[ { "id": 207138, "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": 209, "title": "RAS-1974", "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES\n\n203\n\nAt this time the population of Ha Wan was 4861 (G.N. 21 of the Government gazette for 5th March 1859).\n\nObservation Point must be the Observation Place shown on the Map accompanying Mr. Chadwick's Report on the Sanitary Condition of Hong Kong, published by the Colonial Office in 1882. The map shows Ha Wan as District No. 6 and Wanchai as District No. 7. This indicates that Wanchai was taken from it at some date between 1857 and 1882. Observation Place is shown at p. 46 of the Index to the Streets, House Nos., and Lots in the Colony of Hong Kong, 1903, and may be identified with the lower end of the present Tin Lok Lane, near its junction with Hennessy Road, then seashore.\n\nWanchai was one of the first districts to be developed after the British Occupation of the Island in 1841. The Reverend Carl T. Smith has kindly provided an account of this development, based on his original researches into Hong Kong records. This is attached as a separate Note.\n\nThe Itinerary and Places of Interest\n\nThe party will follow a circuitous route among the back streets, steps and terraces of old Wanchai between Monmouth Path in the west and Stone Nullah Lane on the east.\n\nAmong the places of interest to be visited are several Chinese temples and shrines as follows:\n\n1) The Pak Kung Shrine at the side of No. 7, Star Street. This was established before the War, probably upwards of 70 years ago. The shrine is a To Tei Miu (±普普) or altar to the earth god. The main festival of the year falls on the 2nd day of the second lunar month when the management committee of local residents organises a religious and social celebration.\n\n2) Hung Shing Temple, Queen's Road East. This temple is one of the oldest of the area and may even have existed as a shrine before the British Occupation of the Island. According to Carl Smith there was a small settlement nearby which may have provided the body of regular worshippers, along with visiting boat people.\n\nThe present structure dates from Hsien Feng 10th year (1860-61), repaired in T’ung Chih 6th year (1867-68) when the persons responsible are listed as 'the whole body of devout Hong Kong believers'. These dates point to an earlier origin, and", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207736, "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-1976", "page_number": 124, "title": "RAS-1976", "content_text": "IN SEARCH OF THE CHINESE NAME FOR “LI SUN”\n\n109\n\nlocate a photograph of Chan Lai-sun. It is not very surprising that there is none from his College days, as photography was not yet widely adopted in the 1840's. And no photographs were usually taken of honorary degree recipients in the late nineteenth century. As to the reference in the 1872 letter to Professor North, the family photographs are not in the correspondence file. They were evidently separated out when the alumni correspondence files were established. I have searched the miscellaneous North papers, but with no success. There is an old trunk of North memorabilia which I will also search as soon as time permits. . .\n\nChan's letters to Professor North from October 28, 1872 to September 10, 1873 and selections from Hamilton College Literary Monthly, July 1869 to February 1887, made possible a tentative biographical sketch. Also very helpful were Carl T. Smith's two articles in the Chung Chi Bulletin of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.\n\nChan Laisun (hereafter this name will be used just as he used it in his signature) was born 1829 in Singapore, the son of a poor gardener. Chan attended the Chinese day and boarding schools conducted by the American Board missionaries. His mother tongue was Malay, although his father was from the Ch'aochow prefecture of Kwangtung Province. His parents died leaving him an orphan.\n\nThe Reverend Joseph S. Travelli of Sewickley, Pennsylvania, and his wife served as missionaries of the American Board. Soon after their arrival in Singapore, their attention was attracted by a Chinese boy waiting on the table of the American Consul, and they took him into the school which they established for Chinese children for English and Chinese studies.\n\nWhen the school was disbanded in 1842, Chan was taken to the United States and put into Mr. Randall's School in East Bloomfield, New Jersey until 1846. Then the Reverend Samuel Wells Williams of the American Board arranged for him to receive free instruction at Hamilton College. His college term ended in June 1848, and he returned to China with Reverend Williams as an assistant with the American Board mission in Canton until 1853. He had lost almost all knowledge of the Chinese he had known and had to engage a language tutor to relearn Chinese. In July 1850, he married Ruth Ati (1827-1917), one of two girls Miss", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1976.