[ { "id": 208496, "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-1978", "page_number": 220, "title": "RAS-1978", "content_text": "204\n\nNOTES AND QUERIES\n\nlict until demolition commenced in November 1953 and a block of government flats was erected. This more modern and far less attractive building was originally to be known as \"Marble Hall Flats\" but is now called Chater Hall. What seems to be some of the brickwork associated with Sir Paul Chater's home can still be seen near the site.\n\nHong Kong, June 1979\n\nA Note on Sources\n\nPETER WESLEY-SMITH\n\nThe photographs were contained in the Governor's despatch to the Colonial Office written when the gift of Marble Hall to the Hong Kong Government seemed to be about to take effect. See Clementi to Amery, No. 475, 23 Nov. 1926: C.O.129/498. Also included with the despatch were extensive plans of the house and a description provided by the Public Works Department, Hong Kong. Short biographical notices of Sir Paul Chater appear in Arnold Wright (ed.), Twentieth Century Impressions of Hong Kong, Shanghai etc. (London: Lloyd's Greater Britain Publishing Co., Ltd., 1908), pp. 107-8 (there is a photograph of Marble Hall at p. 156) and W. Feldwick (ed.), Present Day Impressions of the Far East etc. (London: The Globe Encyclopedia Co., 1917), pp. 518-20. See also Nigel Cameron's brief history of The Hong Kong Land Company Ltd., published in 1979. Further (though scanty) information can be discovered in the various reported cases on Chater's much-litigated will; see (1927) 22 H.K.L.R. 80; (1927) 22 H.K.L.R. 89; (1930) 24 H.K.L.R. 43; (1936) 28 H.K.L.R. 1; (1937) 157 T.L.R. 376 (on appeal to the Privy Council); (1949) 33 H.K.L.R. 283. Chater was authorised to embark on pier and wharf schemes by ordinances Nos. 4 and 19 of 1884. After his death, the Chater Masonic Scholarship Fund Ordinance (No. 25 of 1929, now cap. 1007, L.H.K. 1975 ed.) was passed. His collection of pictures is catalogued in James Orange, The Chater Collection: Pictures Relating to China, Hong Kong, Macao, 1655-1860 (London: Thornton Butterworth Ltd., 1924).\n\nI am much indebted to Mr. J. F. G. Marshall, of the Public Works Department, Hong Kong, for information he painstakingly gathered several years ago on the postwar history of Marble Hall. Hong Kong, September, 1979\n\nPETER WESLEY-SMITH", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1978.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211494, "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-1988", "page_number": 210, "title": "RAS-1988", "content_text": "186\n\ncollection of books, and also a repository of natural and scientific productions. In the Library, every valuable book extant in Chinese, and every foreign publication regarding China and its inhabitants, should have its appropriate place...3\n\nMeetings followed at monthly intervals at which addresses were given on various aspects of Chinese history and culture by members of the local foreign community. Membership increased gradually and soon included many individuals whose names are remembered today as important figures in nineteenth century Chinese affairs, including Sir Robert Hart, Dr. S. Wells Williams, W. H. Medhurst, and Alexander Wylie. On July 20, 1858, the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland approved their request for affiliation. That same year the Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society began its ninety-year publication span.4\n\nHowever, Rev. Bridgman's health soon failed and he passed away in Shanghai in 1861. The society lost its momentum and passed through what one writer described later as a \"period of suspended animation\". It regrouped in 1864 under the presidency of Sir Harry Parkes who was followed two years later by George F. Stewart, U. S. Consul General in Shanghai.\n\nFrom the beginning the society accepted donations of books and journals, which were dutifully listed in the annual reports, but the lack of permanent facilities prevented the establishment of a formal library. At first, the society used the meeting rooms of the Shanghai Library which was housed in the Masonic Hall on Ningpo Road. From there it moved to the new Masonic Building (1869) and then the Commercial Bank Building on Nanking Road (1870), before finding a permanent home on Museum Road the next year.5\n\nAlexander Wylie, the noted sinologist and supervisor of the London Missionary Society's printing office in Shanghai, amassed a personal collection of both Chinese language books and books in Western languages concerning China which he urged the Royal Asiatic Society to purchase, as he was returning to England for home leave. After much deliberation, a public appeal, and a generous donation from the Shanghai\n\n17\n\nPage 210\n\nPage 211", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214515, "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": 373, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "342\n\noccupation, from 1889 to 1930. I found the exhibits and many photographs more appealing than some of the captions (memories of the \"years of pain\" etc).\n\nMost of the rest of the interesting parts of the island are to the left of the ferry pier. The first attraction is the Ching naval barracks, beautifully restored and now looking as splendid as it must have done when it was first built. It is reputed to be the best (or only) example of its kind in China. Looking rather familiar in its design - it is built around three consecutive courtyards stretching back from the main entrance - one would be forgiven for thinking it was in fact a large temple, with its colonnades and red painted columns. But the naval barracks it certainly was, even though it was relegated to be the naval canteen during the period of British occupation. The whole complex is now open to the public as a museum; exhibits include a number of guns and a large model of a battle between the Chinese and Japanese navies. This latter is rather a generous gesture, given that the entire western-built Chinese navy was destroyed by the Japanese in 1894/95. Resurgence is evident, however, as plastic construction kits of today's Chinese navy can be purchased throughout the museum.\n\nLeaving the waterfront after the Chinese barracks one finds a dusty road on which stand a number of houses, again in good repair and apparently used. Standing proudly by itself is the Masonic Hall, now emblazoned with a red star in place of the masons' square and compasses. In the museum there was for sale a fat (324 pages!) little book in Chinese all about the British occupation. I bought a copy for RMB 10, not so that I could read it, unfortunately, but because it contained three contemporary maps of the island in English. These showed that the other houses around might have included the Surgeon Commander's Residence, the Coal Contractor's Residence and the Accountant Clerk's Residence. Exact identification proved difficult as some of the roads and paths had moved from their original positions.\n\nMoving towards the west we found what must have been the cemetery, but it was clear that nobody was welcome to enter - the gates were well locked and the walls were high. Peering through the cracks did not reveal any remains of gravestones. Perhaps these had fallen victim to the enthusiasm of the Cultural Revolution, along with the two churches, of which there was no trace either.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 } ]