Sir Jack Cater (; 21 February 1922 – 14 April 2006) was the chief secretary of Hong Kong from 1978 to 1981. Cater was the third chief secretary under the Governorship of Sir Murray MacLehose, later Lord MacLehose of Beoch. He was the founding commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption of Hong Kong.
Biography
Career
Cater served in Royal Air Force fighter squadrons during the World War II. Cater arrived in Hong Kong to work with the British military jurisdiction after the Japanese surrender. Cater began his career of civil service in 1946 as a cadet officer in the Fisheries Department, and was made Director of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1964. In 1966 Cater attended the Imperial Defence College in London. His widow later revealed that Cater considered at one point leaving the government. She said:
Cater was widely respected and much liked in Hong Kong for the way in which he brought the fledgling ICAC to the point where it became strong enough to survive the attacks of vested interests, and of its many enemies both within and without the government. As a result of Cater's vital early direction, the ICAC was able to grow into a body which presided over the (almost total) eradication of corruption, both official (Governmental) and elsewhere, in Hong Kong.
He was knighted in 1979.
Personal
Sir Jack was born on 21 February 1922, son of a London policeman. He studied in Sir George Monoux Grammar School, Walthamstow.