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210578, "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-1985", "page_number": 185, "title": "RAS-1985", "content_text": "166\n\nWEI PEH T'I\n\nother hand, Edith wrote three letters in 1905 — mostly because she had so much to complain about Mrs. Ferguson. Therefore, more likely than not, Edith had written after April 1906, but these letters had not been saved.\n\nWe do know that Louese had a new baby in 1907. With four children under ten years of age, even with a household of servants that Louese must have had, she would have found little time for letter writing. We also know that she became seriously ill shortly after the last child, her only son Benjamin, was born. The family today thinks that she had leukemia. At least it is thought to be a form of cancer. She was sick for a long time, and died in 1909, when she was only thirty-seven years old.\n\nNOTES\n\nHarry Ryder is serving as Commercial Counsellor at the United States Embassy in Kuwait. The Strawbridges were originally Quakers who had settled in Philadelphia, but the Ryders are Episcopalians.\n\n2 At first, the Ryder family had believed Edith to be a classmate of Louese at the Central Friends School. Correspondence with Clayton Faraday, Archivist of the school, however, reveals that Louese had been a member of the class of 1890, but there was no mention of her among the list of graduates. Edith Rowe is unknown at the school. Therefore, a conjecture must be made that they were most likely classmates at the \"finishing school\". Had they been academic scholars, they would probably have been sent to Bryn Mawr College. I am grateful to Mr. Faraday for his timely reply to my inquiry, making it possible to correct the error in my original presentation to the society.\n\n3 Colonel Hedges lived in an apartment attached to the Strawbridge house in Bala Cynwyd after his daughter's marriage. He survived both his wife and daughter. Harry Ryder remembers his great-grandfather, but never knew his grandmother.\n\n4 Rowe letter dated 1 October 1903.\n\n5 Protestant Missionary records. I am grateful to the Reverend Carl Smith for looking up this information. Hopefully there is more data on Edith in the archives of the China Inland Mission in London or Shanghai.\n\n6 Jane Hunter, The Gospel of Gentility, American Women Missionaries in Turn-of-the-Century China (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984), 13ff\n\n7 Hunter, 29-30.\n\n8 Rowe letter dated 2 March 1905. As it turned out, one of Louese's grandchildren, Harry V. Ryder Jr., did join the Foreign Service, but it was the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1985.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211323, "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": 39, "title": "RAS-1988", "content_text": "15\n\nNOTES\n\nThe Author is grateful to the Reverend Carl T. Smith for providing material about vocational training in early Hong Kong, and to Mr. C.L. Ko and Mr. M.H. So for the photograph.\n\nT.F. Ryan, 'The Story of a Hundred Years: The PIME in Hong Kong, 1858-1958', Catholic Trust Society, Hong Kong, 1959.\n\nHong Kong Daily Press, 20 July 1876; and Hong Kong Catholic Register, Vol. II, No. 39, 29 June 1879; and South China Morning Post, 16 November 1936.\n\nHong Kong Telegraph, 30 January 1905; and Hong Kong Telegraph, 17 September 1901; and Daily Press, 25 January 1906; and Hong Kong Telegraph, 17 June 1914.\n\nT.C. Cheng, \"The Education of Overseas Chinese: A Comparative Study of Hong Kong, Singapore and the East Indies' (University of London MA thesis, 1949), p. 141; and Hong Kong Telegraph, prospectus of evening courses to be held at Queen's College.\n\n*Imperial Education Conference Papers, Education Systems of the Chief Colonies not possessing responsible Governments' (Hong Kong, 1914), p. 5.\n\n4 Ibid, pp. 27 and 28.\n\n7\n\nWatt Hoi-kee, \"Technical Education in Hong Kong Today\", Appendix I (undated), p. 26 (c. 1964).\n\n# 'Opening Ceremony New Technical College' (booklet), (2 December 1957), p. 3.\n\n*Aberdeen Technical School 1935-1965, 30th Anniversary Souvenir Number'.\n\nC\n\n'Far East Flying and Technical School Ltd' (prospectus) (undated).\n\nMonica Yeung, 'Air-minded men who never get off the ground', Hong Kong Standard (15 September 1974) p. 19.\n\n12\n\n'Hong Kong Technical College 1970-71', prospectus p. 1.\n\n11 Information given verbally by pre-war Trade School student.\n\nTH\n\n'Tang King-po School Speech Day and Prize-giving' (brochure) (19 November 1976).\n\n15 'Technical Education Investigating Committee, Report on Technical Education and Vocational Training in Hong Kong' (30 October 1953).\n\n'Opening Ceremony of the Polytechnic's First New Building' (brochure) (26 October 1976), p. 1.