[ { "id": 204476, "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-1962", "page_number": 108, "title": "RAS-1962", "content_text": "LIFE IN THE NEW TERRITORIES \n\n97\n\nJ, FUNG Yiu Tsan, residing at No. 69 in this village, have a farm hut and a piece of waste threshing ground at Lot Nos. 94 and 95, which I hereby sell to a junior clansman FUNG Tak Yau, because I am old, have no son to support me and cannot make a living or obtain the money I need by borrowing. The price agreed upon is twenty-four silver dollars. This has been paid in full, after weighing, to me personally; the money is to be taken home for me to spend; hereafter the above-named payer will assume ownership of the farm hut and waste threshing ground, including the walls, tiles, ordure pit and boundary stones. From now on no arbitrary claims may be made, for this sale is voluntary and payment has been made in full and as agreed. This agreement is irrevocable. Should this property be found to have been acquired under suspicious circumstances, the vendor alone will be held responsible; the above payer is not liable. This written agreement is hereby prepared as proof and for retention by FUNG Tak Yau.\n\nAnother, drawn up during the difficult days of the Japanese occupation in 1942 reads,\n\nThis deed of sale on land is drawn up by the vendor CHAN Wan Shing. Because he has not money for purchasing provisions, he first offered to sell to his kinsfolk the nine plots of land, total area three dau chung, located at Nam Pei Tau in Shek Pik Village, bequeathed to him by his grandfather, but none of them are interested. Then, through the medium of a middleman, KWOK Lai Pai of Tai O was approached and he undertook to buy them at a current price of $165.00. Again, through the middleman, CHAN Wan Shing has received a sum of $165 for himself, and with effect from the date of this deed, the lots will become the permanent property of KWOK Lai Pai. For fear that verbal agreement may not constitute evidence, this deed is executed as a certificate to confirm the transaction.\n\nDuring a land court held during the Shek Pik settlement just as a case was being settled in the present possessor's favour in default of proof of the plaintiff's contention that the original document was a mortgage and not a sale (and therefore redeemable, according to custom, despite subsequent transactions) the defendant pulled out a new sheaf of papers for inspection. Among them was a white deed which proved to be the original mortgage of 1918. He thereby defeated his own case. It turned out that he had never bothered to read the papers handed over to him with the white deed of sale drawn up during the Japanese Occupation. Similarly, a sixty year old mortgage elsewhere on Lantau which was discovered in the land registers when succession was being determined, was honoured by the mortgagees, though grudgingly, the real point at issue being the amount of compensation and not the return of the land, as no figure was stated in the original entry.\n\n12 This is recognised in the provisions of the New Territories Ordinance Cap. 97 where the registration of a so manager in the Land Office is obligatory. A change of manager can only be secured after the vacancy has been filled at a properly advertised clan meeting and notices of election, posted by the District Office, have expired without objection, Prospective sales of two land have to be reported to the Assistant Land Officer (the D.O.) and advertised by him, again without objection, before a sale is allowed. Trustees, too, are not permitted to sell land belonging to minors unless the Land Officer has given his", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1962.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205835, "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-1969", "page_number": 141, "title": "RAS-1969", "content_text": "THE MAPPING OF HONG KONG\n\n135\n\nsheets would be part of an overall series at 1/4800 scale which will eventually cover the whole of the New Territories in about 100 sheets. From these sheets another special series of 9 sheets at 1/9600 scale (800 ft. to 1 inch) was produced for certain areas for town-planning purposes.\n\nIn addition to the plans produced from the 1964 high-level photography, air-photo mosaics have been produced at 1/25,000 scale which cover the whole Colony. These are in 12 sheets and together form a mosaic about 6 feet square.\n\nTOPOGRAPHIC Maps\n\nThe need for an up-to-date series of topographic maps of the Colony was realised soon after the war. Whereas the large-scale plans produced by the Crown Lands and Survey Office are essential for detailed planning, land administration, etc., they are of little interest to the average person who needs a coloured map to find his way around the Colony by road or for walking in the countryside.