1006 Thomas Sutherland

Constituency  : Greenock  1884-92,  1892-1900 ( from  1886  Liberal  Unionist )

Thomas  took  over  at  Greenock  after  the  resignation  of  James  Stewart.

Thomas  was  educated  at  Aberdeen  University. He  started  work  as  a  clerk  in  the  London  office  of  P & O. He  was  soon  sent  over  to  Hong  Kong  to  supervise  the  company's  Asian  operations. In  1865  he  founded  the  Hongkong  and  Shanghai  Banking  Corporation  ( HSBC ). In  1872  he  became  managing  director  of  P  &  O. He  became  a  director  of  a  number  of  other  banks. He  was  also  a  director  of  the  Suez  Canal  Company  dealing  with  both  the  French  and  British  governments.

Thomas's  first  parliamentary  contribution  was  to  defend  the  government  against  the  motion  of  censure  for  the  death  of  General  Gordon.

In  1886  Thomas  went  over  to  the  Liberal  Unionists.  The  local  Tories  didn't  like  him  and  wanted  to  oppose  him,  expecting  no  Gladstonian  challenge; Salisbury  dissuaded  them  and  a  Gladstonian  candidate  did  appear.  Thomas  was  knighted  in  1891. In  1892  he  lost  to  a  Gladstonian  but  was  reinstated  after  a  petition. He  stood  down  in  1900  with  deafness  becoming  an  increasing  problem..

He  died  in  1922  aged  87.