\n\n17\n\nTH\n\n19\n\n'Opening Ceremony of the New Technical College' (2 December 1957), last page. *Report on the Cost Study of the Hong Kong Technical College' (December 1968). *'Opening Ceremony of the Polytechnic's First New Building', loc. cit.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212570, "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-1991", "page_number": 124, "title": "RAS-1991", "content_text": "104\n\nCHINESE FUNERALS: A CASE STUDY\n\nDAN WATERS\n\nThe boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,\n\nAnd all that beauty, all that wealth ever gave\n\nAwaits alike the inevitable hour;\n\nThe paths of glory lead but to the grave.\n\nThomas Gray, Elegy Written in Country Churchyard.\n\nIntroduction\n\nThis paper examines an actual, fairly typical, present-day Chinese death in urban Hong Kong and the funeral services and mourning that follow. Comparisons are made with past customs in Hong Kong, with traditional Hong Kong New Territories funerals and European funerals. Because this paper is largely about Hong Kong, Cantonese terms and Romanisations are mainly used rather than pinyin. Currency quoted is in Hong Kong dollars.\n\nThe author is grateful to Mr Gerald C.S. Siu, manager of the Hong Kong Funeral Home, Doctor James Hayes, the Reverend Carl T. Smith, Mrs Judy Kant Young and other persons and organisations named in this paper. Help varied from recommending source material to providing information.\n\nThe Case Study\n\nOne November night in 1988, a couple received a call saying the wife's mother had been taken to hospital. Shortly after midnight the couple, together with the wife's two younger sisters and two granddaughters, gathered around the corpse.\n\nTraditionally, Chinese hope for a peaceful death in old age with family mustered around the deathbed. In this case the end came suddenly. As Chuang Tzu, sometimes named as the first important Taoist writer, phrased it:\n\nWe are born as from a quiet sleep,\n\nWe die to a calm awakening.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1991.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212945, "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-1993", "page_number": 13, "title": "RAS-1993", "content_text": "From the programme, I would now like to turn to other topics which have exercised the Council's attention over the last year. As I mentioned earlier the Society has appeared twice before the LegCo Panel on Information Policy and this was due primarily to the stand which the Society has taken in respect of the Government's intention to move the Public Records Office to an unsuitable and inaccessible factory building in Tuen Mun, a step that is likely to happen in June. I do not wish to tabulate all the arguments that have been rehearsed many times within Council and the media on this subject, except to say that if it had not been for the Royal Asiatic Society's strong opposition to the removal of the Public Record to Tuen Mun then it is unlikely that we would now be looking at a more favourable situation than seemed possible this time last year. As it is we have been informed that the move is only temporary, the Government is actively looking for a site in Central, and provided funds are available the Government is prepared to build or convert some suitable buildings for public records; meanwhile the more important and the most used public records will be moved into a special room within the Government Secretariat. The position will need, however a great deal of attention and watching to ensure that those responsible for the preservation of Hong Kong's public records do really understand what is meant by the word preservation. Hong Kong's efforts in this direction leave a lot to be desired and compare very unfavourably with other countries including China. For this more optimistic emerging picture we need to thank several people including our past President, Dr. James Hayes, who continually prods the Government in the underbelly from down under and the Reverend Carl Smith who, at the height of the controversy last June, agreed reluctantly to appear in a T.V. documentary on the subject and was actually filmed, going to Tuen Mun, and seen groping through the polluted air and smog amongst the surroundings of the future Hong Kong Public Records Office. In addition I would like to thank Dr. Elizabeth Sinn, Mr. John Wilson, Dr. Lau Yee-cheung, and Dr. Choi Chi-cheung for their valuable inputs into these issues.\n\nThe second time members of the Council appeared before the LegCo Information Panel was fairly recently and also to do with public records but in the context of a possible Access to Information Bill. This is a difficult subject and I am not sure one that the Society should become too involved. The Society is more concerned with public records and an Archives Ordinance, since without this there is little point for legislation on access to information if there is no guarantee that the information in question will be available. A letter to the legislative councillors involved\n\nxii", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1993.