Sir Thomas Sutherland

Aberdeen, Scotland, 1834 - 1922

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About MeThomas Sutherland
18 August 1834 – 1 January 1922
Shipowner, founder of HSBC and director of P&O

Thomas Sutherland grew up in Aberdeen where he attended Marischal College for a year before moving to London as a junior clerk at the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O). His talents were quickly recognised and at the age of 20, Thomas was transferred to Hong Kong. There he set about reorganising P&O and building a new fleet. By the age of 47 Thomas was in charge of the largest and most successful shipping company in the world.

In 1864 while sailing along the South China coast, Thomas read an article on Scottish banking. Recognising a need for a bank to service Hong Kong’s growing imports and exports, he resolved to found a bank in Hong Kong based on traditional Scottish banking principles. That same year, at the age of 30, Thomas established China’s first bank, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, better known today as HSBC Group. Described as one of ‘the great Victorians’ Thomas gave over 60 years of service to P&O, earning him a place as one of the leading figures in international shipping.
Additional InfoImage Attribution: Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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