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Hongkong can thank this modest lady for the present fine Victoria Hospital which looks down on the harbour and Kowloon from the heights above Barker Road.
Quite an interesting history is attached to the Victoria Hospital. In the first place, it was not built on the site originally selected and on which the foundation stone was laid; secondly, it is no longer a hospital exclusively for women and children, and thirdly, it is now used by Europeans only, whereas the original idea was that it should be for all races and creeds.
Let us go back to the morning of Tuesday, June 22, 1897 when, with great eclat and in the presence of a distinguished gathering, the foundation stone was laid by His Excellency the Governor, Sir William Robinson, on a site at the rear of the Government Civil Hospital.
Addressing the gathering, the chairman of the Permanent Memorial Committee, the hon. Mr. C.P. Chater (later Sir Paul Chater) briefly referred to the circumstances which led to the choice of a hospital for women and children. Permanent Memorial Committee, he said, had a variety of proposals to consider, and a sub-committee was appointed to ascertain, as far as practicable, the wishes of the community. This was done and it was found that opinion was divided in favour of the establishment of a hospital and the construction of a Jubilee Road.
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Through the generosity of the Government, it was possible to undertake both these projects. The community subscribed $90,000 and the Government added $50,000.
In laying the foundation stone of the hospital, His Excellency said it would have been impossible to have devoted the money to a better object.
A few weeks after the foundation stone had been laid, competitive plans for the buildings were called for by the committee. Three plans were received; one from Messrs. Palmer and Turner, one from Messrs. Denison and Ram, and one from Mr. Brotherton Harker. At a meeting of the committee to consider these plans, a letter was read from Dr. J.M. Atkinson, suggesting to the Government the advisability of securing the residence known as "Craigieburn" on the Peak, as an annexe to the Government Civil Hospital. He pointed out that if this suggestion were approved, it would not, in his opinion, be necessary to proceed with a new Women's Hospital. In this way, he wrote, the original idea of the promoters would be more literally carried out.
At a subsequent meeting of the Committee, when opposition from the medical practitioners in the Colony was offered to the proposal of Dr. Atkinson, it was unanimously resolved, on the motion of Sir Thomas Jackson, "that it is desirable to erect the Women's and Children's hospital on the higher levels and on a site not lower than Robinson Road, and to abandon the idea of building on the present hospital site."
A sub-committee of seven was appointed to give effect to this resolution, and at a meeting held on June 21, 1898, it considered the selection of a site. Two properties, one on Mt. Upper Richmond Road and the other on Mt. Hellet were offered to the Committee but were turned down. Five possible sites were then considered by the Committee. They were: (1) Above Barker Road, (2) below Barker Road, (3) immediately below Bowen Road, a short distance East of the Tramway, (4) above Bonham Road, the junction of Pokfulam Road, and (5) at the junction of Robinson and Lower Richmond Roads.