[ { "id": 210655, "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-1986", "page_number": 6, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "CONTENTS\n\nPRESIDENT'S REPORT\n\nHON. TREASURER'S REPORT\n\nHON. LIBRARIAN'S REPORT\n\nARTICLES:\n\nvii\n\nxiv\n\nxvi\n\nImmigrant and social ethos: Hong Kong in the nineteen-eighties Helen F. Siu..\n\n1\n\nJohn Joseph Francis, citizen of Hong Kong, a biographical note-Walter Greenwood.\n\n17\n\nHenry Thomas Jackman (1874-1928), engineering, Public Works Department, Hong Kong — Stephen Selby\n\nThe Hong Kong Botanical Gardens, a historical overview D.A. Griffiths and S.P. Lau\n\n46\n\n55\n\nObservations at the Jiu festival of Shek O and Tai Long Wan, 1986 - Chan Wing-Hoi\n\n78\n\nThe Minorities of southern China: a general view Nicholas Tapp\n\n102\n\nHainan Island, a brief historical sketch D.L. Michalk.\n\n—\n\n115\n\nREPRINT:\n\nA sense of history (Part I) — Carl Smith.\n\n144\n\nNOTES AND QUERIES:\n\nMore about the Kowloon Walled City — Anthony K.K. Siu\n\n265\n\nLantern Festival, Cheung Chau, 10th February 1971 James Hayes..\n\n267\n\nVisit to the Mitsukoshi Department Store, Muromachi, Tokyo, Japan, June 1986 — James Hayes.\n\n270\n\nV", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210666, "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-1986", "page_number": 17, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "HON. LIBRARIAN'S REPORT\n\nFOR THE YEAR 1986-1987\n\nThe Society Library has purchased many out-of-print items through Dr. J. Hayes' effort this year. Besides gifts from Dr. Hayes, the Library has received gifts from Mr. David Liu, Mrs. Valerie Garrett, and Mrs. M.L. Winkler. Mr. Walter Greenwood has also donated to the Library his article in manuscript entitled \"John Joseph Francis, citizen of Hong Kong: a biographical note\". The Council is considering including it in the next issue of our Journal. Nearly all the books in the last two years have been catalogued and shelved in the Kowloon Central Library. An additions list is available from the Hon. Librarian on request.\n\nThe Library has donated two items of its duplicates to the Chinese University of Hong Kong Library, and made an offer of permanent loan of McMullen Bills of Lading to the University of Hong Kong Libraries.\n\nRegarding the usage of the Society Library, Mrs. Barbara Luk, the Chief Librarian of the Urban Council Public Libraries wrote: \"As at 28.2.87, there were 18 requests for information, 17 of which were from members of the Society. A total of 37 books were consulted during the year.\" To maximize the use of the Library, Dr. Hayes has sent the Catalogue of the Library to about twenty librarians, with his covering letter giving a brief description of the Library. The Kowloon Central Library is planning to have an exhibition of books from our Collection in the coming September to make the general public more aware of the Library.\n\nThe Council is looking into the question of insurance for books in the Society Library.\n\nMarch 1987\n\nxvi\n\nPeter Yeung\n\nHon. Librarian", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210683, "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-1986", "page_number": 34, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "17\n\nJOHN JOSEPH FRANCIS, CITIZEN OF HONG KONG, A BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE\n\nWALTER GREENWOOD\n\nV.H.G. Jarret writing about Francis in the South China Morning Post in the 1930s commented \"It seems strange that so well known a man should not be commemorated in any way”. When one considers the number of streets and roads in Hong Kong named after less prominent Government officials and businessmen the force of that comment will, it is hoped, be appreciated by the end of this essay.\n\nFrancis was born in Dublin in 1839, the eldest son of William Francis Aylward, an Inspector of Irish National Schools, and\n\nMr. Walter Greenwood J.P., M.A. (Cantab.), Barrister of Gray's Inn and the North Eastern Circuit, a Permanent Magistrate in Hong Kong\n\nAUTHOR'S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:\n\nThis essay was hurriedly researched and written in snatched hours and does not claim to be comprehensive, much less to do justice to Francis. I hope it may lead to interest in his life and career and I should be grateful if anyone who finds new information about him would send it to me at 26, Great Bounds Drive, Southborough, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4OTR. It is based mainly on skimming through newspapers and dipping into the standard histories of Hong Kong. I have also received generous help from many quarters. First I should like to acknowledge my gratitude to the staff of the Hong Kong Public Records Office for their ever friendly and willing help; my thanks go also to the staff of the Supreme Court Registry and University Library, the Secretaries of the Bar Association, the Law Society, the Jockey Club and the Volunteers, Mrs. Lisa Chee, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Po Leung Kuk, Fathers Naylor, Pagani and Pittavino (for searching church records), Mr. Michael Clancy (for information about “Stonyhurst”), Mr. Carl Smith (for information about Francis' marriages) and Mr. Colin West (for arranging the cleaning of Francis' tombstone) in