[
    {
        "id": 205178,
        "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-1966",
        "page_number": 134,
        "title": "RAS-1966",
        "content_text": "OLD BRITISH KOWLOON\n\n129\n\nYau Ma Ti is not mentioned by name in the Commissioners' Report of 1862, and its earlier origin is therefore in question. However, at the latest estimate, its principal temple, dedicated to Tin Hau, the Queen of Heaven, was located there soon after the Kowloon peninsula changed hands: two stone lions standing outside the present building are dated 1864. Some years later the Registrar General included a brief mention of Yau Ma Ti in his Census Returns for 1876 in which he wrote: 39\n\nYau Ma Ti in Kowloon has become a new Town within the last few months, and it will continue to increase if facilities are afforded to the boat builders and to the junk people who repair thither to careen and repair their vessels, for on these the trade of the place chiefly depends\".\n\nIn 1882 Osbert Chadwick wrote of the formation of \"irregular groups of houses\" and the \"lack of proper streets\" in growing villages like Yau Ma Ti. He went on to describe the environs of the town as follows: 40\n\nTo the north of Yau Ma Ti the shore is lined with establishments for boat people or other trades connected with shipping... Just to the south of Yau Ma Ti is a sort of mud-dock which dries at half ebb or little later. This is occupied by many boats some of which are too old and leaky to go out, and lie here permanently, being used as dwellings. This causes a serious nuisance\".\n\nIn Yau Ma Ti there was a community organisation known as a kaifong (†). This type of association is commonly found in small towns whose main activities are trades and crafts rather than agriculture. Its leaders are usually local shop-keepers and businessmen. In Old Kowloon the several regional kaifongs' activities took on the nature of charitable deeds such as the provision of primary education, herbal treatment for illness, a funeral expenses scheme (#), free coffins for paupers, etc. These services were meant to benefit the poorer residents of the town. A kaifong's work also verged on what would now be considered the proper sphere of the central government, in such matters as building and repairing footpaths, lanes, bridges, public wells, and so on. 41 As in the villages its leaders were also responsible for the organisation of local religious ceremonies and their accompanying entertainment. 42 Like the village organisations of the",
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    {
        "id": 206309,
        "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-1971",
        "page_number": 126,
        "title": "RAS-1971",
        "content_text": "120 \n\nH. J. LETHBRIDGE \n\nrendered any useful service to the Colony, also whether, as at present controlled, there is any real danger to be apprehended from allowing such a force to be maintained'14 \n\nThe commission concluded that district watchmen performed a useful service for the Chinese community. The system was thus left unchanged and the statutory control of the Registrar General was not tampered with. The Regulation of Chinese Ordinance, No. 13 of 1888, reaffirmed the principle that 'every such watchman shall be under the control of the Registrar General'. Thus the link forged in 1866 between the Registrar General and the District Watch Force was maintained intact until the radical change in the nature of the force brought about by the District Watch Force Ordinance of 1949, which ended the life of the Chinese Committee of Management and the system of voluntary subscriptions. \n\nOsbert Chadwick in his 1882 report on the sanitary conditions of Hong Kong recommended that the duty of enforcing cleanliness should be added to the duties of the district watchmen and that, if necessary, their numbers and pay be increased. Chadwick also informs us that 'the idea was suggested to me by the Chinese'15. Chadwick, the son of the great Edwin Chadwick, recognised the importance of maintaining a body of police auxiliaries, for such watchmen could be detailed to work on tasks not normally undertaken by regular police and used where the presence of European police would engender hostility or lack of co-operation. The Chinese notables also recorded their satisfaction with their own force and in a petition asking for the registration of Chinese partners in Chinese business firms claimed they could weed bad elements out of the force because only Chinese could understand the workings of the Chinese community16. Soon the district watchmen were performing a variety of tasks17—acting as census enumerators, providing guides for census officials, tracing runaway girls for the Po Leung Kuk, intercepting young girls brought into the Colony for purposes of prostitution, engaging in detective work for Chinese welfare societies, and generally just keeping the peace in the Chinese quarters. The Head District Watchman became a figure of some importance and his salary placed him far above the run-of-the-mill Chinese artisan or labourer. Inevitably, there were reports of district watchmen receiving 'tea money' but there is no reason to suppose they were any more...",
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    {
        "id": 206324,
        "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-1971",
        "page_number": 141,
        "title": "RAS-1971",
