Senior Unofficial Member

For the rank Senior Member in the US' Civil Air Patrol, see Civil Air Patrol § Senior members.

The Senior Unofficial Member (Chinese: 首席非官守議員), later Senior Member (Chinese: 首席議員) and, finally, Convenor of the Non-official Members (Chinese: 非官守議員召集人), was the highest-ranking unofficial member of the Legislative Council (LegCo) and Executive Council (ExCo) of British Hong Kong, which supposedly represented the opinions of all unofficial members of the council to the Governor.

Ethnic Chinese members of either council were frequently referred to as "Chinese representatives" of the council before the introduction of elected seats in the LegCo; the most senior ethnic Chinese member was dubbed the "Senior Chinese Unofficial Member" (Chinese: 首席華人非官守議員) or "Senior Chinese Representative".

Background

The Executive Council and the Legislative Council were set up in 1843, initially composing of colonial administrators only. The councils were initially chaired by the Governor of Hong Kong. The colony's residents remained unrepresented until 1850, when the government appointed two businessmen to the LegCo, with David Jardine of Jardines as the first Senior Unofficial Member of the LegCo in the history of Hong Kong. It was not until 1896, on his appointment to ExCo, that Catchick Paul Chater became the Senior Unofficial Member.

Historically, ExCo Senior Unofficial Member importance greatly exceeded that of the LegCo counterpart, thus their term of office were longer. Before the Second World War, there were only three Senior Unofficial Members in ExCo, whereas there have been four LegCo Senior Unofficial Members. Initially, membership was restricted to Europeans; ethnic Chinese were admitted at a later date. The first ethnic Chinese to be appointed LegCo Senior Unofficial Member was Ho Kai, who held the post from 1906 to 1914. The first ethnic Chinese to be appointed ExCo Senior Unofficial Member was Chau Tsun-nin, who held the post from 1953 to 1959. Prior to Chau Tsun-nin, Chow Shouson was also ExCo Senior Unofficial Member when he stood in for three months following Henry Pollock.

Senior Unofficial Members of the ExCo would customarily be knighted if they were not already knights, although their LegCo counterparts would not. Pre-WWII ExCo and LegCo Senior Unofficial Member typically served renewable four- to five-year terms. Their seniority implied they would not remain as ordinary Legco/Exco members at the end of their terms, but would leave the council on expiry.

In 1985, indirect elections were introduced for the Legislative Council. To avoid confusion, Sir Edward Youde, the then-Governor, renamed the post Senior Unofficial Member in both councils 'Senior Member'. The introduction in 1991 of direct elections to the LegCo more than doubled the number of its members. The directly-elected members refused to take orders from the Senior Member. The Senior Member at the time, Allen Lee, was unable to represent the council with a single voice and would occasionally have run-ins with the directly-elected members. In 1992, Governor David Wilson abolished the LegCo post of Senior Member. In 1995, Governor Chris Patten renamed the ExCo post of Senior Member 'Convenor of the Non-official Members'.

During colonial times, the Urban Council also had a post entitled 'Senior Unofficial Member', with a similar role. However, its importance was considerably less than its ExCo and LegCo counterparts.

Statistical overview

In total there have been 26 and 11 Senior Unofficial Members respectively of LegCo and ExCo. Of these, six have served as Senior Unofficial Members in both councils: Catchick Paul Chater, Sir Henry Pollock, Chau Tsun-nin, Kan Yuet-keung, Chung Sze-yuen and Lydia Dunn.

The longest serving Senior Unofficial Members of LegCo were Sir Henry Pollock and Phineas Ryrie, who sat for 24 and 22 years respectively; The three who served the shortest duration were George Lyall, John Dent and Kwok Chan, who sat for one year. Lydia Dunn was the only female; Dhun Jehangir Ruttonjee was the only Parsee; Roger Lobo was the only Portuguese.

The longest serving Senior Unofficial Members of ExCo was Catchick Paul Chater, who served a total of 30 years; the shortest tenures was Sir Sidney Gordon, serving under one year. Lydia Dunn was the first female ExCo Senior Unofficial Member. Chater was the only Senior Unofficial Member to die in office; Chau Tsun-nin and Chau Sik-nin were the only Senior Unofficial Members drawn from the same clan.

Executive Council

Order Image Senior Unofficial Member Term start Term end
1Catchick Paul Chater

1900 to 1906 LegCo Senior Unofficial Member

1896 1926
2Sir Henry Pollock(Sir Henry Pollock)

Concurrently LegCo Senior Unofficial Member Chow Shouson stood in between September and December 1928

1926 December 1941
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
3Arthur Morse

Later Sir Arthur Morse

May 1946 1953
4Chau Tsun-nin

Previously LegCo Senior Unofficial Member

1953 1959
5Chau Sik-nin

Previously LegCo Senior Unofficial Member

1959 1962
6Albert Rodrigues 1962 1974
7Sir Kan Yuet-keung

Previously LegCo Senior Unofficial Member

1974 March 1980
8Sir Sidney Gordon March 1980 August 1980
9Sir Sze-yuen Chung

Previously LegCo Senior Unofficial Member

August 1980 1985
Post renamed 'Senior Member' in 1985
Order Image Senior Member Term start Term end
1Sir Sze-yuen Chung

Previously LegCo Senior Unofficial Member

1985 1988
2Lydia Dunn

Previously LegCo Senior Unofficial Member

1988 1995
Post renamed 'Convenor of the Non-official Members' in 1995
Order Image Convenor of the Non-official Members Term start Term end
1Rosanna Wong 1995 1997
Transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China (1997)
Post remains in the Executive Council of the present Hong Kong

Legislative Council

Order Image Senior Unofficial Member Term start Term end
1David Jardine 1850 1856
2Joseph Jardine 1857 1860
3George Lyall 1860 1860
4Alexander Perceval 1861 1864
5Francis Chomley 1864 1866
6John Dent 1866 1867
7James Whittall 1867 1867
8Hugh Bold Gibb 1867 1870
9Phineas Ryrie 1870 1892
10Emanuel Raphael Belilios 1892 1900
11Catchick Paul Chater

concurrently Senior Unofficial Member at LegCo

1900 1906
12Dr. Ho Kai 1906 1914
13Wei A. Yuk 1914 1917
14Sir Henry Pollock

1926 to 1941 LegCo Senior Unofficial Member Chow Shouson stood in between September and December 1928

1917 1941
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
15D. F. Landale 1946 1950
16Chau Tsun-nin

Later became ExCo Senior Unofficial Member

1950 1953
17Chau Sik-nin

Later became ExCo Senior Unofficial Member

1953 1959
18Ngan Shing-kwan 1959 1961
19Kwok Chan 1961 1962
20Dhun Jehangir Ruttonjee 1962 1968
21Kan Yuet-keung

Later became ExCo Senior Unofficial Member

1968 1972
22Woo Pak-chuen 1972 1974
23Chung Sze-yuen

Later became ExCo Senior Unofficial Member

1974 1978
24Oswald Victor Cheung 1978 1981
25Roger Lobo 1981 1985
Post renamed 'Senior Member'
Order Image Senior Member Term start Term end
1Lydia Dunn

Later became ExCo Senior Unofficial Member

1985 1988
2Allen Lee 1988 1992
Post abolished in 1992

See also

Footnotes

    References

    External links

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