Sir Catchick Paul Chater, The Grand Old Man of Hong Kong 

This is a glimpse at the life of a very special bare foot orphan boy from India.

“………In the evolution of time, generation will succeed generation in Hongkong, new firms will arise, new projects will be formed; new personalities will seek to advance the colony’s influence and promote her enterprise long after names familiar enough now have vanished into the past and been forgotten.” He went on “….It is not possible to predict from the shadows which the future is casting before what Hongkong will yet develop into. It is not possible to surmise with any accuracy the part which will ultimately be allotted to Hongkong to play in the international theatre of the world. These questions lie in the womb of the future, and the future alone can answer them; but that she is always destined to be an important factor, I for one have no doubt whatsoever……..Great and important movements have lately taken place in the Far East, possibly greater and more important changes yet are even now in contemplation……”

From the streets of Calcutta in the 1850’s he would eventually become the man that would tame the rocky terrain of Hong Kong.

In conversation with Elizabeth Bisland, Paul Chater said:

…………Also for convenience and brevity he gave it out that he was a British subject, resident in China, born in India with a certain mixture of Greek and Armenian blood in his veins…………….