John Keswick
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Sir John Keswick KCMG |
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|---|---|
| Unofficial Member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong | |
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In office 20 June 1952 – 1956 |
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| Appointed by | Sir Alexander Grantham |
| Preceded by | C. E. M. Terry |
| Succeeded by | P. S. Cassidy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1906 Dumfriesshire, United Kingdom |
| Died | 1982 (aged 75–76) Dumfriesshire, United Kingdom |
| Spouse(s) | Clare Elwes (m. 1940–82) |
| Relations |
William Keswick (grandfather) Gervase Elwes (father-in-law) Charles Jencks (son-in-law) |
| Children | Margaret Keswick |
| Parents |
Henry Keswick Ida Wynifred Keswick |
| Occupation | Merchant |
Sir John Henry Keswick, KCMG (1906–1982) was an influential Scottish businessman in China and Hong Kong. He was the taipan of the Jardine, Matheson & Co., the leading British trading firm in the Far East, and had established friendship with many Chinese politicians. He was also a representative of the Special Operations Executive, a British intelligence service during the Second World War.
Sir Keswick was born in 1906 to the third generation of Keswick family in the Jardine, Matheson & Co.. His father, Henry Keswick, son of William Keswick, was a Jardines taipan and a Conservative Member of Parliament. Sir John followed his father and grandfather into Jardines in 1929 at the age of 23. He worked in Shanghai from 1931 until the outbreak of the Second World War in Europe in 1939.
He then went to Chungking, the wartime capital of China and worked for the Minister of Economic Warfare in the wartime government, attached to the British Embassy as a Special Operations Executive (SOE) Oriental Mission's representative. He negotiated with Chiang Kai-shek for SOE to develop training facilities including the Special Training School on his territory in January 1942. But the relationship faltered soon after as the head of Chiang's intelligence service, General Tai Li and others insisted that the STS should be headed by a Chinese. As a result, Sir Keswick and his White Russian deputy Vladimir Petropavlovsky were order to leave the country in 1943. He was transferred to Lord Mountbatten as a liaison officer with the Southeast Asia Command. During the time in Chungking, he established friendship with Zhou Enlai, who later became the Premier of the People's Republic of China. He married Clare Elwes in 1940.
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