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213419, "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-1995", "page_number": 15, "title": "RAS-1995", "content_text": "particular attention and that was the three and a half months photographic exhibition which was put on by the Society in conjunction with the very helpful Antiquities and Monuments Office. This exhibition, covering many aspects of Hong Kong history with a fine array of photographs from the Society's archives and other sources, ran for three months. It attracted a great deal of publicity in the Chinese and English press, radio programmes and United Press International also beamed a release around the world, not just about the exhibition but also about heritage and local history in Hong Kong in general. I would like to thank the staff of the Recreation and Culture Department of the Hong Kong Government, and particularly its Secretary, Mr. T.H. Chau, for making this all possible, those who lent photographs for the exhibition, Mrs. S. McGrady, Mr. Colin Gimson, Mrs. P. Alway, Mr. Brian Pearce and Mrs. Elaine Marden, and even more particularly Dr. Dan Waters. Without Dan's drive and enthusiasm it is doubtful if the Exhibition would ever have got off the ground, but it did and we owe him a huge vote of thanks.\n\nThe Exhibition was such a great success that we do hope that it will be possible to run similar events.\n\nI have dwelt for sometime on the activities of the Society deservedly so since they play a very important and prominent part in the Society's affairs. However there are other activity areas which are important for us to note and acknowledge. Firstly there is the library. Under the capable guidance of Ms. Julia Chan, our Librarian, it continues to flourish: she will report separately to you. Secondly, there is the administration of our finances, by our Treasurer, Mr. Robert Nield; he will be reporting to you separately later in detail. However, well as the finances are run, and they are in a sound position, even he cannot manufacture income from nothing and escape from the ravages of inflation. Subscription rates have not been raised since 1993 and you will note therefore that we are recommending a rise in rates with effect from 1 January 1997.\n\nLastly I would like to convey our thanks to those who keep this very interesting Society together, to all Council members, particularly to the two Vice-Presidents, Reverend Carl Smith and Dr. Elizabeth Sinn; Mrs. Anita Wilson for co-ordinating the all important Newsletter and last but not least our Assistant Secretary, Mrs. Claire Hockaday.\n\nXIV\n\nPage 15\n\nPage 16", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1995.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213662, "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": 15, "title": "RAS-1996", "content_text": "14 February \n\n28 February \n\n7 March, \n\nRethinking the Market Town Through Festivals in Contemporary China, ' Helen Siu Fung-har \n\nThe Confucian Examination Hall at Jia Ding,' by Dr Betty Wei Peh-T'i \n\n\"The Hong Kong Diary, 1849-1857, of John Francis Evelyn Wright, 'by Mr Christopher Munn. \n\nIn addition the following three lectures were jointly organised by the Royal Asiatic Society and the Museum of Art in conjunction with the latter's exhibition on 'Views of the Pearl River Delta-Macau, Canton and Hong Kong.\" \n\n23 November \n\n24 November \n\n'Two Hundred Years of Collecting Chinese Export Art at the Peabody Essex Museum,' by William Sargent. \n\nThe Thirteen Factories in Guangzhou,' by Dr Joseph Ting. \n\n+ \n\n27 November Change and Continuity in Macau, 'by Reverend Carl Smith. \n\nIn addition to lectures the Branch has organised a number of other functions, such as visits, both in Hong Kong and outside the Territory. These were as follows: \n\n1996 \n\nPlace \n\n20 April \n\nWalking Tour of Historic Sites in Central District. \n\n11 May \n\nBoat Trip to View Dolphins off Lantau. \n\n8 June \n\n13 July \n\nHistorical Sites in Kowloon \n\nGuided Tour of Exhibition. 'Teatime in Flanders,' Museum of Teaware. \n\nxiv \n\nPage 15\n\nPage 16", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1996.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214118, "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-1997", "page_number": 186, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "155\n\nAsiatic Society has really been a “labour of love\" and James has described the Branch as the \"Joy of his life\". Although now living \"Down Under\", he likes to stress he is \"only a fax away\". He makes regular visits back to Hong Kong.\n\nFollowing Dr Hayes as President was David Gilkes. Almost all his nearly 30 years as a member of the Branch in Hong Kong was spent as an office bearer.