        "content_text": "THE DISTRICT WATCH COMMITTEE\n\n135\n\n4 The first census of the Island in 1841 gave a population of 5,650. In 1844 the population was given as 19,009. See Historical and Statistical Abstract of the Colony of Hong Kong, 1841-1931, Hong Kong, Noronha, 1932. The validity of the first census has been questioned by G. R. Sayer in his Hong Kong: Birth, Adolescence, and Coming of Age, London, Oxford University Press, 1937, p. 104.\n\n5 The China Review, vol. 1, 1872/73, p. 333.\n\n6 Ibid., p. 334.\n\n7 E. J. Eitel, Europe in China, The History of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Kelly and Walsh, 1895, p. 282. The Man Mo Temple stands at the western end of Hollywood Road. It was originally a shrine patronised mostly by fishermen before 1841. For a description of the temple see Charles J. H. Halcombe, The Mystic Flowery Land, London, Luzac and Co., 1896, ch. xxvii. The temple was run by a committee appointed by the Five Districts and the committee used to hold an annual ceremony at Mount Davis for the dead... in celebration of the gods of literature and war: see the Hongkong Government Gazette (henceforth cited as the Gazette), 12 February 1879, p. 52. The properties of the Man Mo Temple were transferred to the Tung Wah Hospital by the Man Mo Temple Ordinance, No. 10 of 1908. Before the committee of the Tung Wah Hospital was organized, the Man Mo Temple Committee appears to have been recognised as representing the opinions of respectable Chinese.\n\n9 J. W. Norton Kyshe, History of the Laws and Courts of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Noronha and Co., 1898, vol. 2, p. 86. See also the reports of the Registrar General for 1866 and 1867 in the Gazette.\n\n9 Ibid., p. 86.\n\n10 In 1867 the police force consisted of 89 Europeans, 377 Indians (chiefly Bombay sepoys) and 132 Chinese, many of whom were employed as marine police. See Eitel, op. cit., pp. 445-6.\n\nAs late as 1893 there were only two European policemen who could act as proper interpreters and only five who could speak some Chinese. See the Report of the Commission on the Po Leung Kuk, Hong Kong, Noronha and Co., 1893, p. 81.\n\n12 Correspondence on Hong Kong Gambling Houses, London, H.M.S.O., 1869, p. 21.\n\n13 Eitel, op. cit., p. 447.\n\n14 Gazette, 6 January 1872. The Police Commission set up by MacDonnell was not unanimous: broadly it agreed to recommend an Anglo-Chinese police force. The recruitment of Chinese police had been strongly advocated by Dr. Legge, as most likely to bring good understanding between the government and respectable Chinese', G. B. Endacott, History of Hong Kong, London, Oxford University Press, 1958, p. 160.\n\n13 Osbert Chadwick, Reports on the Sanitary Conditions of Hong Kong, London, H.M.S.O., 1882, p. 42.\n\n16 'Registration of Chinese Partners', Hong Kong Sessional Papers (henceforth cited as Sessional Papers), No. 43 of 1901, p. 22. The text reads: 'Head and District Watchmen employed to patrol the streets by day and by night, are to be recommended by the Chinese themselves, because they know whether they are trustworthy or not. If these men, however, should fail to maintain their good character and should be found to be unfit for the post by the Chinese residents of the district to which they belong, they should be dismissed at any time, in order that they may have something to fear'. The translation is clearly a bad one.\n\n17 In 1883, the Registrar General, Frederick Stewart, used the district watchmen to conduct an enquiry into all Hong Kong schools. In the 1897",
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        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g",
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    },
    {
        "id": 206552,
        "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-1972",
        "page_number": 100,
        "title": "RAS-1972",
        "content_text": "94\n\nE. G. PRYOR\n\nThe Governor was favourably inclined to the petition but at the same time wished to \"save face\" for his Surveyor General. He thus expressed the view that he \"... would be glad to learn that the memorialists could see their way to conforming to the essentially Chinese style of dwelling . . . and which, while economising space to the utmost, admits of a certain amount of light and ventilation through the small square spaces left at the back, called smoke holes.\"4\n\nIt is worth taking some note of the contents of the petitioners' statement, particularly in respect of the \"deep rooted\" living habits of the Chinese and the limited capacity of the tenants to pay rent as both these issues emerge in subsequent chapters of Hong Kong's history.\n\nBy 1876 the population of Hong Kong had increased to over 139,000 of whom 93.5% were Chinese. Steady growth occurred over the next five years so that by the time of the 1881 census 160,400 persons were resident in the Colony, representing an increase of 15.3%. It is relevant to note at this juncture that over the period under review (1841-1881) development was heavily concentrated along the western part of the northern coast of Hong Kong Island and that, in view of the steep terrain, a series of reclamations had to be formed to provide room for new urban growth (Figure 2). The expense and difficulty of creating building sites consequently placed a high premium on land and this, in turn, provided developers with a good reason to justify the fullest exploitation of their properties.\n\nThe Chadwick Report\n\nAfter some 40 years of growth and general neglect over both the enforcement of building and health regulations and the provision of sanitary services, the condition of the city by 1881 was extremely bad. The British Government therefore sought the services of a sanitary engineer, Osbert Chadwick, who presented a report in 1882 giving his assessment of the situation in Hong Kong. Chadwick's report provides some most interesting information which is worth considering in depth in view of events in subsequent years.\n\n4 Ibid., p. 372.\n\n5\n\n5 Chadwick O., Report on the Sanitary Condition of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1882.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt",
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    },
    {
        "id": 206556,
        "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-1972",
        "page_number": 104,
        "title": "RAS-1972",
