[
    {
        "id": 205520,
        "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": 62,
        "title": "RAS-1968",
        "content_text": "NOTES ON HONG KONG LIBRARIES\n\n57\n\n12th, 1852. This records a rearrangement of the books, and since “proper classification was out of the question” they were arranged according to size, so as to give a uniformity of appearance. A printed catalogue was produced under the direction of Mr. W. F. Bevan, assisted by Mr. A. Dixson; the latter was Secretary of the Library for the year reported, and was re-elected for 1852-53. There is no record of the total number of books, but during the year 75 titles in 133 volumes were added; the number of members rose from 63 to 66—against 19 new members, 10 had left the Colony, 1 died, and 5 withdrawn. The annual accounts3 balanced at $1,755.02, and the cash in hand at the end of the year was $37.11. The largest item of expenditure was \"Books, periodicals, and newspapers from England, $675.83.\" This did not include carriage, since it is stated that the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. kindly conveyed the monthly parcels free of charge. Rent of premises accounted for $355.00.\n\nThere had apparently been some criticism of the inaccessibility of the premises. Their exact location has not been ascertained, but an advertisement of 1852 gives Queen's Road as the address, whereas another in 1867 gives Wyndham Street. Whether the change was made in 1852 is not clear, but the proposed new premises would, according to the Committee's report, cost an additional $120 p.a. for rent. A search for subsequent annual reports should throw further light on this question of location. It would also be interesting if a copy of the printed catalogue of 1852 could be found.\n\nAlso in 1852, Dixson's Hongkong Recorder contains at least three advertisements relating to the Victoria Library. The first gives notice of a meeting of the committee to be held at 8 p.m. on 21st June, for the purpose of \"the selection of Books to be ordered by the next mail.\" The advertisement goes on to say that the monthly package by the last mail, which had been mislaid on board the P. & O. Co.'s receiving ship, had since been found, and as well as the usual magazines, certain books had arrived, including Gutzlaff's Life of Taou-kwang. It seems that there were at this time quite frequent purchases of books, since another notice in the Hongkong Recorder of 9th July announced the arrival of a further consignment, which included Davis's China during the War and since the Peace and Fortune's Tea Districts of China and India.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1968.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 216149,
        "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-2002",
        "page_number": 448,
        "title": "RAS-2002",
        "content_text": "382\n\ncoastal trading. He offered cheap fares to Chinese workers to encourage them to engage with Hong Kong. In this he was hoist with his own petard as some of the imported bandits crawled up the storm drains and burrowed into his clock and jewellery business premises, removing many valuables. He ultimately left a line of eight coastal steamers to be managed by his nephew and great-nephew.\n\nIn short, Lapraik became a wealthy merchant prince, building a castellated residence for himself and his company; he was a respected civic dignitary and benefactor, but not without his detractors. Memorials to his achievements included the presentation of a civic clock for the clock tower at Pedder Street and Queens Road, but the tower itself was demolished in 1913 and the clock itself has been lost. Much later, his nephews had an elaborate stained-glass window installed in St John's Cathedral and dedicated to his memory; it was regrettably destroyed during the WW2 occupation and few substantial records remain.\n\nAt the relatively youthful age of 48 he retired and returned to England, leaving his nephews to run the shipping business and Mr Falconer, a one-time employee, inherited the clock and jewellery enterprise. That same year he married a lady from the Isle of Wight, having settled a trust for his Chinese concubine before leaving Hong Kong. Sadly, he died a few years later of a malignancy at the age of 51, but with a smile on his face, it is said.\n\nOne of the beneficiaries of his will was a Douglas Dixson, the son of a late colleague who was a newspaper proprietor in Hong Kong and we discover circumstantially that the lady who previously owned my clock had documented connections with that particular family. So, who knows, with such slender conjecture, I may have the master's own clock.\n\nThis is but a thumbnail sketch of the life of an extraordinary man, stitched together from information provided by very many kind people both here in the UK and in Hong Kong. In the interim, I should like to thank in particular Mr Philip Kemp, related to Lapraik through marriage; Dr Dan Waters and Dr Solomon Bard of Hong Kong; and Bernard Hui of the Hong Kong Public Records Office, who made available to me some archival record cards compiled by the Reverend Carl Smith. My searches are not complete and I shall be ever grateful to receive any further anecdotal recollections about Lapraik and particularly about his clocks.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278",
        "rank": 0
    }
]