\n\nIn addition to Dr Hayes the Reverend Carl T. Smith, at present as Honorary Vice-President, an American, is another Branch member with an international reputation. He has made major contributions to local history with many publications to his credit. One of his greatest achievements was working through all the records in the Hong Kong Public Records Office (Smith 1995: 315). As a result the \"Carl Smith Card Index System\" has been microfilmed by the Utah Genealogical Society and a copy of the system is in the Public Records Office where it is known as the \"Smith Collection\",\n\nOther Hong Kong RAS present or past members of note include J. D. Romer, normally known to the Chinese as the “Snake King”. In Cantonese, this expression has a double entendre. Romer was, however, certainly not a lazy person! Worldwide, the Romer Tree Frog (Philautus romeri) is found only on one or two of Hong Kong's islands. It is little bigger than an adult's thumb nail and was first identified by Romer (Dudgeon 1994: 168),\n\nThere is also Keith Stevens, now an overseas member living in England, where his house has a large “god room\". His personal collection, said to be the largest private collection of Chinese gods in the world, consists of about 1,500 images of deities (Stevens 1997).\n\nThe future\n\nA well attended seminar was held in May 1987, the purpose of which was to look at the future of the RASHKB. At the time, a questionnaire was also issued to all members. Since then, the future role of the Branch has been discussed at various Council meetings.\n\nIt was quoted in a publication entitled, A Handbook to Hong Kong,", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214569, "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": 427, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "396\n\nA week or so later I spent a second afternoon in Saint Michael's Roman Catholic Cemetery. With the help of the Cemetery Attendant, Mr Law, the register was referred to and I managed to trace one more grave. This is recorded as follows:\n\nKnox, Lucy Elizabeth, 18 September 1937, Section 9, Grave 6501\n\nIt has a granite headstone and the grave has been 'slabbed' over and rendered with Shanghai plaster. Although the grave has settled it is still in reasonable condition. The following words may be read on the headstone:\n\nFor all your patient care, For every anguished prayer, For tact with awkward ways, For love on wayward days, For all you ever thought, For all you ever wrought, We thank you Mother dear,\n\nFor every anguished prayer.\n\nHaving traced four graves, with three remaining, I sought the help of the Reverend Carl T. Smith, Honorary Vice-President RASHKB. He soon responded by saying he had found some details of one of the remaining three deceased in his card-index system. This was concerning Thomas Tolliday whose death had been given by his relatives, in England, as at some time between 1893 and 1899. From the details of the copy of the newspaper cutting filed by the Reverend Smith, it was possible to establish that Tolliday had died on 9 August, 1895, in Ning Po (Ningbo), China. There is no record of his body having been brought to Hong Kong. He had joined the China Maritime Customs in 1862 and, late in his career, he became their Chief Examiner.\n\nNow that, out of the seven names, four graves and brief details of Tolliday's death have been traced, two graves remain. Of these, both persons died after World War Two. They are:\n\nKnox, Ivy Muriel, 15 March 1976; and\n\nMoss, Lilly Beatrice, exact date unknown but, given by a relative", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214598, "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-1999", "page_number": 13, "title": "RAS-1999", "content_text": "Membership\n\nAs at 16 March 2000, our Branch's membership stood at 607. This was made up of 487 local members and 120 overseas members. In fact, since the Council meeting held on 27 January 1999, to 16 March 2000, 147 new members have been recruited. As I have pointed out in previous presidential reports, one thing that has changed in recent years is the composition of membership. Among expatriates, Hong Kong is not so 'British' as it used to be and the turnover of people is more rapid. This has resulted in a more cosmopolitan Branch which makes for variety. This is no bad thing.\n\nIt must be emphasised that it is not just council members, among the membership, who play active parts in ensuring Branch functions run smoothly. Non-council members who sit on the Activities Committee, for example, have an important role to play as do our Volunteers who assist the Antiquities and Monuments Office. But even outside these bodies several RAS members play active roles. These vary from helping to recruit new members to leading outings. We are grateful for their assistance although there are too many willing helpers to name everyone individually.