[ { "id": 204646, "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-1963", "page_number": 127, "title": "RAS-1963", "content_text": "114 \n\nA. D. BLUE \n\nwith Howqua, the great Canton hong merchant, until 1861 and were also associated with Baring Brothers, the London bankers, shows that the Shanghai Steam Navigation Company was far from being a purely American concern. The initiative in its formation and its success, however, was almost entirely due to the determination and ability of the Shanghai heads of Russell and Company, and in particular to Edward Cunningham, the firm's managing partner in Shanghai in the vital years of 1862, 63, and '64.\n\nBecause of American influence in the early days, and the similarity between navigational problems on the Mississippi and on the Yangtse, the luxurious river steamers which plied on the Lower and Middle Yangtse during the heyday of foreign trade were very similar to the Mississippi steamers of Mark Twain's day. They had the same tall, narrow funnel, and the long promenade deck extending almost the whole length of the ship, which Hollywood has made so familiar. At the forward end of this deck was the dining saloon, and at the after end the lounge. Both of these were elegantly, and even ornately furnished, the entrance to the lounge being flanked with potted shrubs leading to a wide stairway down to the lower deck. The best cabins were on the promenade deck. Unfortunately no one with Mark Twain's genius has written a ‘Life on the Yangtse' to match his Life on the Mississippi, an omission now very unlikely to be repaired.\n\nIn his journey up the Yangtse and overland to Burma in 1874, which was to end in his tragic murder, A. R. Margary travelled from Shanghai to Hankow by the Shanghai Steam Navigation Company's Hirado.\" Margary described his cabin as large and airy, and the Hirado as a wonderful structure and not like a ship at all. She had a tall narrow funnel in front of each paddle box, tier upon tier of cabins built on the smallest possible hull, and the general appearance of a gaudy palace of pleasure full of windows and terraces floating upon the water. Margary continued by mandarin boat10 to Yochow, and then across the Tungting Lake and by the Yuan River to the border of Kweichow, and then completed his\n\n10\n\n\"The Hirado was one of the largest steamers on the river at this time, being of 1,294 gross tons. She had been built in America for Dent and Company in 1866, and sold by them to the Shanghai Steam Navigation Company in 1867.\n\n10 A long, narrow junk divided into 5 or 6 compartments.\n\n1", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1963.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207160, "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": 231, "title": "RAS-1974", "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES \n\n225 \n\nand half-caste parentage, and to board, clothe and instruct them with a view to industrial life and the Christian faith according to the Church of England'. (Resolutions of Jan. 18, 1870) \n\nAfter the reorganisation, the Committee came under male domination; local firms were liberal supporters. Some members of Jardine, Matheson and Company were on the Committee from 1869 to 1901, William Keswick serving the longest from 1869 to 1888, except for his absences from the Colony. Sir Catchick Paul Chater served from 1874 to 1925. \n\nThe school was particularly useful in meeting the educational needs of the increasing Eurasian element in Hong Kong and the China Coast. It educated many of the future leading members of these communities. In 1869, it was decided not to admit any more girls as boarders, though they could continue as day students. In 1892, the girls then in attendance were transferred to a Boarding School 'Fairlea' conducted by Miss Margaret Johnstone. \n\nBefore occupying a building especially erected for the school on a lot on Bonham Road at Eastern Street in 1863, the school had been at the Albany, a building loaned to them by the Government. The Bonham Road building was enlarged and improved over the years. In time, however, it became inadequate for the needs of the school, especially as a growing emphasis on the role of sports in the life of the school was frustrated by a lack of proper playing fields. In 1917, a definite decision was made that a new site be secured. The firm of Messrs. Little, Adams and Wood drew up plans for a new school in 1920, but negotiations with the Government for a site were not completed until 1923. Site formation began in 1924. The general strike of 1925 and the resulting financial recession slowed down the construction and necessitated the elimination of certain parts of the original plans. An imposing