C. C. Roberts

C. C. Roberts
Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong
In office 31 October 1946 – 28 July 1948
Preceded by	R. D. Gillespie
Succeeded by	P. S. Cassidy
Personal details
Spouse(s)	Constance May Mitchell
Occupation	Entrepreneur

Charles Collingwood Roberts was a British entrepreneur. He was a former Chairman of the Butterfield & Swire and an unofficial member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.^[1]

Biography

Roberts joined Butterfield and Swire in October 1922, responsible for sugar traveling from Shanghai from 1925-1926, shore management for China Navigation Company in Hankow from 1926-28, and responsible for Chinese Staff Shanghai from 1932-34.^[2] On 1 October 1932, Roberts married to Constance May Mitchell at the St. John's Cathedral.^[3]

During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, he was among many other British local figures were held at the Block 8 of the St. Stephen College and participated in the camp councils.^[4]

After the war, Roberts became the first chairman of the Cathay Pacific Airways the airline which was acquired by Butterfield & Swire and its associated shipping interests in 1948. At that time co-founded the Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company with David F. Landale, taipan of the Jardine Matheson and founder of the Hong Kong Airways in 1950.

In 1948 and 1950, he was the chairman of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. On resignation of R. D. Gillespie, he was elected by the chamber to be the representative on the Legislative Council of Hong Kong on 6 May until he stepped down in August and was replaced by P. S. Cassidy.

He was also deputy chairman of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in 1940-41 and director of the bank.

References

1. The archives of John Swire & Sons Ltd (including the papers of Butterfield & Swire, and the staff papers of CC Roberts) are held at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, http://www.soas.ac.uk/library/archives/
2. Cook, Christophe (1985). The lion and the dragon: British voices from the China coast. Elm Tree Books. p. 179.
3. "PRETTY WEDDING.". The Hong Kong Telegraph. 1 October 1932. p. 1.
4. England, Vaudine (1998). The Quest of Noel Croucher: Hong Kong's Quiet Philanthropist. Hong Kong University Press. p. 142.