Percy Hobson Holyoak

Percy Hobson Holyoak (1874 – 25 May 1926) was a British businessman in Hong Kong and a member of the Legislative Council and Executive Council of Hong Kong.

Background and business career Percy Hobson Holyoak was the son of the Rev. T. H. Holyoak of Chesham-Bois, Buckinghamshire, England. He subsequently took over the firm with P. W. Massey when it suffered in the commercial slump in 1921 and 1922 and altered the name to Holyoak, Massey, & Co. with Holyoak as the senior partner.

Holyoak also held positions in many leading public companies. Among others, he was the chairman of the board of directors of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation for three times, chairman of the board of directors of the Hongkong, Canton, and Macao Steamboat Company, Ltd., chairman of the Union Insurance Society of Canton, and director of the Hongkong Telephone Company. He was nominated as unofficial member of the Legislative Council as a representative of the chamber on the death of E. A. Hewett in 1915 and later on was appointed to the Executive Council for various times. Despite being a large contributor to the raising funds during the First World War, in early 1917 Holyoak moved in the Legislative Council to exclude German merchants from the colony for ten years, mandated by the Chamber of Commerce. In 1919, he and Henry Pollock formed the Constitutional Reform Association of Hong Kong to demand London for a further representation in the colonial legislature.

He also associated with the Chinese community in public work such as his chairmanship of the Joint Committee of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce which supervised the arrangements for the Hong Kong section of the Wembley Exhibition.

Death and family Holyoak married Neilie Gertude Cowper, daughter of the late William Cowper of Moseley. They had two daughters named Joyce and Dorothy. There was also a memorial services held at St. John's Cathedral on 31 May, attended by many leading figures in the colony, including Governor Cecil Clementi.