\n\nA series of maps at a scale of 8 inches to one mile, with 50 ft. contours, had been produced in 1904, surveyed by the Royal Engineers in 1902-03 and printed in England by the Ordnance Survey. These had been revised, partially at least, in 1924 and re-printed by the War Office (GSGS, No. 3749) but it is not known whether in fact this series covered the whole Colony. The index diagram on the sheets remaining in the Crown Lands and Survey Office indicates that 21 sheets covered Kowloon and the eastern part of the New Territories.\n\nIn the post-war years the only topographic maps available until recently were the military series (GSGS, No. L8811) at 1/25,000 scale and (L681) at 1/100,000 scale. These were based on the pre-war 1/20,000 and 1/80,000 series respectively. The former was produced in 1929-31 and was one of the first military maps to be plotted from air photographs; in this case taken by the R.A.F. in 1925. Although a certain amount of spasmodic revision had been undertaken since the war, the sheets were generally very much out of date.\n\nUntil 1962 these maps had not been available to the public but in that year their security restriction was lifted and they were put on sale by Messrs. Kelly & Walsh Ltd. in Hong Kong, and", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1969.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207190, "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": 261, "title": "RAS-1974", "content_text": "LIST OF MEMBERS\n\nORDINARY MEMBERS:\n\nFESSLER, Loren W..\n\nc/o University Service Centre, 155, Argyle Street, Kowloon.\n\nFISHER SHORT, W.\n\nc/o Education Department, Lee Gardens, Hysan Avenue, H.K.\n\nFLEMING, Miss Paula\n\nLanguage Centre, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, H.K.\n\nFOLDES, Mr. & Mrs. Leslie\n\n4B, Babington House, 5, Babington Path, H.K.\n\nFORSYTH, A. H.\n\nc/o Johnson, Stokes & Master, 4th floor, Hong Kong Bank Building, 1, Queen's Road, H.K.\n\nFORSYTH, James G..\n\nUnipak (HK) Ltd., 59-61 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Aberdeen, H.K.\n\nFRASER, Miss Sylvia\n\nc/o Island School, 20, Borrett Road, H.K.\n\nFREYTAG, Mrs. Helen H..\n\n10, Tregunter Path, Flat 1201, H.K.\n\nFUNG, Mrs. Lawrence\n\n17, Magazine Gap Road, Flat 5A, H.K.\n\nGAFF, Mrs. J. A.\n\nApt. A-2, 5, Tung Shan Terrace, Stubbs Road, H.K.\n\nGAILEY, Mrs. Norah\n\nFlat 16, 14, Mt. Austin Road, H.K.\n\nGARCIA, Arthur\n\nVictoria District Court, H.K.\n\nGATELY, Charles\n\nc/o Environment Branch, Colonial Secretariat, Lower Albert Road, H.K.\n\nGEOFFROY-DECHAUME, Francois\n\nc/o French Consulate General, 1208, Hang Seng Bank Building, 77, Des Voeux Road, C., H.K.\n\nGHOSE, Mrs. Rajeshwari\n\n21A, Kennedy Road, 3rd floor, H.K.\n\nGIBB, Hugh\n\nc/o Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp., P.O. Box 64, H.K.\n\nGIBBONS, J. P.\n\nLanguage Centre, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, H.K.\n\nGILBERT, John\n\nFL-A9, Hilltop, 60, Cloud View Road, North Point, H.K.\n\nGILKES, D. A.\n\nThe Bursar's Office, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T.\n\nGILLESPIE, Col. Richard E.\n\nDefence Liaison Office, American Consulate General, Garden Road, H.K.\n\nGIMSON, C. H.\n\nBuildings Ordinance Office, Public Works Dept, 9th floor, Murray Building, H.K.\n\nGOLDNEY, Miss C. M.\n\nc/o Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp., Queen's Road, C., H.K.\n\nGOODBODY, D. M.\n\n727, Prince's Building, H.K.\n\nGRAHAM, A. T. R.\n\nFlat A, Hing Mee Building, 13th floor, 25-31 Leighton Road, H.K.\n\nGRAY, Peter H.\n\nc/o Maunsell Consultants Asia, 664, Nathan Road, Kowloon.\n\nGREGORY, Miss E. J.\n\nc/o Queen Mary Hospital, H.K.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077", "rank": 0 }, { "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": 209374, "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": 31, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "9 \n\nA similar \nplan to go back and establish a new committee. 13 situation exists at Block #9, which has already been converted. However, it is not yet fully occupied and a committee cannot be established until all units have been taken. When this is done, the District Office will begin its visits. A different situation exists in Block #13, for its MAC has been in suspension since 1978. The reasons why were not entirely clear, for the suspension was enacted before the tenure of the present liaison officer. Block #13 contains both the Housing Department office and the office of the Neighbourhood Police Unit, so it is possible that the residents did not see the need for an MAC. In January of 1983, the staff of the District Office planned to make new visits to assess the situation at this block. It seems that their efforts were successful, for on April 15, 1983, the residents held a special meeting and voted to set up a new Mutual Aid Committee. While dissolution is a serious matter, if a committee is dissolved, it can be re-established at a later date if the residents change their opinions.