One of the first power stations in the world was financed in Hong Kong in 1890 by Sir Khachick Paul Chater, a British-Indian businessman of Armenian descent.
At the suggestion of Ben Layton, adviser to the British Empire in Hong Kong, Khachick Paul Chater acquired the old cemetery in the Wan Chai district and deployed a power station on its site.
Another remarkable fact of Chater’s relationship with Hong Kong is that he independently restored the historical development plan of the city, which was taken as the basis for the construction works in the 21st century.
Throughout his life, Sir Khachick Paul Chater donated large sums to social and religious organizations in Hong Kong, Calcutta, London, Paris, Nanjing, and Beijing.
According to his testament unconditionally carried out by his wife Lady Maria Christine, most of the wealth of the childless couple was transferred to the Armenian churches in Calcutta and in other cities of India and Southeast Asia, as well as to the college where he had studied.
The Armenian church in Calcutta showed its appreciation to the entrepreneur by naming the special extension to its main building ‘Sir Khachick Paul Chater’s house’.”