Hong Kong; the Parish Priest of All Saints Church, Borella, Colombo; Father Turner of Stonyhurst College; the staff of the Public Records Office, Genealogical Office and Public Registry in Dublin; Mr. Julian Walton of Dublin and Waterford (for supplying me with material about the Aylward family which he also presented to Dr. Ken Smith of South Africa for use in his biography of Alfred Aylward); the Editor of the Irish Ancestor, the staff of the Public Record Office, Royal Artillery Institution, University and Crown Agents in London; Mrs. Theresa Thom, Librarian of Gray's Inn; Mr. Leo D'Almada Q.C. in Portugal; Dr. Walter Mautsch in Germany; Mr. Nigel Osner in London; Pamela and Eric Russ in Bournemouth; my wife (for her patience whilst I practised my drafts on her); and Mrs. Mary Whitticase for her great kindness in typing my manuscript.\n\nCopyright Walter Greenwood 1986.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210684, "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-1986", "page_number": 35, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "18 \n\nWALTER GREENWOOD \n\nTeresa Agnes Redmond. His father died in 1847, as did two of his four younger brothers. He was fortunate to attend, from 1852 to 57, Jesuit boarding schools in Ireland and he then went to the Jesuit Novitiate at Beaumont Lodge, Windsor. It appears that he intended to train for the priesthood but towards the end of the 1850s he joined the army giving Francis as his surname. His brother Alfred suggested that his reason for this was a scandal which contributed to their maternal grandmother's death, but Alfred's reliability seems suspect. Whatever the reason, the tradition, as expressed in newspaper obituaries, is that Francis was in the Royal Artillery and came to China in 1859, saw service there, was then stationed in Hong Kong and after a time bought himself out of the army and settled down as a civilian.\n\nThe first record I have found of Francis in Hong Kong relates to his marriage in July 1864 to Anne Shirley, who was born in England in 1824. She was a Protestant and there were two ceremonies, one at St. John's Anglican Cathedral performed by the Rev. J.J. Irwin the colonial chaplain, and one in the sacristry of the Roman Catholic Church performed by Father Raimondi (later the Roman Catholic Bishop of Hong Kong) who detected no impediment save disparity of religion for which he gave a dispensation. I have found little reference to Anne Shirley. She died at Bournemouth in March 1890. The next record I have found of Francis is in the Government Gazette for 1865. He was included in the list of jurors, his occupation being given as clerk and his address as 2 Mosque Street. He does not appear in the jury list for 1886 and the reason may be that he had become a solicitor's clerk.\n\nAt some time Francis became articled to William Gaskell who was admitted to practise as an attorney and solicitor before the Supreme Court of Hong Kong in 1846, being seventh on the Roll. In 1867 Gaskell had his office at 2 Club Chambers, D'Aguilar Street. Francis said that Gaskell used to leave the office most mornings for the Hong Kong Club saying “you catch 'em and I'll skin 'em\". Gaskell died in December 1868. It appears that Francis had not completed his articles and he transferred for a short time to Edmund Sharp who had been admitted in 1863 and who served as Crown Solicitor from 1871 to 1883. Francis was admitted, after examination, as a Proctor, Attorney and Solicitor in January 1869.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210686, "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-1986", "page_number": 37, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "20\n\nWALTER GREENWOOD\n\nthe British Colony of Hong Kong. He matriculated at London University in 1875, and in 1876 he passed the Intermediate Examination in Laws obtaining first place of those candidates who achieved second class at honours. Also in 1876 he won the Lee Essay Prize at Gray's Inn, the subject being \"The Judicature Act 1873, stating its object and provisions generally and its probable effect on the administration of the law in England”. He was called to the Bar in November 1876. I have no information as to how he otherwise spent his time during 1874-6. The last glimpse of him in England I know of is an entry in Foster's Men at the Bar 2nd ed. 1885 in which his addresses are given as Hong Kong and the Junior Conservative Club.\n\nFrancis was admitted to practise at the Hong Kong Bar in March 1877, being the 27th on the Roll and the first barrister of Gray's Inn to be so admitted. His admission was moved by the Attorney General George Phillippo before Smale who was still Chief Justice. Phillippo said that his call certificate had been filed and an affidavit of identity sworn before Mr. Justice Huddleston was before the Court. However Huddleston had not given any indication of his office and the question was raised whether it was in order to receive the affidavit. Phillippo said that Francis was well known in Hong Kong and Smale said that he was prepared to act on his personal knowledge of him. Just to resolve any remaining doubts there might be it was noted that the affidavit was dated from “Judge's Chambers\" and that was deemed sufficient. Perhaps Francis heaved a sigh of relief. It would have been somewhat tedious for him to have to return to England to obtain a further and better affidavit of identity. E.J. Eitel in his book Europe in China wrote \"the admission to the Bar of Mr. Francis added new zest to the local displays of forensic eloquence”. Shortly after his own admission Francis signed an affidavit in support of the application of Ng Choy the first Chinese to be admitted to practise in Hong Kong. I like to think that it was an indication of his sympathy towards the Chinese.