\n\nPrivate housing blocks, it might be added, have another alternative—the owners' corporations—and some MACs disband when one of these is established. The owners' corporations were established under the Multi-Storey Building (Owners' Incorporation) Ordinance, passed in 1970. Normally, the two kinds of organizations do not co-exist in one building, although there are some examples of change over long periods when both continue to function. Some officials (for example, many of the liaison officers I interviewed while conducting research in the Mong Kok District) considered this change desirable and viewed the process as one of no committee, then a Mutual Aid Committee, then an owners' corporation. Of course, no such alternative is available at Lok Fu, as owners' corporations cannot be established in public housing estates, or in some private housing estates with management systems governed by Deeds of Mutual Covenant.\n\nA Question of Data\n\nHow large are Mutual Aid Committees and what is their internal arrangement? While this question seems quite straightforward, gathering the information necessary to answer it is not always easy. Because of conflicting sources, it is difficult to assess", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210185, "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": 156, "title": "RAS-1984", "content_text": "135\n\nJulian Arnold et al, Commercial Handbook of China, US Department of Commerce, Miscellaneous Series No. 84 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1919) Vol. 1, p. 181.\n\nIbid. It is, however, only fair to record that E.J. Eitel Europe in China: the History of Hong Kong from the Beginning to the Year 1882 (Hong Kong 1898) pp. 130-134 gives a more balanced picture of Hong Kong before 1841.\n\n9 The Chinese characters for most of these places can be found in the Hong Kong Government's Gazetteer of Place Names in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories (Government Printer, n.d. 1960) but variously at pp. 90-98, 103-106 and 114-117. See also “Original Gazetteer and Census, May 15th 1841\" at Appendix II of Geoffrey Robley Sayer, Hong Kong 1841-1862 Birth, Adolescence and Coming of Age (Oxford, University Press, 1937), p. 203.\n\n10 The extracts from the Collinson letters reproduced here are taken from transcripts in preparation kindly made available by Mr. Ian Diamond who advises that they should be checked against the originals. For the owners of the letters, and their whereabouts, see file MSS23 at the Public Records Office of Hong Kong.\n\nA reference to Collinson's military mapping of Hong Kong, described by Mr. Diamond in an unpublished memoir as follows:\n\n\"Collinson completed his survey at the end of October, 1845. The work had taken him almost exactly two years. The survey was principally of Hong Kong Island but the resulting map took in also the islands immediately adjacent to Hong Kong, Kowloon Peninsula and the coastline of the mainland as far as Tsuen Wan in the West and Fat Tong Point in the east,\n\nDrawn to a scale of 4\" to one statute mile (1/15840) the finished map was on four joinable sheets covering north-west, north-east, south-west and south-east Hong Kong respectively. The map is meticulously detailed and very finely drawn.\n\nOne of the most interesting features of Collinson's map is that it employs contour lines instead of shading, or hatching, to show land heights and is said to have been the first such map ever to be published. Collinson did not invent the technique. Contour-line mapping was first employed by military engineers in France, but it seems to have been used there largely in the siting and planning of fortifications. By the early 1830s the concept had been taken up by the Royal Engineers who, especially after about 1834, began to give it a more general application, largely in connection with the great surveys of England and Ireland,\n\nHis map was published by the Ordnance Map Office, Southampton in 1846, prior to any contoured map of the United Kingdom, the first not being printed until December, 1847.\n\nCollinson submitted, together with his map, a portfolio of \"Ten Outline Sketches of the Island of Hong Kong\". These were pen and ink drawings of the Island landscape viewed from ten locations and were designed to illustrate its salient topographical features and the nature and location of important buildings and settlements.\"\n\n12 Ibid. A few years earlier, Dr. Edward H. Cree, Surgeon R.N., also recorded a visit to a village school, under date 7 April 1841. \"Went into the village school where we saw a lot of moon-faced urchins were acquiring the rudiments of the celestial learning and put one in mind of some of the village schools at home.\" (ed) Michael Levin, The Cree Journals, The Voyages of Edward H. Cree. Surgeon R.N., as related in his private Journals 1837-1856 (Exeter, England, Webb and Bower, 1981)", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1984.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572", "rank": 0 } ]