tower, a feature of the original plan, was never erected. \n\nThe buildings were occupied in 1926, but in 1927, the school somewhat reluctantly released the premises to the Army for a hospital for the Shanghai Defence Force. The school took up temporary quarters in a recently built block of buildings on Nathan Road near Prince Edward Road. In January 1928, the premises were returned to the school. The school faced another crisis in 1932 when suggestions were made that the Government resume the property in default of payments on the debt the School owed and", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208000, "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-1977", "page_number": 39, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "BRUNEI: A HISTORICAL RELIC\n\n23\n\nSpaniards. She worried about the presence of France in Indochina on the opposite side of the South China Sea at mid-century; and later on she suspected imperial Germany of coveting northern Borneo and the Philippines.\n\nThe British sphere was initiated by the private efforts of an English adventurer, James Brooke, a former officer in the Bengal Army. In 1840, he helped bring an end to an insurrection in the Sarawak River, in the southern-most area under the nominal rule of the Sultan of Brunei, and was rewarded by being granted the province. In 1845 Brooke was appointed diplomatic agent to Brunei and supervised the transfer of the island of Labuan to Britain as a colony and a naval station. He also, in 1847, negotiated a consular treaty with the Sultan which effectively gave to Britain control over Brunei's foreign relations. The colony of Labuan languished but the quasi-protectorate over Brunei served as the de facto and legal base for Britain's sphere of influence in Borneo. Such a sphere was proclaimed in 1868 as a warning to all European nations to keep out.\n\nThe real carving-up of the carcass of Brunei began in earnest in 1878 with the founding of another private venture, that of a syndicate of City of London businessmen which later became the British North Borneo (Chartered) Company. The syndicate was under the control of Dent Brothers Company. Alfred and Edward Dent were sons of the owner of the former Hong Kong firm of Dent and Company. Raja Brooke had annexed, by treaty with the Sultan, additional chunks of territory before 1878. In 1853 he purchased northward to and including the large district of the Rajang River. And in 1861 he purchased the five so-called “sago rivers” as far north as Kidurong Point. When that point was reached, the Governor of Labuan objected to any further northward encroachment of Sarawak and Labuan's wishes were supported by Britain.\n\nWhen, however, the British North Borneo Company purchased the large area of Sabah, the whole of the island of Borneo to the northward of Brunei Town, with strong support from the Foreign Office, both Raja Brooke and the Colonial Office protested. It is interesting to note that the permanent undersecretary at the Foreign Office who midwifed the company charter through officialdom in Whitehall was Julian Pauncefote, who was a former attorney-general.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209427, "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-1982", "page_number": 84, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "62\n\nJ. H. HAAN\n\nAPPENDIX\n\nMUNICIPAL COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP 1849-1865\n\nNote: Dates after the term of office refer to the Public Meeting at which the Municipal Council was elected.\n\n \n Members\n Firm\n Nationality\n \n \n \n Russell & Co. Rathbones\n American\nBritish\n \n \n 1851 (June)\n \n \n \n \n \n MacVicar & Co.\nJ. M. Smith & Co.\nWetmore & Co.\n American\nBritish\nAmerican\n \n \n 1849 (March) — 1850 (August)\n(10.3.1849)\n \n \n \n \n John N. Alsop Griswold\nThomas Moncreiff\n \n \n \n \n 1850 (August)\n(2.8.1850)\n \n \n \n \n Hector C. R. MacDuff\nJ. Mackrill Smith\nOliver Everett Roberts\n \n \n \n \n 1851 (June) — 1852 (May)\n(14.6.1851)\n \n \n \n \n Edward Langley Clement\nD. Nye\nWilliam Seton Brown\n Oriental Bank\nBull, Nye & Co. Rathbones\n British\nAmerican\nBritish\n \n \n 1852 (May) — 1853 (July)\n(25.5.1852)\n \n \n \n \n William Hogg\nEdward Cunningham (Chairman)\n Russell & Co.\n American\n \n \n \n Lindsay & Co.\nBlenkin, Rawson & Co.\n British\nBritish\n \n \n William Kay\n \n \n \n \n 1853 (July) — 1854 (July)\n(21.7.1853)\n \n \n \n \n William Shephard Wetmore\n Wetmore & Co.\n American\n \n \n \n Shaw, Bland & Co.\n British?\n \n \n (Chairman)\nJohn Hammond Winch\nJ. Caldecott Smith\n \n \n \n \n 1854 (July) — 1855 (March)\n(11.7.1854)\n \n \n \n \n William Seton Brown (Chairman) x\nDavid O. King (Treasurer) x\nEdward Cunningham\nCharles A. Fearon\nWilliam Kay\nDr. Walter Henry Medhurst x\nJohn Skinner\n Dent, Beale & Co.