[ { "id": 213700, "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-1996", "page_number": 53, "title": "RAS-1996", "content_text": "24\n\nIt must be stressed that the figures as given in Tables 7 and 8 are very approximate. They probably under-estimate the numbers of deaths of very young infants. They are likely, therefore, to be conservative: the average age of death, shown on Tables 7 and 8 as 22/24, may well, in fact, have been as low as 18/20. It can, however, be accepted that the average age of death is unlikely to have been higher than 22/24.\n\nClearly these figures, because of the serious under-reporting of very young children, cannot be used to provide detailed statistics of infant mortality in the New Territories. They do, however, show that about a fifth at least of all children died before reaching school age, and that about half of all children died before reaching marriageable age. They demonstrate that infant mortality was a major social factor, and permit debate only on the detail of incidence.\n\nIt is worth noting some points disclosed by Tables 3-6. Table 5 shows a slight upturn in the population recorded in 1911 for both males and females at ages 60-65; this is clearly a reaction to those elderly villagers who claimed they were \"more than one cycle old,\" and who were consequently all entered as 61 years old. In 1921 this unthinking reaction was not followed: actual ages were identified and entered.\n\nBecause of the loss of Tsuen Wan district to Southern District, the 1921 figures for Northern District should have been very slightly lower than those for 1911. This is the case for both males and females older than about 50. Since it is this elderly section of the population which is the most sedentary, these figures are likely to be accurate. However, between the ages of 35 and 50, for both males and females, the 1921 records show higher populations for Northern District than in 1911. This can probably be ascribed in part to villagers being caught by the census when returning to worship at their ancestral graves during the Ching Ming Festival, as postulated by the 1921 Census officer, and in part to greater efforts being made in 1921 to capture the boat people. In addition, political troubles in the border area of China had caused large numbers of refugees to cross over into the New Territories in 1920. While most of these refugees had returned to China at the end of 1920, it is likely that some remained in the New Territories, to be caught by the enumerators in Northern District in 1921.\n\n57\n\nBetween the ages of 20 and 35, the 1911 figures for the Northern District are higher than the 1921 figures, as expected, but the very", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1996.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213725, "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-1996", "page_number": 78, "title": "RAS-1996", "content_text": "49\n\nare totally illiterate.\"\n\nThe four school censuses say little about the education of girls, except that it was rare. However, the 1921 School Census did record that only 145 girls were full-time students at that date, which is only a little better than the 51 noted in the 1911 Census, despite the foundation of three girls' schools, and one fully co-educational school between 1911 and 1921 in the New Territories.\n\nThe question of the degree of literacy of males in traditional Chinese society is one of considerable debate. The evidence of the 1911, 1921, and 1931 Censuses, and the 1902-1921 School Censuses in the New Territories should not be ignored in this debate. They show unequivocally that the villagers believed that between 55 and 66% of the adult men of the villages were literate, and that about a quarter or a third of the male children aged 5-15 were at school at any time. There seems no good reason not to take this evidence at face value.\n\nOccupation\n\nBoth the 1911 and the 1921 Census include tables of \"Occupations\". Both sets of records are difficult to use, although the figures in the 1911 Census are better. In 1921, in fact, the census officer apologised for the poor quality of the \"Occupation\" statistics. In 1911, the occupation of 22,770 males and 14,386 females in the Northern District are recorded. This probably represents all those who claimed to have an occupation, and omitted infants, the elderly, and those women who claimed only to be housewives. Occupations are recorded for a male population approximately equivalent to all males aged over 15. In 1921, however, occupations were recorded for 34,753 males, against a total male population of 37,287. It must be assumed that persons with more than one occupation (e.g., a farmer and a carpenter, both part-time) were entered under each occupation in 1921. \"Student\" is not given as an occupation in 1921.