Donovan Benson

Mercantile Bank of India

After the war, Benson joined the Mercantile Bank of India in 1919. The bank had an extensive network in India and British Malaya. He was first posted to the Singapore branch, starting from the bottom. In 1920 he was transferred to Kuala Lumpur in the Federated Malay States, and in 1922 to Kelantan in the Unfederated Malay States.^[14][15][16] Apart from a short period on secondment to New York, he worked mainly in Malaya, Penang and Singapore. He later became manager of the Penang branch. In June 1935, he was appointed an unofficial Justice of the Peace for Penang in the King's Birthday Honours.^{[15][13][17][18]} After 17 years with the bank, Benson was appointed to succeed Robert Kennedy as manager of the Hong Kong branch and took up the post in February 1937. In May 1938, he was appointed an unofficial Justice of the Peace in Hong Kong.^{[15][13][19][20]}

Although the Mercantile Bank's main business was concentrated in India and Malaya, it had opened a branch in Hong Kong as early as 1857, making it the second bank to do so in the territory.^[21] Before the Second World War, it was one of the three note-issuing banks in Hong Kong, and Benson signed banknotes on behalf of the bank during his tenure.^[21] However, the circulation of Mercantile Bank notes was much smaller than that of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and Chartered Bank.

In December 1941, Japan invaded Hong Kong and the Battle of Hong Kong began. The territory fell on 25 December, marking the start of three years and eight months of Japanese occupation, during which banking operations were suspended.^[22] Benson was outside Hong Kong when Japanese forces advanced, so he was not interned after the fall.^[15][23] During the occupation, he remained in Australia and elsewhere. After Japan's unconditional surrender and the British reoccupation of Hong Kong in August 1945, he returned within three weeks. Mine-clearing operations were still underway on the route back.^[15][22] The bank's head office at 7 Queen's Road Central had been occupied by Mitsui & Co. during the Japanese occupation and was only recovered after reoccupation.^[22] Fortunately, all pre-war records and securities were found intact, enabling Benson to resume operations immediately upon his return in October 1945.^[22]

In the immediate post-war period, the bank faced multiple challenges. Severe shortages of goods led to heavy reliance on imports from the United States, causing a shortage of US dollars in circulation and creating difficulties for the bank. The problem gradually eased as local production recovered and new currency was issued.^[22] The bank introduced special measures to support its commercial and individual clients, including immediate overdraft facilities for major commercial clients. Other individual depositors who could prove they had held deposits before the war were allowed to overdraw up to 60% of their reported balance.^[24] These facilities did not apply to accounts involving questionable assets, especially those suspected of having been acquired through improper means during the war.^[24] The bank also faced staff shortages and recruitment difficulties. Although Benson wrote repeatedly to head office requesting additional staff from Britain, the response was slow, forcing him to scale back operations to some extent. As a result, the Mercantile Bank was unable to expand rapidly amid Hong Kong's post-war economic recovery.^[24]

Benson served as manager of the Mercantile Bank of India in Hong Kong for 15 years until his retirement in July 1952. He was succeeded by Alexander Godfrey Donn. After retirement, he chose to remain in Hong Kong.^[19][25][26] Before leaving, he planned the reconstruction of the Hong Kong head office. The old building, constructed during the First World War and over 30 years old, was demolished starting in August 1952. The new 10-storey head office building was completed and opened in December 1953, after his retirement.^[26][27][28] In the years after the Second World War, newly independent countries such as India and Pakistan introduced strict regulations and high tax rates that severely restricted the Mercantile Bank's traditional markets. This limited the bank's development. A few years after Benson's retirement, the bank was acquired by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in 1959, although the Hong Kong branch continued to issue notes until 1974 before gradually withdrawing from banking.^[29][21]