        "content_text": "98\n\nE. G. PRYOR\n\nment should carry out improvements to existing properties financed from an improvement fund set up by contributions from the license fees on gambling houses; and that for buildings not capable of improvement the Government should acquire, demolish, rebuild and sell the properties concerned.\n\nChadwick's report was a landmark in the history of Hong Kong, and as with Dr. Ayres in 1873 he drew attention to the serious consequences that would arise if nothing were done to alleviate the bad sanitary condition of the Colony. On this point Chadwick reported that:\n\nIt is stated that, hitherto, Hong Kong has escaped the epidemics which have afflicted other places in the neighbourhood. The settlement is but 40 years old and the subsoil beneath the city may not yet be sufficiently saturated with filth to make it a hot bed for disease and a breeding ground of filth poison. It is somewhat premature to assume that this happy immunity will always continue for the process of saturation is slowly but surely going on and if unchecked cannot fail to bring forth abundant fruit, in the form of misery and disease.\n\nAnother twelve years elapsed before Chadwick's warning took the form he predicted.\n\nPrelude to Disaster 1882-1894\n\nChadwick's report prompted the government into action and, as a first step towards meeting the problem, a Sanitary Board was set up in 1883 under a draft Order and Health Amendment Ordinance which gave the Board wide powers to deal with insanitary houses, the inspection of premises, compulsory disinfection and the removal of persons who were a source of disease. However, strong opposition from property owners caused these provisions to be withdrawn although the Board remained in existence.\n\nFurther attempts were made in 1887 to introduce a Public Health Ordinance which, among other things, provided for the reservation of open spaces at the rear of buildings, the provision of privies and the fixing of a minimum standard of 300 cu. ft. of internal living space per adult. Great opposition against these proposals was voiced in the local press on the basis that the poorer classes would suffer\n\n8 Ibid., p. 22.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 206560,
        "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-1972",
        "page_number": 108,
        "title": "RAS-1972",
        "content_text": "102\n\nE. G. PRYOR\n\nthe Commission reported that \"there are many insanitary properties in the Colony, and dwellings which, in their present condition, are unfit for human habitation.\" The Commission came to the conclusion that it was unnecessary for the government to undertake widespread resumption but that it would be sufficient for various improvements to be carried out at the owners' expense. The principal improvements which were recommended were the provision of open spaces at the rear of premises and the prohibition of cubicles under certain conditions.\n\nIn the compilation of the Commission's report, the views of Dr. Ayres, the one-time Colonial Surgeon, were sought. He very observantly commented that:\n\nMany laws have been made in the 20 years previous to 1894 to remedy the insanitary state of the Colony, but most have remained dead letters owing to the difficulties of enforcing them and the prejudices of the Chinese especially and other sections of the community. The labours of Hercules in cleansing the Augean stables were a trifle compared with that the Government has to contend with in the near future in cleansing the City of Victoria and other inhabited portions of the Colony.14\n\nThe recommendations of the Commission were by and large incorporated in the Insanitary Properties Ordinance of 1899, the provisions of which, however, the then Director of Public Works regarded as a compromise designed to meet objections by the unofficial members of the Legislative Council and the propertied interests which they represented.15\n\nChadwick Returns and New Reforms\n\nDespite all the steps taken by the colonial government to come to grips with the problems created by the disorderly growth of the city, deep feelings of discontent were expressed by certain sections of the community against the inadequacy of the administration's efforts. In particular, the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce in 1901 went so far as to gather 1000 signatures for a petition to the Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies to set up a commission to investigate, report and make recommendations on the sanitary\n\n13 Ibid., p. 12.\n\n14 Ibid., Appendix 14, p. 52.\n\n15 Letter of 18th July 1901 to the Hon. J. Chamberlain, op. cit., p. 48.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt",
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    },
    {
        "id": 206561,
        "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-1972",
        "page_number": 109,
        "title": "RAS-1972",
        "content_text": "REVIEW OF HOUSING CONDITIONS IN HONG KONG\n\n103\n\ncondition of Hong Kong and to appoint an independent expert to advise the commission.\n\nAs a result, Chadwick, who so competently advised the government on the sanitary needs of Hong Kong in 1882, was given the task of reappraising the situation from an engineering point-of-view, and in 1902 he submitted his report. He concluded that the sewerage system had been constructed in accordance with the principles laid down in 1882 and that, on the whole, the system was working well. He also found that scavenging was efficiently carried out but that the storm water drainage system needed reprovisioning. As for insanitary buildings, he stated that the situation was worse than 20 years previous and recommended that extensive resumption and reconstruction be undertaken.\n\nIn his report Chadwick noted that:\n\n+ recommendations made from time to time during the past 20 years by the professional advisers of government have been practically set aside. The reason for this is simple. If the number of people which can be packed on a given plot of ground is reduced by limiting height and by reserving open spaces, obviously the value of that plot is reduced also. Now land is costly in Hong Kong, either it has to be excavated in the hillside or reclaimed from the sea. Naturally, the land owner desires to get the best rental for his land by crowding as many tenants upon it as possible. Consequently, during the past 20 years, numerous Buildings Ordinances have been brought before the Legislative Council, but in each case, many salutary provisions have been withdrawn or emasculated at the request of the unofficial members representing the landed interests.17\n\nThe principal legislative measure introduced after the submission of Chadwick's report was the consolidation and introduction of new building and health regulations in the form of the Public Health and Building Ordinance of 1903. Under this Ordinance the minimum standards of accommodation were set at 50 sq. ft. of habitable floor area and 550 cu. ft. of unobstructed internal air space per adult person provided that any room which did not contain a cubicle could be inhabited at 35 sq. ft. and 330 cu. ft. per person.\n\n16 Chadwick O., The Sanitary Condition of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1902.\n\n17 Ibid., p. 34.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt",
