920
20.
as a Commercial School, specially designed to supply clerks for the commercial offices of Hongkong and the ports of China.
St. Saviour's College commenced with a strong staff, consisting of Messrs. T. Terry, J. Mayer, Pereira, J. Baptista and C. Wagner, and with an attendance of 152 boys.
Thus it was that St. Joseph's College had its immediate origin and assumed a policy which it has rigorously followed as a hard and fast rule with only such modifications as the altered conditions of the times demanded. Two years after the introduction of the Grant-in-Aid Scheme the Christian Brothers of the Order of St. Joseph substituted for St. Saviour's College three schools, viz, one in Pottinger Street attended by 110 boys (under the Grant-in-Aid Scheme, still retaining the name of St. Saviour's Day School), and two separate schools in Wellington Street. In the following year, St. Joseph's College, under the direction of Brothers Hidulph, Bernard, Edmund, Adolphus and Anthony, took the place of the former St. Saviour's College. It was attended by 169 boys, all non-Chinese. The school building was then removed to Caine Road, and later when the accommodation was found insufficient for the large number of scholars who attended the College, new premises were erected in Robinson Road. At this time and when the present Queen's College buildings had not been erected, the Roman Catholic Mission possessed by far the most imposing structure for a school house in the Colony. Large as St. Joseph's College seemed to be, it was found a few years after its completion, that the number of scholars seeking admission from the Philippines, the Coast Ports and Cochin-China, besides the children of local residents, was far in excess of that the limited space could accommodate. About 1900 a new wing was added to the building and even this increased accommodation was inadequate, for within two years a dozen more rooms were added.
During the year 1901 a new educational agency started work in Hongkong. From the start it won the support and called forth the liberality of wealthy local Chinese.
It was known as the Ellis Kadoorie Chinese School Society.
The founder of the Society, whose name it bore, proved his deep interest in the undertaking by a personal donation of $40,000. The sum was considerably augmented by donations from wealthy Chinese supporters, both in Hongkong and Canton.
On March 1, 1902, the following reference to the scheme appeared in the Hongkong Telegraph: "At the close of the last Chinese year, the Society had opened but one school, which is in the centre of the most populous part of Hongkong. This, however, is but a beginning, and plans are now being prepared which will bring the blessings of a good education within the reach of thousands of youths, who may be willing to avail themselves of it. Its next step is to open a school in Canton and we are informed that already suitable premises have been secured, and that as soon as the festivities connected with the Chinese New Year are over, the great trading port of the South will have its school. The next city to be entered is Shanghai, which, it is reported, will have its school some time in March of this year. These three cities are justly regarded as the most important of China from a commercial point of view, and for this reason they have been selected. But the good work of this Society will not end here. It is proposed to open schools in many other important cities, which will, in addition to giving a good education to those who seek it, be object lessons to those who are at present living in