CONTINUATION
CHURCHES 21.
22.
The references in the above address indicate that a number of people other than Catholics had subscribed to the building fund or otherwise helped in the founding of the Church: and we find that when the place had to be rebuilt, it was again aided by the authorities, a grant being given also by the Navy.
On the evening of September 22, 1874, a terrific typhoon struck the Colony, doing much damage and causing large loss of life. A slight earthquake shock was also recorded during the storm. St. Joseph's Church suffered so severely, being almost razed to the ground, that it had to be rebuilt, and as late as 1876 the work of putting the finishing touches to the new edifice was in progress. In the Hongkong naval records,
under date August 25, 1876, is a notification from the Admiralty that they had decided to contribute from Navy funds a sum of £50 towards "the rebuilding of the Roman Catholic Church destroyed at Hongkong by the typhoon in the autumn of 1874."
The extensive renovations which have been taking place during the past few months at St. John's Cathedral, and the restoration of the entire outside plasterwork at present proceeding, recall that this is one of the oldest structures in the Colony. The ... foundation stone was laid in 1847, and the Cathedral was completed in 1849, the official opening taking place on March 11 that year (see 2-9-33). The Chancel was added twenty years later, the foundation stone being laid in 1869, by H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh (see 14-4-34). The following detailed account of the latter ceremony is of considerable interest; it is extracted from an old file.
On the morning of November 16, 1869, at 10 o'clock, H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh laid the first stone of a chancel for the Cathedral. The Prince was received by a guard of honour of the 75th Regiment (or the 1st Bn., the Gordons) who presented arms on his arrival, and played the National Anthem.
He was accompanied to the platform erected in front of the stone by H.E. the Governor, the officiating clergy in their canonicals, and the Trustees of the Cathedral, namely, Hon. J. Gardiner Austin, Hon. E. H. Pollard, Q.C., Hong. W. Keswick, Messrs. Moorsom, Mitchell, and Pyke.
The proceedings were opened by the singing of the 84th Psalm, "O, how amiable are thy dwellings," by the Cathedral Choir, who appeared in their surplices. After this, a special service was read by the Rev. Canon Beach, followed by a lesson from Heb. I., V. 10 to 26.
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