\n\nIt gives me great pleasure to record that, in November 1999, our Honorary Vice President, the Reverend Carl T Smith, prominent historian and keen supporter of archival research, was awarded honorary membership of the International Council on Archives East Asian Regional Branch. Congratulations Carl!\n\nWe are also pleased to report that one of our newly recruited overseas members, Dr Edward Cecil Harris FSA, was recently awarded the MBE in the 2000 New Year's Honours List by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Although Dr Harris lives in Bermuda he is no stranger to Hong Kong. He has been here on a number of occasions attending conferences and on speaking engagements. Congratulations Dr Harris!\n\nI am also pleased to report that our Past President, Dr James Hayes, together with his wife Mabel, returned to Hong Kong over the period 17 November to 13 December, 1999. Although some nine flying hours away, and living in Sydney, we are pleased that James still considers\n\nXII", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1999.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214602, "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-1999", "page_number": 17, "title": "RAS-1999", "content_text": "Being chairperson of the Activities Committee is a demanding position and we thank Valery Garrett for her considerable effort and for a job well done. We also thank her Committee comprising the Reverend Carl Smith, Doctors Elizabeth Sinn, Michael Lau, Patrick Hase, Joseph Ting, as well as May Holdsworth, Sarah Parnell, Peter Stuckey and Jason Wordie. Others who have helped with the organising of activities include Stephen Selby, Michael Broom and Arthur Hacker. A vote of thanks is accorded to all of them.\n\nProjects and other activities\n\nAgain our Society has been involved in various ways with projects and other activities which sometimes amount to a form of community service. For instance, over the summer we pieced together information for Mrs Victoria Brown of Australia. She was trying to trace details about her great-grandmother, Mrs Miranda Main (née Mann), who served as a school principal in Hong Kong at the end of the 19th and early in the 20th century. When Mrs Brown visited Hong Kong in October of last year, together with Mr S T Chiu of the Antiquities and Monuments Office, he and I showed Mrs Brown the old school building at 136 Nathan Road where her great-grandmother had been principal. Also, RAS members David Clinton and Dr Gillian Bickley met Mrs Brown and provided her with useful information.\n\nWith the help of Council member Tim Ko, we also provided information regarding bullet and shrapnel marks on a wall on Lower Stubbs Road where a great deal of fierce fighting took place when the Japanese invaded Hong Kong in December 1941. In another case a lady in England, Frances Howell, was trying to trace details of her relatives who lived in Shan Dong Province and Hong Kong.\n\nAgain, in response to a letter in the press, information was provided for a relative in England regarding Lieutenant Henry Dallas who died in Hong Kong in 1844. Information was obtained regarding both the grave and a monument on the wall inside Saint John's Cathedral up until World War Two.\n\nAlso, our Branch was invited to send a representative to make its views known to a government working party which was looking into the subject, 'Conservation and the Natural Environment.' This is the\n\nxvi", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1999.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214864, "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-1999", "page_number": 279, "title": "RAS-1999", "content_text": "PROGRAMME\n\nMorning Session (9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.)\n\nOpening address by Dr. Dan Waters\n\nLecture: Sha Tin: From Village to City by Dr. Patrick Hase\n\nDocumentary Film: Report on Hong Kong (c 1959)\n\nAfternoon Session (2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.)\n\nLecture: Forty Years of Research on Hong Kong by the Reverend Carl T. Smith\n\nSlide Presentation: Living in Hong Kong 1960 to 1980 by Mr. Tim Ko\n\nDocumentary Film: Western District (Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, 1975)\n\nVote of Thanks by Dr. Dan Waters\n\n247", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1999.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214923, "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-2000", "page_number": 19, "title": "RAS-2000", "content_text": "to escape the madness, the melancholia and, yes, the panic, which sometimes surrounds the human situation.