. In 1872 he was appointed Managing Director of P & O. In November 1884, Sutherland was elected at a by-election as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

. A Liberal, he was re-elected in

1885 Events January–March * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 4 – ...

, but when the Liberals split over

Irish Home Rule The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for Devolution, self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1 ...

he joined the breakaway

Liberal Unionist Party The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

. He was re-elected as a Liberal Unionist in

1886 Events January–March * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5– 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella ''Strange ...

, but lost the seat at the 1892 general election. However, he was reinstated when his opponent was unseated on petition, and held the seat until he stood down at the 1900 general election.

Personal life

In 1880, Sutherland married Alice Macnaught. She was the daughter of Rev. John Macnaught of Trinity Church, Conduit Street,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The couple had two sons, and a daughter, Helen Christian Sutherland (1881–1965), known as an art patron; one of the sons, Eric Macnaught Sutherland, died in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

, the other son, Thomas Leslie Macnaught Sutherland, died during

World War I 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 ...

. In 1920, his wife Alice died.

Death and legacy

In 1922, Sutherland died in

. Sutherland Street in

Sheung Wan Sheung Wan is an area in Hong Kong, located in the north-west of Hong Kong Island, between Central and Sai Ying Pun. Administratively, it is part of the Central and Western District. The name can be variously interpreted as ''Upper Dist ...

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 ...

was named after him.

References

External links

*
Electric Scotland – Sir Thomas Sutherland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, Thomas HSBC people History of CK Hutchison Holdings Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George 1834 births 1922 deaths Scottish bankers Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Politics of Inverclyde Scottish company founders Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Scottish Liberal Party MPs UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 Liberal Unionist Party MPs for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 Hong Kong businesspeople Hong Kong people of Scottish descent