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    },
    {
        "id": 206563,
        "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-1972",
        "page_number": 111,
        "title": "RAS-1972",
        "content_text": "REVIEW OF HOUSING CONDITIONS IN HONG KONG\n\n105\n\nOn the question of the resumption and reconstruction of slum properties on the scale envisaged by Chadwick, the government was sympathetic to the idea but in view of the heavy commitments to other more urgent public works, it was not prepared to make a specific regular financial allocation for the purpose.\n\nThe difficulty and reluctance of enforcing the new building and health regulations plus the reluctance of government to undertake redevelopment on any effective scale compounded the housing problem of Hong Kong, the population of which had reached 457,000 persons by 1911, of whom 314,000 lived in the congested urban areas. Any intention of effective action in subsequent years was overcome by the Chinese Revolution in 1911, which brought an influx of refugees into the Colony, and also by the events which culminated in the Great War of 1914-1918.\n\nThe Inter-War Years: 1918-1940\n\nDespite the imposition of overseas trade barriers, the Colony quickly re-established itself as an entrepot port after the 1914-1918 War. With the resurgence of commercial activities, and therefore employment opportunities, the population increased rapidly, so that by 1921 over 625,000 persons were resident in Hong Kong. Of this total, over 347,000 lived on Hong Kong Island and some 123,000 resided in the rapidly developing Kowloon peninsula, where extensive reclamations had been carried out (Figure 2).\n\nThe question of providing adequate housing for the community again became a matter of some concern for the Government, and a commission was appointed to consider what measures were possible to increase the quantity and decrease the cost of residential accommodation in the Colony.19 The commission reported in 1923, and recommended that the government should undertake the development of extensive areas for building in the Kowloon peninsula. The removal of military establishments from Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, and the use of these sites for housing, was also put forward, together with the recommendation that communications to outlying areas should be extended and improved so as to open up new districts for development. Other suggestions made by the Commission included the provision of cheap loans and land to house builders.\n\n19 Report of the Housing Commission, Hong Kong, 1923.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt",
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    },
    {
        "id": 206586,
        "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-1972",
        "page_number": 134,
        "title": "RAS-1972",
        "content_text": "128\n\nReferences:\n\n1. Building Reconstruction Advisory Committee Final Report, Hong Kong, 1946.\n\n2. Chadwick O., Report on the Sanitary Condition of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1882.\n\n3. Chadwick O., The Sanitary Condition of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1902.\n\n4. Commissioner of Census Report on the Censuses of the Colony for 1901, 1911, 1921, 1931, 1961 and 1966.\n\n5. Commissioner of Rating & Valuation Property Review 1971, Hong Kong, 1972.\n\n6. Dwyer D. S. (ed) Asian Urbanisation: A Hong Kong Casebook, Hong Kong 1971.\n\n7. Hong Kong Government \"Annual Report of the Colonial Surgeon\", The Hong Kong Government Gazette, 4th April 1874.\n\n8. Hong Kong Government \"Chinese Houses\", The Hong Kong Government Gazette, 27th July 1878.\n\n9. Hong Kong Government Blue Book Reports on Sanitation and Housing, Hong Kong 1907.\n\n10. Hong Kong Government Report of the Commission to inquire into the existence of Insanitary Properties in the Colony, Hong Kong, 1898.\n\n11. Hong Kong Government Report of the Commission Appointed by his Excellency the Governor to Enquire into and Report on the Administration of the Sanitary and Building Regulations Enacted by the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance 1903 and the Existence of Corruption among the officials charged with the Administration of the Aforesaid Regulations, Hong Kong, 1907.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt",
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    },
    {
        "id": 207138,
        "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-1974",
        "page_number": 209,
        "title": "RAS-1974",