\n\nIn 1877 the leading practitioner at the Bar in Hong Kong was T.C. Hayllar who was admitted to practise in 1868 and at first Francis practised in his shadow. Another obstacle to getting work was that at that time the Attorney General was allowed to engage", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210688, "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-1986", "page_number": 39, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "22\n\nWALTER GREENWOOD\n\nhis expressions. On one occasion an opponent complained that his truculence in court was quite intolerable and Francis responded by saying of the opponent's speech \"such stuff as that is rubbish\". In 1883 there was criticism of his ungentlemanly behaviour when prosecuting R. Fraser Smith, the Editor of the Hong Kong Telegraph and a frequent sparring partner, for libel. The criticism may well have arisen out of disappointment at Fraser Smith's acquittal. As time went by he tended to assume omniscience and in 1887 an opponent was moved to say of him \"my learned friend appears to think that he is not only an authority on law but on every department in the colony”. Francis was minded to treat that as a statement of the obvious. However Hong Kong was well used to robust and idiosyncratic characters and indeed it had all the flavour of a frontier town. In 1859 the Secretary of State, the Duke of Newcastle, said that \"Hong Kong must be protected from the reckless libels which have so long poisoned the very atmosphere of the colony”. Francis was not only outspoken in Court. The Hong Kong Telegraph in its obituary said “his outspoken utterances estranged many persons who would otherwise have employed him professionally. But his talents were so conspicuous, his experience so great and varied, that he was bound to make his way to the front\". The China Mail said of him that “he had a ready temper but bore no malice\". A sort of verdict on him in his lifetime appeared in the Hong Kong Telegraph in 1891 in a series of articles on \"The Local Devil's Own\". It reads \"John Joseph Francis Q.C. is Hong Kong's leading counsel and one of its most prominent citizens. He served with distinction in the army and having acquired a taste for the Bar while serving Her Majesty elected to serve behind it, and by sheer hard work and natural ability succeeded beyond his most sanguine expectations. It is popularly supposed that to have Francis on your side means winning a case with the special exclusive order of Hong Kong jurymen. He is a warm hearted man in his own fashion and has done a lot of good for a certain class in Hong Kong”. The only deliberate act of discourtesy by him in his professional life that I have found was when the Chief Justice of the day refused to accede to his request not to sit after lunch on a Saturday and he did not attend. Francis said later that he had an engagement he could not get out of. On an occasion when he was twenty minutes late and said he had forgotten he was engaged in court the Chief Justice", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210690, "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-1986", "page_number": 41, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "24 \n\nWALTER GREENWOOD \n\nHe was himself once a party when he made a complaint against one Wong Ayow who he found cutting grass in his garden. The defendant said he supplied milk to Francis and thought he could take the grass. However he was convicted and fined twenty-five cents. His views about the organisation of the legal profession appear from a letter he wrote to the Daily Press in 1878 in reply to an editorial critical of barristers' fees. Hong Kong originally had a single profession but later adopted a divided one and he wrote \"Now as everybody knows barristers are paid as a rule at a higher rate than attorneys and properly so, as they profess to give and as a rule do give a higher quality of advice and advocacy. Mind, I do not say that all barristers are better advisers and advocates than any attorney. There are attorneys who as advisers and advocates are more skilful and experienced than many barristers. The fact is there ought not to exist in a colony like this a division between the two branches of the profession. It was so here once and ought to be again. The retrograde step was taken through the efforts of a clique as most things are done here”. In 1892 he expressed opposition to making the Attorney General a full time salaried official, saying that there would be a loss of independence and that “no amount of study, no amount of theory will make a lawyer. Nothing but the actual work of the Courts will enable a man to conduct cases. \n\nFrancis held a number of acting judicial appointments from 1878 to 1880. Because of long absences of