Catchick Paul Chater

Catchick Paul Chater (Khachig Asdvadzadoor), born in Calcutta (1846) to an Armenian family which hailed from Iran, became one of the most prominent citizens of Hong Kong and helped establish the British colony’s first university. Chater was a self-made man who became an orphan at the age of nine when his father drowned in Calcutta’s Houghly River. At 18 he moved to Hong Kong with his sister and brother-in-law. He first worked in a bank and then became a bullion broker and a partner in a real estate developing company. He also dabbled in gold mining in Vietnam. For 34 years he was a director of the Hong Kong Electric Company and for 20 years an unofficial member of the city’s Legislative Council. He set up scholarships and was prominent in horse racing. Chater represented Hong Kong at Queen Victoria’s Jubilee and at the coronation of King Edward VII. A public garden and a road were named Chater and he was knighted. He married in 1919 at the age of 74. His Marble Hall mansion was the most opulent in Hong Kong decorated with Greek and Italian marbles. In 1925 he helped build Hong Kong’s St. Andrews Church and rescued his Calcutta Armenian school. He died in 1926.

Catchick Paul Chater (Khachig Asdvadzadoor), born in Calcutta (1846) to an Armenian family which hailed from Iran, became one of the most prominent citizens of Hong Kong and helped establish the British colony’s first university. Chater was a self-made man who became an orphan at the age of nine when his father drowned in Calcutta’s Houghly River. At 18 he moved to Hong Kong with his sister and brother-in-law. He first worked in a bank and then became a bullion broker and a partner in a real estate developing company. He also dabbled in gold mining in Vietnam. For 34 years he was a director of the Hong Kong Electric Company and for 20 years an unofficial member of the city’s Legislative Council. He set up scholarships and was prominent in horse racing. Chater represented Hong Kong at Queen Victoria’s Jubilee and at the coronation of King Edward VII. A public garden and a road were named Chater and he was knighted. He married in 1919 at the age of 74. His Marble Hall mansion was the most opulent in Hong Kong decorated with Greek and Italian marbles. In 1925 he helped build Hong Kong’s St. Andrews Church and rescued his Calcutta Armenian school. He died in 1926.