        "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES\n\n203\n\nAt this time the population of Ha Wan was 4861 (G.N. 21 of the Government gazette for 5th March 1859).\n\nObservation Point must be the Observation Place shown on the Map accompanying Mr. Chadwick's Report on the Sanitary Condition of Hong Kong, published by the Colonial Office in 1882. The map shows Ha Wan as District No. 6 and Wanchai as District No. 7. This indicates that Wanchai was taken from it at some date between 1857 and 1882. Observation Place is shown at p. 46 of the Index to the Streets, House Nos., and Lots in the Colony of Hong Kong, 1903, and may be identified with the lower end of the present Tin Lok Lane, near its junction with Hennessy Road, then seashore.\n\nWanchai was one of the first districts to be developed after the British Occupation of the Island in 1841. The Reverend Carl T. Smith has kindly provided an account of this development, based on his original researches into Hong Kong records. This is attached as a separate Note.\n\nThe Itinerary and Places of Interest\n\nThe party will follow a circuitous route among the back streets, steps and terraces of old Wanchai between Monmouth Path in the west and Stone Nullah Lane on the east.\n\nAmong the places of interest to be visited are several Chinese temples and shrines as follows:\n\n1) The Pak Kung Shrine at the side of No. 7, Star Street. This was established before the War, probably upwards of 70 years ago. The shrine is a To Tei Miu (±普普) or altar to the earth god. The main festival of the year falls on the 2nd day of the second lunar month when the management committee of local residents organises a religious and social celebration.\n\n2) Hung Shing Temple, Queen's Road East. This temple is one of the oldest of the area and may even have existed as a shrine before the British Occupation of the Island. According to Carl Smith there was a small settlement nearby which may have provided the body of regular worshippers, along with visiting boat people.\n\nThe present structure dates from Hsien Feng 10th year (1860-61), repaired in T’ung Chih 6th year (1867-68) when the persons responsible are listed as 'the whole body of devout Hong Kong believers'. These dates point to an earlier origin, and",
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    {
        "id": 209753,
        "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",
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        "document_key": "RAS-1983",
        "page_number": 12,
        "title": "RAS-1983",
        "content_text": "its street traders, and will continue working eastwards in preparation for the second book,\n\nOther activities\n\nApart from the more routine aspects of our work, this year has been a busy one for the Council in other respects. A number of new proposals took shape and have either produced results or show promise for the future. Perhaps the most successful has been a series of eight 15-minute talks on buildings of historical significance, broadcast on English Channel 4 of Radio Hong Kong in February and March 1984. The subjects included Government House, the Supreme Court, Flagstaff House (formerly the General's residence), the Bishop's House and St. Paul's College, together with a number of Chinese buildings, Sam Tung Uk Village, the Man Mo Temple in Hollywood Road, Tsang Tai Uk at Shatin and Tai Fu Tai at San Tin. With one exception, these talks were undertaken by Council members of the Society, and the fact that we were able to produce them upon request underlines the Council's combined expertise in this line. I should add that we received excellent support on the production side from Ms Tisa Ng, editor of the series and her staff. This venture has been taken a step further by a proposal to publish the talks in an expanded form with plenty of photographs, and the Hon. Editor has this in hand.\n\nWe have also been considering a monograph series of publications, reprinting with commentary basic interesting documents from the past, such as the 1899 Lockhart Report on the New Territories and the 1882 Chadwick report on the sanitary condition of Hong Kong. In this connection, we have hopes of entering into a project with Oxford University Press, Hong Kong, whereby we will produce a number of monographs for consideration with a view to yearly joint publications with the Press. Meantime the University Press has requested us to consider sending their annual catalogue of books on oriental studies, mostly on China and Hong Kong, to our members. On the basis of this expected cooperation, and in view of the OUP's prestige and impressive publication programme, we thought it sensible to agree to this proposal. It will benefit members, and all mailing costs are paid by the Press.\n\nxi",
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    {
        "id": 210712,
        "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": 63,
        "title": "RAS-1986",
        "content_text": "46\n\nHENRY THOMAS JACKMAN (1874-1928), ENGINEER, PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, HONG KONG\n\nSTEPHEN SELBY*\n\nH. T. Jackman came to Hong Kong in July 1903 to take up the post of executive engineer in the Public Works Department. Born in England on 4 June 1874, Jackman attended the Crystal Palace Engineering School in London from 1890 to 1893. He left the engineering school to take up three years' practical work on drainage and waterworks engineering with the firm of McLandsborough and Preston, where he was pupil and then assistant engineer. During that period, he was in charge of a new sewage works in Ripon. Following his indenture, he was appointed in 1897 as Assistant District Engineer for Sheffield, where he was responsible for electric tramways, drainage and highways works.\n\nThe early 1900's in Hong Kong were years of severe water shortage and sanitation problems. The total population of the territory stood at just over 300,000, about 94% of whom were Chinese. The first few years of the decade showed a particularly high death-rate from plague, although 1902 showed a slight drop. Severe damage was regularly caused by typhoons, particularly in 1900 and 1906: flash floods and strong winds brought down many of the poorly-constructed buildings in the “Chinese Quarter\" of the city, frequently killing or injuring the occupants. Shipping and small sampans on which whole families lived suffered huge losses.\n\nA report had been undertaken in 1882 by Osbert Chadwick on the sanitary condition in the Colony. The report resulted in the establishment of the Sanitary Board in 1883 amid some controversy over how far some of the report's more draconian recommendations should be implemented. The report was elaborated upon by Chadwick over the period from 1883 to 1903, and further recommendations were developed that works on sewerage, water supply and drainage should be put in hand forthwith.\n\n*Stephen Selby is an Administrative Officer in the Hong Kong Government and a member of the Society.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063",
