Sir Robert Hotung | |
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Portrait of Sir Robert Hotung wearing his decorations
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Born |
Robert Ho Tung Bosman 22 December 1862 Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong |
Died | 26 April 1956 Hong Kong |
(aged 93)
Alma mater | Queen's College |
Occupation | Businessman, |
Spouse(s) | Margaret Maclean (Mak) (1865-1944) Clara Cheung Lin-kok (1875–1938) |
Children | Victoria, Henry, Daisy, Edward, Eva, Irene, Robert, Jean, Grace, Florence, Mary and George |
Parent(s) | Charles Bosman (father) Lady Sze |
Relatives |
Ho Fook (brother) Ho Gumtong (brother) Stanley Ho (grand-nephew) |
Robert Hotung | |||||||||||
Sir Robert Hotung in 1916
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Traditional Chinese | 何東 | ||||||||||
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Simplified Chinese | 何东 | ||||||||||
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Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 何曉生 | ||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 何晓生 | ||||||||||
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Transcriptions | |
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Standard Mandarin | |
Hanyu Pinyin | Hé Qǐdōng |
Yue: Cantonese | |
Jyutping | Ho4 Tung1 |
Transcriptions | |
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Standard Mandarin | |
Hanyu Pinyin | Hé Xiǎosheng |
Sir Robert Ho Tung Bosman, KBE JP (22 December 1862 – 26 April 1956), better known as Sir Robert Hotung, was an influential Hong Kong businessman and philanthropist in British Hong Kong. Known as "the grand old man of Hong Kong", Hotung was knighted in 1915 and 1955.
Hotung was Eurasian. His father, Charles Henry Maurice Bosman (1839–1892), was of Dutch Jewish ancestry, while his mother was Sze Tai (施娣), a local woman of Bao'an (present-day Shenzhen) heritage, on D'Aguilar Street. His father was a merchant who had his own company, Bosman and Co., was part owner of the Hong Kong Hotel which opened in 1868, and a director of the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company. By 1869, Charles Bosman was also the Dutch Consul, running his own marine insurance business with important clients that included the British-owned trading conglomerate Jardine, Matheson & Co. He later left for England, where he became naturalised in 1888. In Cantonese, Bosman was pronounced Bo-se-man, which transliterated into Cantonese to become Ho Sze Man. When Robert Ho Tung Bosman travelled, he carried a certificate from the Governor of Hong Kong stating that his father was Dutch.
He was educated at Queen's College, previously known as the Central School.
After graduating from Queen's College in 1878, Hotung went to Canton, where he worked as a clerk for the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs. In 1880, he returned to Hong Kong and joined Jardines as an assistant in the compradore department. His bilingual skills and business acumen eventually propelled him to become Head Compradore in 1894, Although he was of mixed parentage, Hotung considered himself Chinese, a fact reflected in his sartorial preference. By the age of 35, he was believed to be the richest man in Hong Kong. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws by the University of Hong Kong in 1916.