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Hugh David MacEwen Barton,
CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(17 January 1911 – 16 April 1989) was a British Hong Kong businessman who served as chairman and managing director of
Jardine Matheson Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited (also known as Jardines) is a Hong Kong–based, Bermuda-domiciled British multinational conglomerate. It has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and secondary listings on the Singapore Exchange ...
from 1953 to 1963.


Biography

Barton was born on 17 January 1911 in Ireland. After graduating from
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
,
Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, Barton joined
Jardine Matheson Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited (also known as Jardines) is a Hong Kong–based, Bermuda-domiciled British multinational conglomerate. It has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and secondary listings on the Singapore Exchange ...
in 1933 as a tea taster and climbing the ranks to become
Tai-pan A taipan (,Andrew J. Moody, "Transmission Languages and Source Languages of Chinese Borrowings in English", ''American Speech'', Vol. 71, No. 4 (Winter, 1996), pp. 414–415. literally "top class"汉英词典 — ''A Chinese-English Dictionary ...
in 1953 at just 42 years old. Barton was assigned to several key areas throughout Asia spending most of his time in Shanghai before returning to Hong Kong in 1949 when the group's assets fell under the new Communist regime. Barton served with the
Irish Guards The Irish Guards (IG) is one of the Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment (1992), Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infant ...
and fought in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. He retired from the military in 1944 as a Lt. Colonel and returned to work for Jardine Matheson after the war. A persistent and flamboyant character, he was appointed Taipan of Jardines, replacing Sir John Keswick. During his tenure, he oversaw the incredible growth of the company in Hong Kong and throughout Asia after the devastating war years and continued trade with China. He also served as a director of the
Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...
from 1955 to 1959, Vice Chairman from 1960 to 1961. It's also interesting to note that he also served as the Chairman of the bank from 1962 to 1963, holding the chairmanship title of both the bank and Jardines. As taipan of Jardines, he oversaw the opening of the company headquarters in 1956 along
Connaught Road Connaught Road ( Chinese: 干諾道) is a major thoroughfare on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It links Shing Sai Road in Kennedy Town to the west and Harcourt Road in Admiralty to the east. Location The road consis ...
, a 16-story building which was already replaced in 1972. He is best remembered for the historic and landmark event of leading Jardines to its
initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...
. Initially distributing the shares at $2.78, within a week it shot up to $5.22, having been oversubscribed 56 times. During his tenure, Jardines owned much of the richest land in Hong Kong, controlled two of the island's three profitable English newspapers, and has substantial interests in banking, shipping, insurance, utilities, streetcars and airlines and being agent for 77 major companies, trading products ranging from machine tools to fine Scotch throughout Asia. He sat in Hong Kong's governing bodies and the boards of its richest banks. He presided over a time when Jardine Matheson was at the peak of its economic and political power over Hong Kong. He founded the Penta Hotel Chain, supported by five airlines:
Swissair Swissair (German language, German: Schweizerische Luftverkehr-AG; French language, French: S.A. Suisse pour la Navigation Aérienne, stylised as swissair) was the Flag carrier, national airline of Switzerland between its founding in 1931 and ban ...
,
Alitalia Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana S.p.A., operating as Alitalia (), was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital. ...
,
Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...
,
British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...
and
Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...
. Eventually, Air France and Alitalia backed out of the deal. The hotel chain was also supported by
UBS UBS Group AG (stylized simply as UBS) is a multinational investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, with headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. It holds a strong foothold in all major financial centres as the ...
,
Swiss Bank Banking in Switzerland dates to the early 18th century through Switzerland's merchant trade and over the centuries has grown into a complex and regulated international industry. Banking is seen as very emblematic of Switzerland and the countr ...
,
Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...
and a British investment Bank. The Pental Hotel chain still exists but mainly in Germany. In a ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' article in 1961, he was described as "Tall (6 ft. 3 in.), suave and social,
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
educated Hugh Barton joined Jardines in 1933 as a tea taster, scrupulously lives up to the company's cherished traditions, including the raising of ponies that race under the Jardines' silks." After retiring in 1963, he became an influential diplomat in Europe, representing Hong Kong businesses' interests there. In 1965, he became a director of
SG Warburg S. G. Warburg & Co. was a London-based investment bank. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The firm was acquired by the Swiss Bank Corporation in 1995 and ultimately became a part of UBS. ...
. He was invested as a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(CBE) in 1966. In describing Jardines, a commentator stated, "Jardines always was, and still is, a Scottish house that kept the Sabbath and everything else it could lay hands on." He died in April 1989 at the age of 78.The Peerage: Hugh David MacEwen Barton
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Hugh 1911 births 1989 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge 20th-century British businesspeople Hong Kong chief executives Jardines (company) Chairmen of HSBC Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong British people in colonial Hong Kong