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Philip Stanley Cassidy

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Philip Stanley Cassidy
Unofficial Member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong
In office
July 1951 – April 1952
Appointed bySir Alexander Grantham
Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong
In office
25 August 1948 – 30 April 1952
Appointed bySir Alexander Grantham
Preceded byC. C. Roberts
Succeeded byCedric Blaker
Personal details
Born(1889-03-30)30 March 1889
Ilford, Essex, England
Died14 May 1971(1971-05-14) (aged 82)
Midhurst, Sussex, England
Spouse
Margaret Johnson
(m. 1919)
ChildrenRichard Ross Forbes
OccupationBusinessman

Philip Stanley Cassidy CBE JP (30 March 1889 – 14 May 1971) was a British and Hong Kong entrepreneur. He was taipan of the John D. Hutchison & Co. and unofficial member of the Executive Council and the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.

Biography

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Cassidy first came to Hong Kong in 1913 and worked for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation before he was invited into partnership of the John D. Hutchison & Co., an import and export company, with his brother-in-law T. E. Pearce in 1922. They set up a branch office in Canton in 1929 which ceased to operate in 1941.[1] Cassidy became the taipan of the John D. Hutchison & Co. after Pearce was killed in the Battle of Hong Kong in 1941.[2]

He was member of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and was its chairman from 1948 to 1950 and again from 1951 to 1952. He was elected by the chamber of commerce to serve on the Legislative Council of Hong Kong in 1948 and served on the Executive Council of Hong Kong from 1951 to 1952.[3]

He was also member of the Committee of the Diocesan Boys' School from 1922, director of the European Y.M.C.A., member of the Court of the University of Hong Kong from 1929, and officer of the St. John's Cathedral.[3] He was also a co-founder of Cheero Club established in 1935 to provide facilities for the entertainment and recreation of British forces in Hong Kong.

He announced his retirement from public service in 1952 and returned to London.[3] He became chairman of the Hong Kong House and was awarded Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood in 1959.[4]

Cassidy married Margaret Johnson Rodger, daughter of A. Rodger of the China Sugar Refinery on 15 January 1919 at the Union Church.[5] They had a son named Richard Ross Forbes Cassidy, an architect in Scotland.[2]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Braga, José Maria (1957). Hong Kong Business Symposium: A Compilation of Authoritative Views on the Administration, Commerce, and Resources of Britain's Far Eastern Outpost. South China Morning Post, Limited. p. 450.
  2. ^ a b RIAS Quarterly (PDF). 2013. p. 40. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-04-01. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
  3. ^ a b c Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce Report for the Year 1952 (PDF).
  4. ^ "No. 41589". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1959. p. 23.
  5. ^ "WEDDING AT THE UNION CHURCH". Hong Kong Daily Press. 16 January 1919. p. 2.
Business positions
Preceded by Chairman and Managing Director of John D. Hutchison & Co.
1941–1952
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce
1948–1950
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce
1951–1952
Succeeded by
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
Preceded by Unofficial Member
Representative for Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce
1948–1952
Succeeded by