[
    {
        "id": 205614,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1968",
        "page_number": 156,
        "title": "RAS-1968",
        "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES\n\n151\n\nEnough has been said to demonstrate that East Point was not the Firm's first building site. This leads on to a further contention that it was not the original intention to site the main part of the new city of Victoria in the Happy Valley - though it is undeniable that that idea was mooted within a year or so and building did commence there after a very small number of individuals, most of them connected with Jardine, Matheson & Co., very quickly obtained grants of much of the best land in the area.\n\nHowever, one further circumstance suggests that the firm originally intended to have their Headquarters much nearer the centre of town than was later the case. Sometime in 1841, perhaps very soon after the sale of 14 June 1841, they obtained a transfer from a Captain Ramsay of what was then Town Lot 42, and there erected a large house of which the Canton Press caustically commented that \"on entering the harbour, you perceive the most commanding site, disfigured by a hybrid erection, half New South Wales and half native production, which is a foretaste of the architectural absurdities to be perpetrated on this island.\"\n\nBut Jardine, Matheson & Co. were unfortunate in their choice of this site for their headquarters on two counts. It was early decided that the hill to the west of the present Albany nullah (Garden Road) should be reserved for Government buildings only. Government correspondence was as early as November 1841 datelined ‘Government Hill’.\n\nThereby restricting the development of the town in that direction into the fairly wide and gently sloping valley behind the present Murray House. But even worse was the Military's insistence that the ridge and hillside to the east of the Albany nullah should be reserved for their use; this area covered the sites of both the firm's godowns and house. The house later became the residence of Lord Saltoun, Commander of British Forces in China during the war which ended with the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. The present Flagstaff or Headquarters House, built by 1846, now stands on this site.\"1\n\nThey were able to occupy neither building for long: early in 1842, Colonel Malcolm, Pottinger's secretary, wrote to them, extending an offer to compensate them for moving away to allow the area to be used by the Military. They would be allowed to choose marine lots in any part of the island not appropriated for any other purpose and would, in addition, be given $25,000 in cash for the buildings they had erected. They had, of course, no option, and",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1968.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 210714,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1986",
        "page_number": 65,
        "title": "RAS-1986",
        "content_text": "48\n\nSTEPHEN SELBY\n\noverseeing the design, laying and maintenance of a system of sewers, stormwater drains and nullahs on Hong Kong Island, in Kowloon and the New Territories. However, vacancies which he filled during the leave of other officers (which was usually on a half-pay commuted basis and lasted from six months to one year) brought him into contact with road-laying, marine and reclamation engineering works as well.\n\nSocially, H. T. Jackman was popular and well-liked in Hong Kong. He was keen on soccer and tennis and, as he got older, he took up golf. He was a member of the Hong Kong Club, Royal Hong Kong Golf Club and the Civil Service Cricket Club.\n\nFrom 1904 to 1905, Jackman was appointed sanitary surveyor under the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance of 1903 with the job of surveying built-up areas in Hong Kong and, where necessary, condemning and demolishing slum areas (mainly in Western) to allow for the construction of sewers and rebuilding of proper accommodation for the residents. It must have been a difficult task, for the provisions of the Ordinance were generally unpopular and corruption was rife among the staff tasked with its enforcement.\n\nIn 1908, Jackman accompanied A. J. Darby of the Crown Lands Office on secondment to China to carry out route surveying work (possibly for the Kowloon Canton Railway, for which surveys on the Hong Kong side were carried out in 1905. However, the railway was not built by the P.W.D.).\n\nMuch of the sanitary work required in Hong Kong at that time was for the provision of water supplies to residential areas. Jackman was closely involved in the enlargement of the Albany filter beds and increasing the capacity of water mains serving the Peak and Western (at that time the latter was the most densely populated area of the Colony). This involved drawing water from the Tytam reservoir via new mains along Caine Road and Bonham Road and the re-design of the Bonham Road water pumping station. He was also involved with the construction of rider-mains in Central and the construction of the Tytam secondary reservoir while the resident engineer was away on leave. In",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063",
        "rank": 0
    }
]