William Charles Goddard Knowles (; 12 January 1908 – 13 January 1969) was a British businessman in Hong Kong. He was general manager of the

Butterfield and Swire 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, ...

, chairman of the

Cathay Pacific Airways 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 ...

, member of the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

and the Executive Council and vice-chancellor of the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

Biography

Knowles was born in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

on 12 January 1908. He was educated at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

, Sussex, and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. After he graduated he joined

and its parent company in London. From 1929 to 39, he worked in different Chinese cities including Yangtze ports, Hong Kong, Tientsin and Shanghai. He served in the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

during the

Second World War 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 ...

and resumed his office at Butterfield and Swire in Shanghai after the war ended. He moved to Hong Kong in 1947 and was appointed general manager of the company in 1957. He was also chairman of associated companies such as Taikoo Dockyard and Engineering Co. Ltd., Taikoo, Sugar Refining Co. Ltd., Duro Paint Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Swire and MacLaine, Ltd., Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. and the

Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Co. Ltd. Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Limited (HAECO) is an aircraft engineering and maintenance firm with its head office located at Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is an international airport on the ...

He was also a director and later the chairman of the

Hongkong and 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 ...

and a director of the Hong Kong Land Investment and Agency Co. Ltd. and the

Union Insurance Society of Canton The Union Insurance Society of Canton (commonly known as the Union) was a major Hong Kong–based insurance company regarded in the early 20th century as one of the four leading British businesses, or " hongs", of colonial Hong Kong alongside Hong ...

. Besides his business positions, he served on the committee of the

Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC; zh, t=香港總商會) was founded on 29 May 1861, and is the oldest and one of the largest business organizations in Hong Kong. It has around 4,000 corporate members, who combined employ aroun ...

from 1961 to 62 and was the chairman of the chamber for two years. He was also appointed founding chairman of the

Hong Kong Tourist Association The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) is a Government-subverted body founded in 2001. The HKTB replaced the Hong Kong Tourist Association (HKTA) that was established in 1957. It has 15 branch offices and representative offices in 6 markets aro ...

and member of the

(1961–64) and the

Executive Council of Hong Kong The Executive Council of Hong Kong (ExCo) is the Cabinet (government), cabinet of the Government of Hong Kong, acting as a formal body of advisers to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong that serves as a core policy-making organ assisting the c ...

. Knowles was manager of Butterfield and Swire until he served briefly in the office of vice-chancellor of the

, in succession to Sir Lindsay Ride, from 1964 to 1965. He had been member of the Court and Council from 1958 and treasurer of the university in 1962. In recognition of his services to the colony and to the university he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws in 1964. He was also awarded

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) for his public service in 1965. Knowles Building in the University of Hong Kong campus is named after him. A character named Quillan Gornt in the novel '' Noble House'' is based on Knowles and

John Kidston Swire John Kidston "Jock" Swire (1893–22 February 1983), was a British businessman, chairman of Swire Group from 1946 to 1966. Early life He was the son of John Swire of Hubbard's Hall, Harlow, Essex, and grandson of John Samuel Swire. He was ...

, the two taipans of Butterfield and Swire. He held the position of executive director of

Lloyd's Register of Shipping Lloyd's Register Group Limited, trading as Lloyd's Register (LR), is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research ...

when he died suddenly on a business trip in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

on 13 January 1969.

References

External links

Time To Remember
– Interview with Bill Knowles {{DEFAULTSORT:Knowles, William Charles Goddard 1908 births 1969 deaths Indian Army personnel of World War II British Indian Army personnel People educated at Christ's Hospital Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British businesspeople in shipping British expatriates in Hong Kong Hong Kong businesspeople in shipping Hong Kong chief executives Hong Kong justices of the peace Cathay Pacific Swire Group Chairmen of HSBC Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong Heads of universities in Hong Kong Vice-chancellors of the University of Hong Kong Commanders of the Order of the British Empire