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.
But first, let’s take a look at the most remarkable success at any Hong Kong horse race event – ever.
It happened in 1884, and has never been replicated.
No other race horse owner in the history of Hong Kong Racing has had the same level of success as Paul Chater.
The Hong Kong Races in February 1884 must be one of the most memorable of the 19th century in the Far East. The success of Paul Chater was the talk of race week, indeed for years afterwards, the incredible achievement of this genteel man was often recounted in clubs and at dinners. He was the measure by which others strove to succeed on the course, yet his warm personality and gentleness of word coupled with his humbleness made him a man one didn’t mind being beaten by.
15 Race Wins
10 Different Ponies
From a String of 13 Owned and Run by Paul Chater
(and a win for his business partner H.N. Mody and Theo his brother too)
In depth review on the 1884 racing page
“………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…………….