officials on leave, or through illness, it was necessary to have a system of acting appointments and from time to time civilians were used. His first appointment was as Police Magistrate in September 1878. The reports of his cases indicate that he was positive and in charge of the proceedings but inclined to be impatient. There was a letter of complaint to the press about him for telling a defendant to stop making signs to witnesses and disbelieving him when he said he had St. Vitus's dance. Another letter urged that non-legally qualified magistrates be brought back. However when he sat again as a magistrate in 1880 his sentences were compared favourably with those of Ng Choy who was more lenient, and there was complaint of the termination of his appointment. In April 1879 he was appointed Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court (stigmatised by The Times of 1863 as the greatest nuisance in the East) and in February 1880 he presided over the Criminal Sessions. In one case he sentenced...", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210692, "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-1986", "page_number": 43, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "26\n\nWALTER GREENWOOD\n\nspecially selected to reorganise and run the Registry (there had been some unhappy experiences in the past), \"The worst of it,\" he wrote, \"will be that this appointment of Mr. Ackroyd will constitute a precedent. He will be constantly vibrating between the Bench and the Registrar's Office. Succeeding Registrars will deem themselves entitled to the same chances, and instead of devoting themselves wholly to their work will be constantly on the look-out for acting appointment”. He ended by saying that he had no personal interest in the matter and would decline either office if offered it, and had not the slightest ill-will towards Ackroyd. The Government went ahead and appointed Ackroyd who does not appear to have taken any offence.\n\nIt may be convenient at this point, before turning to his life outside the law, to deal with other aspects of his character and situation. If his public statements and actions are a true guide he was a man of faith: faithful to his church and religion, to his native country and fellow countrymen and to his monarch. He was one of the leading Roman Catholic laymen in Hong Kong and regularly attended church services and functions. In 1878 he wrote to the press in defence of Bishop Raimondi who had been attacked in an editorial. The same year, speaking on a public occasion, he said that Roman Catholics did not expect favours but expected not to meet with prejudice and ignorance. He went on \"If there has been any difficulty, and there sometimes have been difficulties attending Catholics in Hong Kong, it has arisen, I will not say from any want of goodwill, but a certain amount, I do not like to say of prejudice, but of pre-judgment, a certain feeling of hostility to Catholics almost inevitable in English non-Catholics. At the same time I have spoken to missionaries and they all join in saying that nowhere, under no government, are they so free, are they so well treated, are they so perfectly certain that they will not be interfered with in the legitimate exercise of their office than under Her Majesty's Government”. In 1894 after the death of Bishop Raimondi he described him as a dear friend and said \"for the past twenty-five years he has been to me an educator in the path of duty\". In 1891 when his re-marriage was announced (he married a German lady in Colombo in December 1890) he was described as Knight of St. Gregory the Great, but I have not been able to trace his appointment. In 1880 speaking at a St. Patrick's Day Soiree he", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210694, "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-1986", "page_number": 45, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "28 \n\nWALTER GREENWOOD \n\nfervent supporter of representative government. He was ever an outspoken critic of the Government. The Hong Kong Telegraph in its obituary described him as “an entertaining and instructive companion and full of anecdote. At public functions he joined in heart and soul, ever ready with a cheery word for all. Many were helped by him financially and with advice. He never made a parade of charity but anyone who went to him in trouble seldom left without help. He was a staunch friend and a generous enemy\". The Daily Press said of him that he had a genial breezy presence, a ready eloquence and a cheerful willingness to assist in the promotion of any public measure or social institution. He met with many rebuffs and suffered many reverses but always met them manfully and never bore malice\". The China Mail observed that true to the instincts of his race he was always best in opposition. \n\nA coincidence which affected his life and career was that Hennessy, a fellow Irish Roman Catholic, arrived to take up his appointment as Governor shortly after he was admitted to the Hong Kong Bar. He admired Hennessy describing him as “probably the most eloquent of Irishmen\" and supported him. The Daily Press said in its obituary that Francis \"obtained his acting appointments through the influence of Hennessy whose side he consistently espoused in his