\nBirley, Worthington & Co.\nKing & Co.\nRussell & Co.\nAug. Heard & Co.\nBlenkin, Rawson & Co.\nLondon Missionary Society\nGibb, Livingston & Co.\n British\nBritish\n?\nAmerican\nAmerican\nBritish\nBritish\nBritish\n \n\nNote: In March 1855 only those members marked \"x\" were still in office,\nplus: H.C.R. MacDuff,", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210262, "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-1984", "page_number": 233, "title": "RAS-1984", "content_text": "212\n\nJ.H. HAAN\n\nCRYDER, William Wetmore 1858-1859, 1859-1860\n\nJunior partner in Wetmore & Co.;23 from May 25, 1857 partner in Wetmore, Williams & Co.24\n\nCUNNINGHAM, Edward 1852-1853, 1854-1855\n\nBorn 1823, died 1889.\n\nMercantile assistant Russell & Co. 1845-1849; partner 1850-1857, 1861-1863 and 1867-1877;25 part of 1849 and in 1850 he stayed in Canton,26\n\nUnited States Consul 1851-1854; Consul for Sweden and Norway 1853-1864.27\n\nMember Recreation Ground Committee 1861;28 trustee British Episcopal Church 1863;29 member of the NCBRAS, as resident until 1870,30 as non-resident until 1877,31\n\nMember Committees I, III, IV, VI and VII.\n\nApart from his political functions, Cunningham's philanthropic attitude was praised from several sides. Cordier called him \"one of the most public-spirited men Shanghai has ever known\"32 and S.W. Williams dedicated the fifth edition of his \"Commercial Guide\" to \"Edward Cunningham Esq. of Shanghai (...) as a mark of respect for his character as a philanthropist and merchant (...)\".\n\nAt the time of his return to the United States he took with him a large bell which is now in the possession of the Museum of the American China Trade, Milton.33\n\nLater a street was named after him (Cunningham Road). Portraits. Author.34\n\n315\n\nDENT, Henry 1863-1864, 1864-1865\n\nPartner in Dent & Co. from July 1, 1860.36\n\nConsul for Portugal 1863-1865.37\n\nMember of the Commission Provisoire that ran the French Concession 1865-1866.38\n\nTrustee British Episcopal Church 1863, treasurer Recreation Fund 1863-1865;40 trustee Chinese Hospital 1865.41\n\nTreasurer NCBRAS 1864,42\n\nMember Committees IV and IX.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1984.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 216104, "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": 403, "title": "RAS-2002", "content_text": "337\n\nMeters, flyovers and service charges\n\nIt was not until 1962 that Hong Kong had its first parking meters and at about the same time service charges were first levied in restaurants. Also at this time, in spite of high immigration figures, unemployment consistently stood at well below two per cent. Inflation was negligible. The Territory saw its first flyover, outside Saint Teresa's Church on Prince Edward Road in Kowloon, in 1963.\n\n‘One damn thing after another'\n\nIn the early 1960s, we are referring to a time when something like 30 million inhabitants died of starvation on the Chinese Mainland. This was as a result of the failure of the 'Great Leap Forward.' There were long queues in Hong Kong post offices sending food parcels to relatives in China. All in all, the 1960s was a challenging decade and, as one government servant phrased it, 'It was one damn thing after another.' But the Territory was a great survivor and frequently managed to come back stronger than ever.\n\nTyphoons\n\nWhen I first arrived in Hong Kong my boss told me there is a bad typhoon every seven years. In fact, there is no set pattern if you check as I have. An estimated 11,000 people died in the 1937 typhoon, more than the 8,750 total Allied forces, Japanese and Chinese estimated to have been killed when the Japanese attacked Hong Kong in December 1941. There was an inadequate typhoon warning system in those days. Up until the 1930s a gun was fired from Blackhead Point, in Kowloon, either when a typhoon was approaching or when the mail ship arrived. Not infrequently, the two events were confused.\n\nTyphoon Wanda, in 1962, is sometimes remembered as the last typhoon from which bitter lessons were learned on how to batten down. It coincided with a high tide, with an 11-foot rise in water level and a storm surge that caused bad flooding. This happened right up to Tsang Tai Uk (the big house of the Tsang family), the fine, Hakka walled village at the end of Sha Tin Hoi (Sea). This Hoi has long since been reclaimed. With Wanda, something like 2,000 ships and small craft were sunk or damaged. There were 130 deaths. With gusts of 164 mph", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278", "rank": 0 } ]