Sir Thomas Jackson, 1st Baronet

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Sir Thomas Jackson, 1st Baronet (Chinese: 昃臣; 1841–1915) was an Irish banker who became the third chief manager of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC). He played a key role in financing the growth of colonial Hong Kong as HSBC’s first big project in the city.

He was born on 4 June 1841 in Carrigallen, County Leitrim, Ireland, the second of six sons of David and Elizabeth Jackson. He grew up in Crossmaglen, County Armagh, and joined the Belfast branch of the Bank of Ireland in 1860. Jackson travelled to Hong Kong in 1864 to join the Agra and Masterbank, and HSBC was just starting to build its new headquarters. He joined HSBC in 1865, after the bank’s opening, and worked as an accountant in Shanghai and then as manager in Yokohama from 1870 to 1874.

In 1876, at the age of 35, Jackson was appointed chief manager of HSBC, the bank’s top position. He held this role, with only brief breaks, until 1902. He temporarily left to run the bank’s London office in 1886–1887, again in 1889, and from 1891 to 1893. Under his leadership, HSBC became the leading bank in Asia. He was known as the bank’s “Great Architect” and also nicknamed “Lucky Jackson” for his quick and intuitive decisions.

In 1902, announced in the Coronation Honours, he was made a Baronet for his services to HSBC and Hong Kong. On 24 July 1902 he became Sir Thomas Jackson, Baronet of Stansted House, Stansted, Essex.

In recognition of his work, a statue of Jackson was unveiled in Statue Square in Hong Kong in February 1906 by the colony’s governor, Sir Matthew Nathan; the statue still stands today. He is also commemorated in Ireland with a stained-glass window in Creggan Anglican church, County Armagh.