Robert Shewan Explained

Robert Gordon Shewan
Office1:Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong
Term Start1:23 June 1902
Term End1:7 December 1905
Predecessor1:T. H. Whitehead
Successor1:E. A. Hewett
Appointed1:Sir Henry Arthur Blake
Term Start2:25 May 1917
Term End2:27 December 1917
Predecessor2:Edward Shellim
Appointed2:Sir Francis Henry May
Term Start3:1 January 1919
Term End3:23 December 1919
Predecessor3:Edward Shellim
Successor3:S. H. Dodwell
Office4:Chairman of the Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation
Term Start4:February 1902
Term End4:February 1903
Predecessor4:James Johnstone Keswick
Successor4:A. J. Raymond
Birth Date:1859 11, df=yes
Birth Place:London, England
Death Place:British Hong Kong
Occupation:Businessman
Resting Place:Hong Kong Cemetery
Spouse:Dorothy "Dolly"

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

Early life

Robert and his twin brother William were born in London on 13 November 1859. They were sons of Andrew Shewan (1820–1873), a master mariner, and Jane (née Thomson) Shewan (1822–1886).[1]

Career

Shewan arrived in Hong Kong in 1881, in the employ of Russell & Company, which was then one of the largest mercantile companies in the Far East. He and Charles Alexander Tomes, who was a grandson of merchant David Hadden, acquired the infrastructure of that firm subsequent to its dissolution in 1891, and consequently created Shewan, Tomes & Co. in 1895.[2] The new company formed the Green Island Cement Company and the China Light and Power Company, which generated electricity for Kowloon. He was subsequently dismissed from the latter by its principal shareholder, the Kadoorie family. Shewan was also the director of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and of many other local companies.[3]

In 1902, Shewan was elected as the representative of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce in the Legislative Council. He also served as Consul for Chile at Hong Kong.[1] Shewan was unsympathetic to the Canton-Hong Kong strike in 1925: he told the Daily Press that employers should punish those of their Chinese labourers who went on strike. He also posted a notice to his office clerks that stated that those who left and did not return by the next morning would be permanently dismissed.[4]

Personal life

Shewan was married to Dorothy "Dolly" Kate Lucas (d. 1961), who was a daughter of William Lucas and former wife of James Marke Wood.

Shewan died on 14 February 1934. He was buried at the Hong Kong Cemetery in Happy Valley, Hong Kong.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Book: England . Vaudine . The Quest of Noel Croucher: Hong Kong's Quiet Philanthropist . 1998 . . 9789622094734 . 44 . 12 August 2019 . en.
  2. News: Making Impressions: The adaptation of a Portuguese family to Hong Kong, 1700-1950. Braga. Stuart. 34. October 2012.
  3. Book: Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China. Wright. Arnold. 173. Lloyd's Greater Britain Pub. Co. London. 1908.
  4. News: No Weakness.. Hong Kong Daily Press. 24 July 1925. 3.
  5. Web site: Robert Gordon Shewan – CLP, Green Island Cement and HK Rope Manufacturing – The Industrial History of Hong Kong Group . industrialhistoryhk.org . The Industrical History of Hong Kong Group . 12 August 2019.