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    },
    {
        "id": 213094,
        "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-1993",
        "page_number": 162,
        "title": "RAS-1993",
        "content_text": "143\n\nnewspapers were to recall that 'he was an exceedingly courteous and popular official and earned the respect of all with whom he was brought into contact' all except Lowson perhaps.\n\nJohn Jonathan Francis was first admitted as an attorney and solicitor in 1870 and called to the Bar in 1877. In 1887, he became the third barrister in Hong Kong to become a Queen's Counsel. He had served as a police magistrate and a puisne judge. For public service, he was once a captain in the Hong Kong Volunteers Corps, standing counsel for the Hong Kong College of Medicine when it was being established, and Chairman of the Permanent Committee of the Sanitary Board. There is an amusing and unflattering story about him told by Norton-Kyshe which gives us an insight into his character. He was presented with a silver ink-stand in 1895 in recognition of his services during the Epidemic but he returned it because he considered himself slighted by the treatment he received as compared with Mr. May who had been his colleague on the Committee.' May was awarded the CMG which Francis thought should also be given to him instead of a mere ink-stand.\n\nHowever, two other government officials, the Colonial Surgeon and the Captain Superintendent of Police, whose parts were of great importance, apparently escaped Lowson's wrath. Dr. Phineas Ayres held the office for twenty-four years, from 1872 to 1897, the longest ever in the history of the medical service. After he took up his post, he had been very critical of the sanitary conditions in the native quarters in his annual reports. Despite his warnings, it was almost ten years later than Osbert Chadwick was asked to conduct a survey. In his Report published in 1882, Chadwick made many recommendations to improve the conditions. Although a Sanitary Board was constituted to take action, still not much was done for another ten years until the Plague Epidemic burst upon the scene. Endacott wrote that Ayres criticised the Sanitary Board for its 'long, wordy, windy, desultory rambling discussions, ending in nothing being done' in 1895, the second year of the Epidemic. One can see why Lowson had some respect for him. Again quoting from Endacott, Robinson described Ayres as 'having a rather foolish manner, but he is in perfect possession of his senses', and acknowledged that 'he had warned the Colony continuously of the evil sanitary conditions.'\n\nMr. May won universal acclaim and admiration for the drive and energy he showed in carrying out his duties as head of the police force. Sayers",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1993.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302",
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    },
    {
        "id": 213504,
        "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-1995",
        "page_number": 100,
        "title": "RAS-1995",
        "content_text": "68\n\nsubdivided into a number of cubicles and sublet to a number of households or families. In the district, examples of over 25 people clustered into a living space of 600 square feet could be found easily. The great density and the serious overcrowding had become a matter of great concern. In 1890, an exhaustive report on the subject was submitted to the Government. However, no strong action was taken after that. In that report, an enumeration of the people of the district by the method of verbal inquiry, which could only be assumed as fairly accurate, had been made by the Chinese District Watchmen. A table (Table 2) has been drawn up to show the difference between the figures of the Overcrowding Report and that of the Census.\n\nThe question of insanitary conditions in Sai Ying Pun had also excited attention for a long time. The houses in the district were usually built back to back. The rooms were dark, damp, and badly ventilated. Very few houses had been cleaned or whitewashed inside since they were built. Latrines and dustbins seldom existed in those houses. A large proportion of the houses in the district had the old-fashioned drains which were built of bricks. As the old bricks rotted away, the sewers collapsed and blocked the pipes. Furthermore, a number of houses were converted or used as storage for grains and other goods. These contained an enormous number of rats and cockroaches. In 1881, the Government had decided to seek the service of a sanitary engineer, Osbert Chadwick, to advise as to the sanitary conditions of Hong Kong. A year later, he made a special report and proposed a number of sweeping changes, which included the provision of open spaces at the rear of buildings, of a window in every habitable room, and of 600 cu. ft. of unobstructed space for each adult in rooms divided into cabins, and the layout of roads and drains before the building lots were offered for sale. A Sanitary Board was set up in 1883, but it had only limited powers because of the stiff resistance from the Chinese as well as European property owners and the laissez-faire attitude of the government. The Public Health Ordinance of 1887, which, among other things, provided for the reservation of open spaces at the rear of buildings and the fixing of a minimum standard of 300 cu. ft. of internal living space per adult, and a clause in 1889 whereby mezzanine floors could only be constructed if provision were made for a vertical clearance of 5 ft. above and below, were also met with great opposition from the Chinese.\n\nThe insanitary conditions and the inevitable direct human contacts",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1995.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 213509,