\n\nIn both 1911 and 1921 the occupation figures for Southern District include the New Kowloon populations, although a separate \"Occupations\" table is included for the Southern District floating population in 1921. In 1981 it is unclear if the islands boat people", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1996.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214442, "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": 300, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "267\n\ntroops in quarantine. These were built from a framework of bamboo poles lashed together, with walls and roofs of palm leaves and woven rush mats. Similar structures can still be seen today on vacant lots erected at times of Chinese festivals for Cantonese opera performances. The only difference is that today zinc sheeting is used instead of matting. The matsheds were not popular with the troops as mosquitos and other insect life infested the sheds. During typhoons or heavy rains the sheds were liable to collapse and leave the troops exposed to the weather. The building of proper barracks was therefore imperative for the health of the troops.\n\nThe first permanent buildings at Gun Club Hill were constructed in 1903-4 for infantry but were soon afterwards occupied by the Asiatic Artillery which was originally made up of Sikh and Punjabi Mussulman Companies known as Gun Lascars. They became the Hong Kong Asiatic Artillery in 1891 and the Hong Kong-Singapore Battalion Royal Artillery in 1898. In 1905 four companies were housed in the newly completed barrack blocks flanking the parade ground. According to PRO records construction was \"brick and granite and best Manilla Hardwood; outer walls of Amoy Brick and inner walls of Canton Brick.\" By 1909 other buildings had been built and a layout of the barracks at this time shows an Infants' School, Followers' Hut, Sikh/Mohammedan Cookhouse, NCOs' Quarters, Guard House, Sergeants' Mess, Officers' Mess, and a small Medical Centre.\n\nMost of these buildings have now been replaced with more modern buildings, but two of the original barrack blocks facing the Parade Ground still exist, together with the Medical Centre and the Officers' Mess although somewhat changed in appearance. Photographic evidence in the Public Records Office shows that the buildings were brick-built two-storey colonial style blocks with pitched Chinese tiled roofs and balustraded 'Venetian' verandahs. The Officers' Mess seems to have undergone an external facelift in the 1930s with an annex added on to the south elevation facing the Chatham Road entrance. The barrack blocks and Medical Centre were remodelled and altered in the 1960s but retain much of their original colonial style.\n\nThe Medical Centre, formerly the Soldiers' Canteen, numbered Block 11, is a single storey rectangular white painted brick-built block with an eight bay front verandah with a flight of steps at each end\n\nPage 300\n\nPage 301", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214450, "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": 308, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "27\n\nGun Club Hill Barracks, Old Infants' School Demolished 1977 (Author's collection)\n\n275", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214454, "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": 312, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "279\n\n1970\n\n1971\n\n1973\n\n1974\n\n1977\n\n1978\n\n1986\n\n1989\n\n1994\n\n1995\n\n1997\n\n1st Bttn. The Royal Welch Fusiliers at Gun Club.\n\nDeath of \"Billy\" Regimental Goat on 8 June. Buried behind Church. (The \"gravestone\" was salvaged, prior to excavation work for the new PLA Hospital, & removed to ASD Property Services Branch Antiquities Store at APB Centre in Cheung Sha Wan. No remains of \"Billy\" were found.)\n\n1st Bttn. The Black Watch at Gun Club.\n\n1st Bttn. The Royal Hampshire Regt. at Gun Club,\n\nAlanbrooke Block (British MQs) & Infants' School (Block 27) demolished. New Gurkha MQs, Temple, Clinic & School build started. 10 Int & Sec Coy moved into Colony Club (Block 36) from Argyle Street Camp.\n\nGurkha Transport Regt. & Gurkha Signals moved into Gun Club from Shamshuipo Camp. Victoria Junior School moved over from Victoria Barracks.\n\nNew Classroom built at Gun Club Primary School. Skeleton said to date from Japanese occupation unearthed during excavations.\n\nSevere flooding on May 2 to MT compound causing considerable damage to vehicles, buildings and equipment. Compound again flooded on May 20 during Typhoon Brenda.\n\nColony Club (Block 36), St. Eligius' Church, and the old gun shed (Block 29) demolished to make way for the new military hospital. Banyan trees transplanted to elsewhere in the barracks also to the new Kowloon Walled City Park.\n\nBarracks vacated by the British Army and handed over to Hong Kong Government.\n\nBarracks occupied by People's Liberation Army following handover of Hong Kong to China.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 } ]