Sir John Henry Bremridge (彭勵治爵士),

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

, JPUniversity of Oxford Gazette
, retrieved 6 May 2006 (12 July 1925 – 6 May 1994) was

Financial Secretary of Hong Kong The Financial Secretary is the title held by the Hong Kong government minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters (“Department of Finance” per Article 60 of the Basic Law). The position is among the three most senio ...

from 1981 to 1986. He was the first Financial Secretary who was not a civil servant.

Early life

Bremridge was born in 1925 in

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

, in what was then the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

to British parents (his father was

Godfrey Bremridge Flight Lieutenant Godfrey Bremridge (1 March 1895 – 12 September 1941) was a World War I flying ace who was credited with five victories. Early life On 1 March 1895, Bremridge was born in Winkleigh, Devon, England. His father was Reveren ...

) on an orange farm, but left in 1933 for Britain where he grew up.

Career

He served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

(

Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

) from 1943 to 1947, and read law at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

before joining Swire in 1949, where he was a senior member of staff in John Swire and Sons (Hong Kong) (

Swire Group Swire Group ( zh, t=太古集團) is a highly diversified global conglomerate with its parent company being John Swire & Sons Limited that holds controlling stakes in a range of businesses trading in the UK, USA, Australia, Papua New Guinea, ...

) and held various positions on corporate boards: * Chairman, Swire Pacific Limited 1973–1980 * Chairman, Cathay Pacific Airways Limited 1973–1980 * Non-executive Director, Schroders plc 1987–1989 * Director, John Swire and Sons 1987

Hong Kong Government

In the 1980s he left the private sector to become Financial Secretary and remained until 1986 to return to the corporate world. During his tenure, he experienced the economic uncertainties that stemmed from the Sino-British negotiations that led to the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration. In order to stabilise the economy, he pegged the

Hong Kong dollar The Hong Kong dollar (, sign: HK$; code: HKD) is the official currency of Hong Kong. It is divided into 100 cents. Historically, it was also divided into 1000 mils. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is the monetary authority of Hong Kong an ...

to the

United States dollar The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

at a rate of HK$7.8 to US$1, thus instituting the

linked exchange rate system in Hong Kong A linked exchange rate system is a type of exchange rate regime that pegs the exchange rate of one currency to another. It is the exchange rate system implemented in Hong Kong to stabilise the exchange rate between the Hong Kong dollar (HKD) and t ...

. Both Bremridge and his successor Piers Jacobs considered introducing a

Sales Tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...

but had failed. He contributed to the growth restrictions imposed on

Dragonair Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited (), originally known as Dragonair until 2016 and finally Cathay Dragon () until 2020, was a Hong Kong-based international regional airline, with its corporate headquarters and main hub at Hong Kong Intern ...

, the second Hong Kong-based airline at that time, by introducing a "one route, one carrier" policy aimed at maintaining

Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, or simply Cathay Pacific, is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main airline hub, hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and its subsidiaries have schedule ...

's local monopoly. Due to this policy, Dragonair shifted its focus to unserved secondary mainland China markets.

Later life

Bremridge's health suffered after a fall in 1987 and never fully recovered, dying in 1994 in London. He was survived by his wife and children, Anne, Elizabeth, Charles and Henry.

References

British expatriates in Hong Kong Financial secretaries of Hong Kong Government officials of Hong Kong Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Swire Group 1925 births 1994 deaths HK LegCo Members 1985–1988 Hong Kong people of British descent Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong Schroders people {{HongKong-gov-bio-stub