        "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-1995",
        "page_number": 105,
        "title": "RAS-1995",
        "content_text": "REFERENCES\n\n73\n\nChadwick O) (1882)\n\nReport on the Sanitary Condition of Hong Kong, London\n\nEitel, E.\n\n(1895)\n\nEurope in China\n\nFortune, R (1847)\n\nThree Years' Wanderings in the Northern Provinces of China. London\n\nJanet, UHLG (1931-5)\n\nOld Hong Kong, Hong Kong\n\nLethbridge, C.H. ed. (1948)\n\nCentenary History of Hong Kong. Hong Kong\n\nLo, Hsiang Lin et al (1963)\n\nHong Kong and its External Communication before 1842, the History of Hong Kong prior to the British Arrival, Hong Kong\n\nLowson, J.A. (1895).\n\nMedical Report on the Epidemic of Bubonic Plague at Hong Kong in 1894. Hong Kong\n\nSayer, G.R. (1937)\n\nHong Kong Birth, Adolescence and Coming of Age, London\n\nSimpson, W.J. (1903)\n\nReport on the Causes and Continuance of Plague in Hong Kong and Suggestions as to Remedial Measures, Hong Kong\n\nTalbot, I.E.D. (1971)\n\n'An Outline of the Urban Development of Hong Kong Island During the Nineteenth Century' in Dwyer, D.J. (ed.) The Changing Face of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, P47-62\n\nPage 105\n\nPage 106",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1995.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 214382,
        "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-1998",
        "page_number": 240,
        "title": "RAS-1998",
        "content_text": "206 \n\nnot only recommended changes but tried to respect the sensibilities of the Chinese community. His hard-hitting report to the Colonial Office described how 'the dwellings of the Chinese working classes are inconvenient, filthy and unwholesome. Accumulations of filth occur in and around them, both above ground, and below ground, in the drains, especially in the latter.' In Chadwick's opinion it was unfair to condemn the Chinese as being 'a hopelessly filthy race till they have been provided with reasonable means for cleanliness. Furthermore, it was the Government's duty to see that these means were provided and applied. There was also 'the strongest necessity for inspection and supervision, especially whilst the new conditions are being introduced.' Chadwick had very definite opinions about the type of person who should perform these inspections. He noted that the existing sanitary staff, under the joint orders of the Colonial Surgeon and the Surveyor General, consisted of only one head and three sub-inspectors and, because these men were drawn from the same class as police sergeants, they commanded very little respect from the Chinese community. Additionally, their inability to speak Cantonese and the resulting reliance on interpreters caused frequent problems. Chadwick's solution was to introduce a post of Sanitary Officer under the control of the Registrar General. In Chadwick's view it was vital that this position was filled by a man who was not already engaged in other Government work and he considered an annual salary of £400-£500 to be appropriate.\n\nThere was another reason why the proposed Sanitary Officer should report to the Registrar General rather than either the Colonial Surgeon or the Surveyor General and that was the existence of the District Watch Force. Although Chadwick was well aware that the duties of the District Watchmen 'were connected with the preservation of order only,' he perceived the District Watch Force to be 'a powerful apparatus for enforcing sanitary law.' This would get around the problem of Chinese people objecting to foreigners entering their homes. He proposed that 'their powers should be extended to include cleanliness as well as order' and 'if necessary, their numbers might be increased, and an addition made by Government to their salary, which is now paid wholly by the people of the district.' In case any further justification was required, Chadwick also stated in his report that the idea of having the District Watchmen perform these duties 'was suggested to me by the Chinese.' He omitted to specify which particular Chinese made this suggestion. The notion that 'the Chinese' thought as one and had no individual\n\nPage 240\n\nPage 241",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 214383,
        "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-1998",
        "page_number": 241,
        "title": "RAS-1998",
        "content_text": "207\n\nideas prevailed for many years amongst even the more enlightened Europeans. Since Chadwick did not identify the Chinese inhabitants who approved of the plan, it is not possible to determine from his report whether the proposed changes in the District Watchmen's duties had the backing of the Chinese merchants who paid for their services. However, what is indisputable is that a Notification appeared in the Government Gazette on 21 April 1883 about the formation of a Sanitary Board. Chadwick's crusade for the inclusion of a dedicated Sanitary Officer was ignored and the Board comprised the Surveyor General, the Registrar General, the Colonial Surgeon and the Sanitary Inspector. The Notice stated that the Sanitary Board would be assisted by the following staff:\n\n1 Coloured Watchman for the Peak District;\n\n2 Head District Watchmen for Western;\n\n12 District Watchmen for Western;\n\n2 Head District Watchmen and 12 District Watchmen for Central District;\n\n2 Head District Watchmen and 12 District Watchmen for Eastern District.\n\nThis was the entire District Watch Force.\n\nLess than two months after the publication of this Notification, an Ordinance was enacted on 1 June 1883 entitled \"The Order and Cleanliness Amendment Ordinance, 1883\" (No. 7 of 1883). This allowed the Governor 'to constitute a permanent Sanitary Board to exercise supervision and control over all matters connected with sanitation in the Colony.' Whilst the District Watchmen were not mentioned by name, the ordinance stated that the Governor could, from time to time, appoint and remove 'such officers as the Board may require for the purpose of carrying out the duties of the Board and the laws relating to sanitation.' Ten days later the 'Instructions' to the various groups of people involved in the 'Maintenance of Order and Cleanliness' were published in the Government Gazette. The Instructions to the Se-\n\n13\n\nof",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794",
