Dr. Topley has been our President for the past ten years, and was a Vice-President for six years before that. She has also been a Council Member since the establishment of the Branch in 1960. More than that, she was one of the persons instrumental in establishing the Society in that year.
The contribution made by a number of persons during the preparations for re-establishing a Hong Kong Branch has not unnaturally been overshadowed by the leading role in our affairs played by our first distinguished President, the late Dr. J. R. Jones. It is now fitting to draw attention to the efforts also made by Dr. Topley and Mr. Cranmer-Byng at that time. Happily, some of the papers relating to that period are still available, and those who are interested may look at the copies in the attached folder. We propose, also, that they be included in a future issue of the Journal so that the facts are on permanent record.
The papers show that from early 1958 on, Marjorie Topley and Jack Cranmer-Byng were trying to arouse interest in founding a Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. They approached Dr. Jones, who was then Legal Adviser to the Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation and had been a Council member of the North China Branch of the Society, to enlist his help in getting public support and in drawing up a constitution for the new branch. He expressed his personal interest and a willingness to canvas support among the business firms of the Colony. These preparations continued into 1959. In July of that year, at a meeting in his flat, Dr. Jones indicated that there had been promises of financial help from at least two of the leading business organisations but in his view at least $10,000 should be secured before the new Society should begin to function.
Progress was reported to Sir Richard Winstadt, President of the Royal Asiatic Society of London. He had written a little earlier to Dr. Topley in May 1959 expressing his support saying that he had also heard from Dr. Jones, and that the work of forming a new branch was seemingly being done in cooperation. The pattern of activity is clear from the papers. The original effort was made mainly by Marjorie and Jack, but enlisting the interest of the major business firms and obtaining the necessary financial support was the work of Dr. Jones who, by virtue of his
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