Michael Turner (banker)

Michael Turner on his appointment as general manager of HSBC in 1953

Sir Michael William Turner (1905 - 27 September 1980) was the chief manager of The Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank from 1953 to 1962.

Early life

Turner was born in Winchester, England, in 1905. He was the son of Skinner Turner, at that time Judge of the British Court for Siam in Bangkok and later Chief Judge of the British Supreme Court for China based in Shanghai.^[1]

He studied at Marlborough College and then University College, Oxford and obtained a degree in military history. He played field hockey with the English national field hockey team.^[2]

Career with HSBC

Upon graduation, he joined the London office of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank and was then posted to Shanghai. He was later transferred to Singapore where he was interned in Changi Prison for the duration of World War II. It took him six months for him to recover from the conditions in the camp.

After the war, he resumed his career with HSBC and, in 1953, succeeded Sir Arthur Morse as Chief Manager of HSBC. He was instrumental in the considerable post-war expansion of the bank.

In Hong Kong, he served as the Commander of the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force.

Following retirement in 1963 he served as Chairman of the British Bank of the Middle East.

Family

Lady Turner presenting a cup to Benny Omar, captain of the Emergency Unit, Hong Kong Auxilllary Police, in 1961

He married Wendy Spencer Stranack, daughter or Morriss Stranack of Durban, South Africa in 1938. They had three sons.

Awards and Recognition

Turner was awarded a Colonial Police Medal in 1956 for his services to the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force.

He was awarded a CBE in 1957 and was knighted in 1961.

A Turner Room on Level 41 of the main Hong Kong branch of HSBC commemorates his services to the bank.

Death

Turner died in London on 27 September 1980.^[3]

References

1. Biographical details from Turner's 1980 Who's Who Entry
2. Profile for Sir Michael at Waddington's Auctions.
3. 1981 Who's Who Obituary

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