XN000022-1991-01-26 — Page 3

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 1991'

"I WOULD, FOR EXAMPLE, HAVE TO LOOK UP THE 'CHINA

DIRECTORY'

A DIRECTORY WITH A DETAILED LIST OF EXPATRIATE POPULATION IN HONG KONG, DATING BACK TO 1860S,' HE SAID. DISPLAYING HIS UNFAILING SEARCHING SKILL, HE FETCHED THE DIRECTORY IN A LABYRINTH OF PACKED FILES.

"THE SEARCH USUALLY ENDS HERB WITH NO FURTHER HICCUPS. BUT SOMETIMES, MORE WORKS HAD TO BE UNDERTAKEN. IF WE STILL FIND NO RECORD OF SUCH A PERSON, 1 MAY HAVE TO DIG IT OUT FROM THE PRIVATE RECORDS IN OUR STOCK," HE SAID.

ONE OF THE PRIVATE RECORDS THE P.R.O. KEPT IS THE ARCHIVES OF ST JOHN'S CATHEDRAL WHICH INCLUDED MARRIAGE, BIRTH AND BURIAL REGISTERS DATING BACK TO THE 18405.

"THERE ARE IMPORTANT HISTORICAL SOURCES ON LOCAL CHRISTIAN POPULATION," MR LEE ADDED.

ANOTHER IMPORTANT RECORD THE "COLONIAL CEMETERY" IS ALSO USEFUL, FOR TRACING THE HISTORY OF "WANTED" MAN IF HE WAS BURIED IN HÃNG HONG.

PULLING OUT SOME OLD NEWSPAPERS FROM THE LIBRARY SHELVES, HE SAID: "IF IT WAS A NAME OF EMINENCE IN OLD HONG KONG, I MAY BE ABLE TO GET SOME INTERESTING INFORMATION FROM OUR NEWSPAPER STACKS.'

AT PRESENT, THE OFFICE HAS STOCK OF OLD COPIES OF 15 LOCAL NEWSPAPERS, INCLUDING ONE OF THE OLDEST, THE FRIEND OF CHINA, DATING BACK TO 1842 AND A HANDFUL OF NOW DEFUNCT NEWSPAPERS SUCH AS CHINA MAIL, HONG KONG SUNDAY HERALD AND HONG KONG TELEGRAPH.

IN TOTAL, THE ARCHIVES HAVE SOME 8, 600 METRES OF RECORDS, INCLUDING BOTH GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE DOCUMENTS. THEY INCLUDE MANUSCRIPTS COLLECTION LIKE LETTERS AND DIARIES OF VARIOUS INDIVIDUALS, SOME 4,100 PHOTOGRAPHS AND 430 MAPS OF OLD HONG KONG EARLY AS 1845.

AS

A LARGE PORTION OF THE P.R.O.'S HOLDINGS ARE ACCESSIBLE TO PUBLIC FREE OF CHARGE.

THE

THE OFFICE RECEIVED SOME 1,394 READERS LAST YEAR.

"IN MOST CASES, WE WERE ABLE TO FIND SOME INFORMATION FOR THE INQUIRERS. WE SELDOM DISAPPOINT THEM. IF WE DID, WE WILL EXPLAIN ΤΟ THEM WHAT WE GOT HERE AND WHAT SOURCES WE HAVE LOOKED UP FOR THEM 80 THAT THEY MAY NOT NEED TO GO THROUGH THESE SOURCES AGAIN ELSEWHERE," MR LEE SAID.

TRACING THE HISTORY OF HỌNG KONG FOR PEOPLE IS NOT HIS ONLY JOB IN THE P.R.O.

ANOTHER IMPORTANT JOB IS TO IDENTIFY GOVERNMENT RECORDS OF HISTORICAL VALUE то BE KEPT IN THE P.R.O. THROUGH THE PROCESS OF RECORDS APPRAISAL.

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