\n\nActivities\n\nAnother of the fields where our Branch has made significant contributions over many decades has obviously been with our lecture and visit programme. These may be described as the backbone of our Society. Over the past year these have consisted of lectures, averaging about one a month, mainly at and jointly with the Hong Kong City Hall. These sessions are open to the general public free of charge. This is a form of community service. At the Chi Lin Nunnery talk well over 90 people attended. Over the past year we have in addition mounted visits locally and two visits outside the Hong Kong SAR. All these had leaders - sometimes more than one working as a team - who had a thorough understanding of their subjects (see Appendices One and Two).\n\nIn some cases, because some of our members have good connections, it has also been possible to call upon the assistance of knowledgeable local people: for example in the case of Dr Ting who was able to invite people to assist with our visits to the China Mainland. Records show that, in the 1980s and the early 1990s for example, our visits outside Hong Kong were not well supported. Planned trips sometimes had to be cancelled. In the 1960s and '70s, it was not easy for various reasons (for government servants for example) to visit China. Over the past few years this situation has changed. More recently, on our tours outside Hong Kong it has not been possible, sometimes, to enroll everyone who wanted to join. It is interesting to mention here that our first overseas tour was to Thailand back in 1973.\n\nAlthough full day or weekend seminars, especially during the 1960s and the early '70s, were a fairly regular feature of Branch activities, they have not played such an important part in recent years. This was partly why our conference, titled Hong Kong: Forty Years of a Growing City, held during our 40th anniversary year as a joint function with the Museum of History, was so welcome. It consisted largely of our own members as speakers, persons on whom we rely so much. They included the Reverend Carl T. Smith, Dr Patrick Hase and Mr Tim Ko. Tim's family has lived in Kowloon for five generations, since the 1850s. These three speakers are outstanding examples of members who have put,\n\nPage xviii", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2000.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214924, "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-2000", "page_number": 20, "title": "RAS-2000", "content_text": "and continue to put so much into our Branch. The idea of holding this conference, which included two films, was proposed by Dr Elizabeth Sinn. We are grateful to her, too, both for chairing the organising committee and for acting as mistress of ceremonies. We are also grateful to the Centre of Asian Studies at the Hong Kong University for its assistance.\n\nFew members can recall the activities during the early days of our Branch and the rapidly changing Colony in which it functioned. These need to be recorded. Such sources of information will not be around forever. A prime task of our Society has been, and must continue to be, the recording of Hong Kong's past before it disappears for all time. This should include both oral history as well as memories of Branch members. It may involve, for instance, working as a government servant in the New Territories when it was far more rural than it is today. It may be about Chinese puppets, bamboo scaffolding, women who apply Chinese-style facials with a long, cotton thread, or of other aspects of the rapidly fading local lifestyle.\n\nIn the summer a questionnaire concerning our activities was prepared, largely by Jason Wordie, and sent to all members. Although the return of 20 per cent was disappointing, it did provide a great deal of useful information. Although there were the inevitable caustic comments, the returns showed clearly by far the majority of our members are well satisfied with what we are doing. We have however taken careful note of suggestions and some have already been implemented.\n\nBecause of the large number of lecturers, tour leaders and others involved, it is not possible to name everyone who has contributed to the success of our activities. Many (although not all) are named in the appendices. To everyone concerned a very sincere thank you. We cannot leave it at that, however, and a special vote of thanks must go to our Honorary Activities Coordinator, Valery Garrett, together with her committee members. These consisted of the Reverend Carl T. Smith, Drs Michael Lau, Patrick Hase, Joseph Ting as well as May Holdsworth, Sarah Parnell, Peter Stuckey, Jason Wordie and Mary Painter. Others who gave a helping hand were past Council member Phillip Bruce and member Michael Broom. If anyone else would like to assist in any way please let us know. We have a large membership and we appreciate\n\nxix", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2000.