Public service

Before the war, Benson served as a member of the Hong Kong Exchange Fund Advisory Committee from November 1937 to November 1941 and as a member of the War Revenue Ordinance Review Committee from July 1940 to December 1941.^{[30][31][32][23]} After the war, he was appointed chairman of the Requisitioned Property and Allocation Committee, chairman of the Causeway Bay Reclamation Committee, and a member of the Education Committee. Between 1946 and 1953, he twice temporarily replaced Sir Arthur Morse as an unofficial member of the Executive Council while the latter was on leave.^[13][19] As a non-official Justice of the Peace, he also served as a magistrate in the Justices of the Peace Court. In March 1953, he was appointed a special magistrate. After retiring from the Mercantile Bank, his concern for child welfare led him to serve as a magistrate of the Hong Kong Juvenile's Court from 1953 to 1964, where he frequently showed special leniency towards children from poor families who had committed offences.^[16][33][34]

In addition to government appointments, Benson held important positions in many Hong Kong charitable organisations after the war. These included president of the Hong Kong Playground Association, a member of the executive committee of the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children, and chairman of the Voluntary Welfare Committee for the Services. He was also involved in the Hong Kong Juvenile Placement Association, the Hong Kong Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong. He served as a governor of Diocesan Girls' School and as president of the Hong Kong Scouts Association from 1959 to 1964.^{[15][16][13][19][35][36]} He was also active in the St. John Ambulance Brigade, serving as a council member and as chairman of the council from 1953 to 1954.^[16]

Benson took a particular interest in the problem of tuberculosis in Hong Kong. As early as February 1940, he helped found the Hong Kong Anti-Tuberculosis Association [zh] and was elected its honorary treasurer.^[37][38] Although the association's work was suspended during the Japanese occupation, he helped re-establish it after the war. In October 1948, together with Sir Chau Sik-nin, J. H. Ruttonjee, Ngan Shing-kwan, Shum Wai-yau [zh] and Lee Lu-cheung, he formally re-founded the association.^[39] He served as a director, became vice-chairman of the board in 1949, and chairman in 1963, retiring in June 1964.^[38][15] Over the years, he was actively involved in the association's work, making frequent radio appeals for donations and visiting the children's ward at Ruttonjee Hospital every Sunday to see children suffering from tuberculosis.^[16][40][41] In recognition of his public service, he was awarded the OBE in the 1952 Queen's Birthday Honours.^[42]

Benson's public service was not without minor controversies. In June 1956, on the recommendation of former Hong Kong Football Association president Kwok Chan, he was elected the new president of the association.^[43] However, the association was embroiled in controversy when executive committee member Chin Ning was accused of making remarks that allegedly offended the chairman of the Malayan Football Association, Tunku Abdul Rahman. Because reporters had been present when Chin made the remarks, they were widely reported, causing embarrassment to the association.^[43] Several executive committee members subsequently proposed banning reporters from attending future meetings, but the proposals were rejected on grounds that they infringed press freedom.^[43] Although Benson had not yet formally taken office and had not voted on the proposals, he had publicly expressed support for banning reporters. After the proposals were rejected twice, he announced in August 1956 that he would not take up the presidency. The position was eventually filled by Louey.^[43]

Charitable work

Benson was a keen enthusiast of horse racing and equestrian sports. While in Malaya, he was active in polo, captaining polo teams in both Singapore and Penang. He also rode as an amateur jockey and was a member of the Penang Turf Club.^[16][44][18] Upon his transfer to Hong Kong in 1937 as manager of the Mercantile Bank, he immediately joined the Hong Kong Jockey Club as a member.^[16] After the Second World War, he was elected a steward of the club in 1947. Following his retirement from the bank in 1952, he was elected chairman in March 1953, succeeding Sir Arthur Morse.^[25][15]

After the war, the Jockey Club earned substantial revenue from horse racing betting and sweepstakes. With Benson's close connections to many charitable organisations, the club became increasingly active in philanthropy. In 1955, it formally decided to donate its annual surplus to charitable causes.^[45][46] During his chairmanship, Benson secured several major donations. One of the most significant was over one million Hong Kong dollars for the construction of the Victoria Park Swimming Pool, which opened in 1957.^[47] The pool was opened by then Governor Sir Alexander Grantham and was Hong Kong's first public swimming pool as well as its first public pool meeting Olympic standards.^[47] Benson and the other stewards made clear that the pool was intended for use by children from lower-income families, and entrance fees were set at affordable levels—50 cents for adults and 30 cents for children.^[47] The pool operated for over fifty years before being demolished and rebuilt in 2013.^[47]

