11 Facts About Arthur Morse

Arthur Morse was a British banker born in County Tipperary in Ireland.

Arthur Morse worked in Shanghai, London and Tientsin and finally many years in Hong Kong.

Arthur Morse rebuilt HSBC and did much to revive Hong Kong after the war, retired in 1953 and moved to London where he died in 1967.

Morse was born in 1892 in Bohercrowe, County Tipperary, Ireland and his father Digby Scott Morse was a Bank of Ireland agent.

Arthur Morse attended Foyle College in Derry, before embarking on his banking career with HSBC.

Arthur Morse was sent to London by the then-Chief Manager of the bank, Sir Vandeleur Grayburn, to lead the bank and shift the headquarters to London to avoid the reserves being frozen in New York and San Francisco by the American authorities in the case of a Japanese take over in Hong Kong.

On 16 December 1941,9 days before Japanese occupation, Arthur Morse was appointed as the Commissioner and General Manager of the bank.

Arthur Morse involved himself in the revival of the infrastructure of the city, as well as the bank, his success in the latter task shown by the improving financial position of the bank starting a trend which continued after the end of his service in the bank in 1953.

Arthur Morse participated many public bodies in Hong Kong and was an unofficial member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong during his stay in Hong Kong after the war.

In 1945, Arthur Morse supported a failed move to establish a popularly elected Municipal Council in the colony.

Arthur Morse was knighted for his service to the colony in 1949.