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    },
    {
        "id": 214386,
        "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-1998",
        "page_number": 244,
        "title": "RAS-1998",
        "content_text": "210 \n\nincrease in offences of a less serious nature was reported in 1884. Yet another possible reason for the brief presence of the District Watchmen as sanitary workers may be found in Chadwick's own words since he stated that the need for proper checking was most important 'whilst the new conditions are being introduced.' \n\nIn light of the foregoing it is interesting to note that in October 1885 a short Rule appeared in the Government Gazette relating to the transfer of District Watchmen. This was a Rule, made by the Registrar General under Section 14 of Ordinance 7 of 1866, whereby 'The Registrar General shall be empowered to transfer the Watchmen of the various Districts including the Chief Watchmen, from time to time as may seem to him expedient.' It is unclear from the wording of the rule whether this transfer referred merely to the movement of District Watchmen from one location to another or whether it legitimized the transfer of the Watchmen from one kind of duty to another. If the latter, this may have been intended to refer to the transfer of the District Watchmen from security work to sanitary duties. If this was the intention it is peculiar that the timing of the publication of this Rule coincided with the end rather than the beginning of the District Watchmen's involvement in sanitary duties. \n\nPerhaps the reason for their removal from sanitary duties was not recorded and what is most important in the context of this study is that it was a successful, if short lived, attempt to transfer a group of people from the private sector to the public domain and change their working conditions in a major way. We have seen that the District Watch Force was created for a very specific reason, namely to provide proper protection for a particular ethnic group within Hong Kong society which was not being served by the public police. Since official enquiries into the efficiency of the Hong Kong Police Force had confirmed the latter's shortcomings in 1872, there can be little doubt that in the early 1880s a need still existed for the District Watch Force as a security force. Additionally, the Chinese business folks almost certainly still preferred having their own people patrolling their streets rather than members of the Police Force. Perhaps in 1883 the merchants employing the District Watchmen were neither strong enough nor motivated enough to refuse to co-operate in Chadwick's scheme. After all the District Watch Committee was not formed until nearly a decade after Chadwick's report was published and thus the power exerted by this Committee in",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 214397,
        "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-1998",
        "page_number": 255,
        "title": "RAS-1998",
        "content_text": "221\n\nthe 1866 Ordinance allowed them. The non-confrontational attitude identified in the pre-1920 Chinese merchant class by Ku Hung-ting,1 coupled with a pragmatic belief that half a bowl of rice is better than none, could also explain why the merchants were prepared to go along with the Government's decision. Whilst they would have preferred to have complete control over their security force and did not relish having their businesses scrutinized more than was already the case, a limited degree of control was preferable to none.\n\nThe 'hijacking' of the whole of the District Watch Force for three years 1883-85 to work on non-security sanitary duties following Osbert Chadwick's Sanitary Report has been discussed at length and this change in direction of the Force need only be mentioned again to emphasize the point that, whilst the Chinese merchants may have been paying for this Watch Force, the latter's duties could be, and were, decided by the colonial authorities. The fact that the Chinese merchants continued to fund this scheme during these years whilst the Government contributed a mere $1 per person per month illustrates the lack of a level playing field in this particular game between the colonial power and the local community. Although it is possible that some Chinese people in Hong Kong may have wanted improvements in their sanitary conditions, it is by no means certain that this number would have been substantial. Even if some Chinese residents placed great store on improved sanitary conditions, it is unlikely that the local merchants would have wanted this to be done at their expense particularly if this sanitary work stopped their security force from performing their duties.\n\nThe years following the creation of the District Watch Force showed how certain ultra-conservative factions within the European community would have preferred the District Watch Force to disappear or, failing that, at least be merged with the regular police. That this did not occur is a testament not only to the Chinese merchants who stood their ground but also to some of the first young Cadet officers who were more open-minded than their less enlightened colleagues. With the introduction of the 1888 ‘Registration of the Chinese Ordinance,' the establishment of the District Watch Committee in 1890-91 and the appointment of the Captain Superintendent of Police as a member of the District Watch Committee in 1894, Government influence became even more effective and continued to grow during the twentieth century. Furthermore, the addition of duties such as the house-to-house checks\n\nPage 255\n\nPage 256",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt",
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    }
]