Other major donations during his term included the Elizabeth II Youth Recreation Centre (commonly known as the Kowloon Indoor Stadium) in Mong Kok, whose foundation stone was laid in 1952 by Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent;^[48] the new clubhouse of the Kowloon branch of the St. John Ambulance Brigade, opened by Benson in May 1953 (with the club contributing half the construction cost of $25,000);^[49] and the new campus of the Chun Tok School for the Deaf [zh] in Diamond Hill, whose foundation stone was laid by Benson in June 1953 (with a donation of $60,000 from the club).^[50] Other facilities funded by the club included the new campus of the Hong Kong Sea School [zh] (foundation stone laid by Benson in December 1958),^[51] the Kowloon branch of the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong (foundation stone laid by Benson in May 1960),^[52] the Aberdeen Jockey Club Clinic [zh] (opened in December 1960),^[53] and the Shau Kei Wan Jockey Club Clinic [zh] (opened by Benson in July 1964).^[54] In the later years of his chairmanship, Benson secured a donation of $513,000 from the club to help the University of Hong Kong's Faculty of Medicine build the Lee Hysan Medical Library, which opened in January 1966. Benson was one of the guests of honour at the opening ceremony.^[55]

To make donations more systematic, Benson established the Hong Kong Jockey Club (Charities) Limited in 1959 to formulate donation policies and discuss uses with the government to ensure funds were used appropriately.^[45] Many years later, in 1993, the company was reorganised as the non-profit Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, which continues to work with the government and charitable organisations.^[45] During Benson's term, the club's charitable role in Hong Kong society was increasingly recognised. With the assistance of Governor Sir Robin Black and Colonial Office Assistant Secretary W. I. J. Wallace, the club was granted the "Royal" prefix by Queen Elizabeth II in 1960, becoming the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club. The name remained until 1996, when, in anticipation of the 1997 handover, it reverted to the Hong Kong Jockey Club.^[56][57]

Racing matters

With the growing popularisation of horse racing betting, the club's only racecourse at Happy Valley frequently displayed the "red flag" indicating full capacity on race days from the mid-1960s.^[58] Although the club had considered building a new racecourse as early as 1964 during Benson's term, expansion of the grandstand and other facilities at Happy Valley only took place after he left office in 1969. The government only gave in-principle approval in October 1971 for a new racecourse at Sha Tin. Construction of Sha Tin Racecourse began in December 1973 and it opened in October 1978.^[58]

To cope with increasing betting turnover, Benson introduced new payout machines in 1966 that shortened payout times.^[59] He also proposed that the government allow the club to open off-course betting centres so that the public could place bets legally outside the racecourse, thereby combating illegal off-course betting. The government rejected the proposal on the grounds that the club's racing had not yet been professionalised.^[59] Illegal off-course betting was rampant at the time, and underground syndicates occasionally attempted to influence race outcomes. For example, in early May 1965, rumours spread that Benson had died and that the final race day of the season on 15 May would be abandoned after the third race.^[60][61] Because Benson had not appeared publicly for some time, the rumours gained traction. Even Sir Chau Sik-nin, who had just returned from abroad on the Friday evening, could not confirm their falsity.^[62] The rumours were finally dispelled on race day when Benson appeared at the racecourse to present trophies and personally conduct the sweepstake draw, and all races proceeded as scheduled.^[62] Public opinion afterwards speculated that off-course syndicates might have spread the rumours because they feared that favourites would win all races on Derby Day and did not want to accept too many bets, or because they had already taken on too many bets and hoped to reduce betting volume to avoid heavy payout liabilities.^[61]

Although faced with the problem of illegal betting, Benson, who had himself been an amateur rider, wanted to keep club racing amateur and opposed the introduction of professional jockeys. Throughout his term, the Hong Kong Jockey Club remained an amateur organisation.^[59] Only after his retirement, following the sensational "poisoned horse" scandal of 1969–1970, did the club decide in 1971 to turn amateur racing professional and recruit General Sir Bernard Penfold (then known as Major-General Penfold in some contexts) as general manager to drive reforms.^[63] Off-course betting centres were finally approved by the government in 1973.^[64]

