Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s3.t13.3

v1.c5.s3.t13.3

Chater came to Hong Kong in 1864 as a clerk in the Bank of Hindustan, China and Japan. With the help of the Sassoon business group, he ventured into share brokerage and had great success. In 1868, he established a flourishing partnership with the Parsi businessman Hormusji N Mody under the name Chater & Mody. But his major achievement was in the sphere of real estate development, helping to develop a significant portion of the island’s Central district. In 1886, he set up the Hong Kong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company to develop Kowloon Harbour on the mainland and Kennedy Town in the northwestern part of the island. His grandest project, however, was the Praya Reclamation scheme to develop the central waterfront area on the northern shore of Hong Kong island. This was done through the company which he formed in1889, Hong Kong Land. He was a visionary who pushed to bring electricity at an early stage to Hong Kong through his Hong Kong Electric Company which he formed in 1889. In recognition of the role he played in Hong Kong’s development, he was appointed to the Executive Council of Hong Kong in 1896 and knighted by the British government in 1902. He, however, continued to support institutions back in India like his alma mater, the well-known La Martiniere College in Calcutta.