Robert Shewan

Robert Gordon Shewan
Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong
In office
23 June 1902  7 December 1905
Appointed by Sir Henry Arthur Blake
Preceded by T. H. Whitehead
Succeeded by E. A. Hewett
In office
25 May 1917  27 December 1917
Appointed by Sir Francis Henry May
Preceded by Edward Shellim
In office
1 January 1919  23 December 1919
Preceded by Edward Shellim
Succeeded by S. H. Dodwell
Chairman of the Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation
In office
February 1902  February 1903
Preceded by James Johnstone Keswick
Succeeded by A. J. Raymond
Personal details
Born (1859-11-13)13 November 1859
London, England
Died 14 February 1934(1934-02-14) (aged 74)
British Hong Kong
Resting place Hong Kong Cemetery
Spouse(s) Dorothy "Dolly"
Occupation Businessman

Robert Gordon Shewan (13 November 1859 – 14 February 1934) was a Scottish businessman in Hong Kong.

Biography

Shewan was born in London on 13 November 1859, son of Andrew Shewan, master mariner, and Jane Thomson. He arrived in Hong Kong in 1881 in connection with the American trading house Russell & Co., then one of the largest mercantile firms in the East and subsequently took over the business of the house with an Englishman Charles Alexander Tomes in that firm and changed its name to Shewan, Tomes & Co. in 1895.[1]

With the trading house of Shewan Tomes he formed the Green Island Cement Company and the China Light and Power Company, which generated electricity for Kowloon. He was later on oust by the principal shareholder of the electricity company, Kadoorie family. He was also the director of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and of many other local companies.[2]

In 1902 Shewan was elected as the representative of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce in the Legislative Council.

Shewan took a hard line during the Canton-Hong Kong strike in 1925 as he told the Daily Press the employers should punish their Chinese labourers who went on strike. He also said he had posted a notice to his office boys and clerks who went out stating that if they did not return by the next morning they never need to come back at all.[3]

He died on 14 February 1934 and was buried at the Hong Kong Cemetery in Happy Valley, Hong Kong.

References

  1. Braga, Stuart (October 2012). "Making Impressions: The adaptation of a Portuguese family to Hong Kong, 1700-1950" (PDF). p. 34.
  2. Wright, Arnold, ed. (1908). Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China. London: Lloyd's Greater Britain Pub. Co. p. 173.
  3. "No Weakness.". Hong Kong Daily Press. 24 July 1925. p. 3.
Business positions
Preceded by
James Johnstone Keswick
Chairman of Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation
1902–1903
Succeeded by
A. J. Raymond
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
Preceded by
Thomas Henderson Whitehead
Unofficial Member
Representative for Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce
1902–1905
Succeeded by
Edbert Ansgar Hewett
Preceded by
Henry Edward Pollock
Unofficial Member
1917
Succeeded by
Edward Shellim
Preceded by
Edward Shellim
Unofficial Member
1919
Succeeded by
Stanley Hudson Dodwell
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