Benson's term also saw several fatal riding accidents. On 2 January 1960, champion jockey Marcel Samarcq was riding "满堂春" in the fourth race at Happy Valley when he fell after completing four-fifths of the course. He was trampled on the head by a following horse and died on the spot. In mourning, the club cancelled the remaining races and refunded tickets—an unprecedented move after the war.^[65] In September that year, Benson established the Samarcq Memorial Scholarship Fund and the Jockeys' Welfare Fund to assist jockeys injured in racing accidents.^[66] However, another accident occurred on 21 January 1961 during the first race at Happy Valley. Three jockeys fell, and J. S. C. Neel, riding "花木兰", died of his injuries after being taken to hospital.^[67] "花木兰" was humanely destroyed, and the club cancelled races after the fifth and flew flags at half-mast.^[67] Finally, on 17 April 1965 (Easter Monday), local jockey He Weihang fell while riding "尽我所能" in the third race at Happy Valley, at the same spot where Samarcq had died. He was taken to hospital and pronounced dead. The club again cancelled races after the fifth and flew flags at half-mast.^[68] When Ho's funeral was held on 20 April, Benson led the club's stewards in paying respects.^[69]

The Poon Wah case

During Benson's term, the "Poon Wah case" (潘华案) occurred. Poon Wah was invited by the club in 1961 to become an apprentice jockey (commonly known as a "red badge" rider) and was also admitted as a club member.^[70][71] Later, however, the club discovered that he had falsified his occupation and date of birth when applying for membership. Although he claimed to be a merchant, he was in fact a fireman, and his real age was 36, not the 30 he had declared.^[72][73] Consequently, the club proposed to expel him from membership in October 1962, and the proposal was approved by the stewards in November.^[74] Although Poon retained his apprentice jockey status, when he applied in November 1962 to ride "Dictator" (独裁者) and "Powerful Rider" (力骑), Benson refused permission. The main reason was that, according to custom, "red badge" riders should not be over 30 when first admitted, but Poon was already over 30 when he became one. In addition, he had misled the club in his membership application, so he was considered unsuitable to ride.^[70][72]

Poon subsequently sued the club in the High Court over both his expulsion from membership and the ban on him riding. He sought restoration of his membership and riding rights, as well as damages.^[71] The case was heard in the civil division of the High Court in early February 1965. Several senior club officials testified, including Benson, who stated that the matter was so serious that the club had decided to expel Poon. He also noted that it was not uncommon to bar "red badge" riders from riding.^[70][74] The plaintiff argued, however, that the stewards' meeting to discuss Poon's expulsion had lasted only 15 minutes, with no inquiry held and Poon never given the opportunity to explain or appeal, which was unfair to him.^[75][72][73] The plaintiff also pointed out that although the club later realised the procedural error and nominally restored Poon's membership in June 1963, it continued to ban him from riding, causing him loss.^[72][73]

After several days of hearings, Mr Justice Ivo Rigby delivered judgment on 25 February 1965. He held that when the club invited Poon to join, it was not entirely unaware of his background, and the expulsion procedure had been flawed, causing injustice to Poon.^[76] He ruled in Poon's favour, ordering the club to fully restore his membership and associated rights and to pay him damages of $1,100. However, he refused Poon's request for an order compelling the club to allow him to ride.^[76]

Awards

• The following is a full list of honours with post-nominal letters:^{^}
  • Unofficial Justice of the Peace for Penang (J.P.) (King's Official Birthday, 1935)^[17]
  • Unofficial Justice of the Peace for Hong Kong (J.P.) (20 May 1938)^[20]
  • Officer of the Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.) (Queen's Official Birthday, 1952)^[42]

• Benson Cup: A horse racing event organised by the (Royal) Hong Kong Jockey Club in memory of Benson and named after him. It was discontinued after the 1997 handover of Hong Kong.^[81]