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215907, "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": 206, "title": "RAS-2002", "content_text": "140\n\nSeated in the front row are the other guest speakers for the day: Dr. Patrick Hase, a member of the conference organising committee and RAS Council member, who will talk about Shatin and its development from a village to a city; Reverend Carl Smith, the honorary vice-president, who will talk about his 40 years of research in Hong Kong, and Mr. Tim Ko, an organising committee member and Council member, who has prepared a slide presentation about living in Hong Kong from 1960 to 1980. Also listening attentively is Dr. Elizabeth Sinn, vice-president of the RAS, convenor of the conference and mistress of ceremonies for the day.\n\nI sit near the front to get better video of the proceedings, but it's dark in the hall and other than Dr. Waters, I realise I won't be able to capture any of the audience's faces. I direct my camera in their direction anyway, just in case, or maybe just to let them know they'd be wise not to doze off.\n\nThis was in December 2000, when the one-day conference was presented jointly with the Hong Kong Museum of History. Waters has since stepped down from the presidency he held for four and a half years, during which Hong Kong was handed back to the motherland.\n\nAn old hand's reflection...\n\nI met Waters for the first time a month before the conference at his home on Conduit Road. He greeted me at the door and he was just as I had imagined from our telephone conversations. He is a tall man with a strong presence. He has perfect posture and his movements are quick. Waters holds the 800m and 1500m local running records in the over 70 category. He has a full head of hair although the colour has changed from when he was a young man; the only other hint of his advanced years is that he's a bit hard of hearing.\n\nHe takes me to the study and has had his maid prepare a glass of orange drink for me. I haven't had orange drink from powder something like Tang since early childhood,\n\n-\n\nWhat do I want to know? he asks. What do I want to know? I ask myself. I really want to find out if the Royal Asiatic Society is as snobby as it sounds, maybe. But no, I don't ask that...", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215915, "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": 214, "title": "RAS-2002", "content_text": "148\n\nwith Sir John Davis, the Governor of Hong Kong, as its president and remained active for 12 years, but ceased to exist in 1859. The Hong Kong branch was re-established under the active patronage of another governor, Sir Robert Black, in 1959.\n\nSince the handover, the society no longer has a patron. When the present Chief Executive of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, Mr. Tung Chee-hwa was asked to serve in that role, he politely declined.\n\nAn American in Hong Kong...\n\nThe conference participants are back from the lunch break and the 82-year-old Reverend Carl Smith is helped to the stage by Elizabeth Sinn. Smith's talk is titled \"Forty Years of Research on Hong Kong.\" The lights are dimmed and heads begin to nod off again...\n\n\"You get out at exit A and on your right you'll see this big set of steps leading up to the skies...don't take them,\" said Smith as he was giving directions to his home in Mei Foo Sun Chuen. As soon as he said that it reminded me of an episode of the popular TV series M*A*S*H when the doctors had to dispose of a bomb. It went something like, “cut the red wire\"...the doctor cuts it... \"after cutting the blue wire\"...explosion!!!\n\nThe reverend's instructions are spot on and I arrive without any trouble. The block is 19 and he's on the 11th Floor, flat D, but his flat is labelled 19D...go figure. Smith greets me and has to unlock the gate with a key. Not very safe, I think, for a man of his age. What if there's a fire? How is he going to get out?\n\nThe apartment is smaller than I had expected and it is filled wall to wall with file cabinets and card files all of Smith's research work over the last 40 years. The cards were put on microfilm and housed in the Public Records Office as the Carl Smith collection. Smith has recently agreed to leave the cards themselves to the Library of Congress in the United States.\n\n\"The Asian division of the Library of Congress, right before the handover, came to Hong Kong with the purpose of getting documents", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 216218, "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": 517, "title": "RAS-2002", "content_text": "451\n\nThe HKBRAS has a fairly large and talented membership with people specialising in a variety of fields. If you have helped in any way with answering any of the above enquiries, or with any of our projects, we offer our thanks. In this regard we should offer a special word of thanks to our Honorary Vice President, the Reverend Carl T Smith, whose card index \"Smith Collection\" has been particularly useful for reference purposes. I must add that the above list of projects is not exhaustive.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278", "rank": 0 } ]