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On the publishing side a bimonthly newsletter as well as a reputable annual journal, which is highly thought of in academic circles, are produced. Other publications like occasional papers consisting of such topics as write-ups of symposia, and books like Hong Kong Going and Gone (1980) and Beyond the Metropolis (1995), have been, and are being published. A number of Branch members have also published on their own account and others have been decorated by Her Majesty the Queen for heritage related work and community service. In Her 1997 Official Birthday Honours' List, four RASHKB members were awarded the MBE and another the Queen's Police Medal.
In addition to several members serving in their own capacities on Government committees, such as the Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB), a number of RASHKB volunteers have assisted the Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) with the grading of buildings. Also, the AMO and the RASHKB banded together to mount a four-month long exhibition, entitled Hong Kong Going and Gone, in 1995-96. The Branch has also helped the AMO by providing speakers as well as leaders of tour groups.
Personalities
Obviously the RAS, like most organisations, depends on people. When the Branch was first formed the then Governor, Sir John Davis (1844-48), frequently took the chair as a scholar of both literary and scientific achievement. He retired from Hong Kong a year after the Branch was established. On leaving the Colony Sir John resumed his China studies, founded a chair at Oxford University and died academically revered at 92 showing, yet again, that those interested in heritage are often a long-lived breed (Spurr 1995: 35).
He was followed by Governor Sir Samuel Bonham (1848-54) who believed the study of Chinese addled the brain, although he did allocate a room in the Supreme Court solely for the use of the RASHKB. But his successor, Governor Sir John Bowring (1854-59), when he chaired RAS meetings, always insisted on being addressed as Dr Bowring and not as "Your Excellency". Bowring was fluent in, or had a working knowledge or a book knowledge of upwards of 14 languages (Chambers 1969: 162). He had also spent five years as British Consul in Canton where he learned Chinese. One of his accomplishments was translating
152
On the publishing side a bimonthly newsletter as well as a reputable annual journal, which is highly thought of in academic circles, are produced. Other publications like occasional papers consisting of such topics as write-ups of symposia, and books like Hong Kong Going and Gone (1980) and Beyond the Metropolis (1995), have been, and are being published. A number of Branch members have also published on their own account and others have been decorated by Her Majesty the Queen for heritage related work and community service. In Her 1997 Official Birthday Honours' List, four RASHKB members were awarded the MBE and another the Queen's Police Medal.
In addition to several members serving in their own capacities on Government committees, such as the Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB), a number of RASHKB volunteers have assisted the Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) with the grading of buildings. Also, the AMO and the RASHKB banded together to mount a four-month long exhibition, entitled Hong Kong Going and Gone, in 1995-96. The Branch has also helped the AMO by providing speakers as well as leaders of tour groups.
Personalities
Obviously the RAS, like most organisations, depends on people. When the Branch was first formed the then Governor, Sir John Davis (1844-48), frequently took the chair as a scholar of both literary and scientific achievement. He retired from Hong Kong a year after the Branch was established. On leaving the Colony Sir John resumed his China studies, founded a chair at Oxford University and died academically revered at 92 showing, yet again, that those interested in heritage are often a long-lived breed (Spurr 1995: 35).
He was followed by Governor Sir Samuel Bonham (1848-54) who believed the study of Chinese addled the brain, although he did allocate a room in the Supreme Court solely for the use of the RASHKB. But his successor, Governor Sir John Bowring (1854-59), when he chaired RAS meetings, always insisted on being addressed as Dr Bowring and not as "Your Excellency". Bowring was fluent in, or had a working knowledge or a book knowledge of upwards of 14 languages (Chambers 1969: 162). He had also spent five years as British Consul in Canton where he learned Chinese. One of his accomplishments was translating
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