long quarrel with the British and Foreign Community, and that on the whole his friendship with Hennessy cost him more than he gained by it, and there was little reason to impute to him self-interest as a motive for his advocacy of the Hennessian regime”. In May 1877 Francis was presented to Hennessy at a General Levee at Government House (though his wife was not presented to Mrs. Hennessy) and that may have marked his arrival in society. He took Hennessy's part at the public meeting held in October 1878 to consider the existing state of insecurity of life and property and in effect to censure Hennessy. Francis was against putting the blame on Hennessy's policies. He said his present house had been burgled three times but the remedy was to amend the law and reorganise the police force. He caused much offence by saying that there was opposition to Hennessy even before he arrived in Hong Kong. His support for Hennessy on this occasion was remembered against him for many years. (In 1880, appearing for a man charged with libel in that he had carried on a bitter, active and ceaseless opposition to the \n\n! \n\nPage 45\n\nPage 46", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210696, "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-1986", "page_number": 47, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "30 \n\nWALTER GREENWOOD \n\ndue from him for some sharpness with which he might have addressed the men (there was cries of “not at all”). If he had done so it had been with the best intentions. A gentleman from Shanghai who had recently witnessed them at seven pounder gun drill had expressed the opinion that the Shanghai artillerymen could not hold a candle to them. In May the Governor congratulated the Volunteers on their smartness at the Queen's Birthday parade. In November the Daily Press noted “The Volunteers are very fortunate in the officers they have elected to command them, for since the time they were appointed they have shewn an enthusiastic interest in the welfare of the Corps. During the past week Captain Francis has been busily engaged in getting up a field day at Kowloon so as to give the men a good introduction to the new equipment of small arms and mountain guns which were sent out in the Telemachus, with the additional attraction of a knife and fork drill at Mr. Chater's bungalow afterwards”. In June 1884 a volunteer complained to the press of having to drag guns up and down the parade ground for over an hour. However Francis seems to have been absent from the colony at that time. In 1886 and again in 1887 he was acting Commandant but his active participation in the Corps was coming to an end. He was absent from the Annual Meeting and there was a critical letter in the press about that. He tendered his resignation and in 1888 was placed on the retired list as an honorary member with the rank of captain. However that did not end his contributions to the Corps. In December 1892 he was a member of a committee formed to re-establish the Corps on a new basis and in January 1893 he was chairman of a recruiting committee which met at his chambers on Tuesdays and Fridays at 4-5p.m. In 1897 he contributed to prizes for a firing competition. The firing point was on an eminence near Wong Nei Chong Gap and the target at Deepwater Bay. Common and shrapnel shells were used and “some good practice was made”. Francis presented a cup for competition known as the \"Francis Cup\" but it seems to be no longer in the possession of the Volunteers. And as one of his obituaries noted he \"took a keen interest in military matters and was seldom absent from any important parade or display in his uniform\". Francis himself said \"I would rather any day attend a military parade or march in front of a military band than march in a procession in Westminster Hall headed by the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice. If I have one proclivity more than any", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210698, "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-1986", "page_number": 49, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "32 \n\nWALTER GREENWOOD \n\nKai, in 1886. Francis himself took part in the foundation of the College of Medicine for Chinese (one of the two original students of which was Sun Yat Sen). He was on the platform at the inaugural meeting in 1887 and was appointed standing counsel to the College and remained as such until his death. He contributed to prizes for botany and chemistry and attended the presentation of the first diplomas in 1892. In 1886 he made a presentation on behalf of the College to Dr. James Cantlie, to whom in great measure the foundation of the College was due, on the occasion of his departure from Hong Kong. He began his address by saying \"when I first came to this colony I was given to understand there was only one disease recognised by the Medical Faculty and that was the liver, and that they had only two prescriptions, one a blue pill and the other, if that did not succeed, a P. & O. Steamer\". In 1897 at a meeting for the election of the Rector of the College he made a speech pressing the Government for recognition and financial support. He alleged that the Government had ignored the College and wanted a medical school on government lines with the Colonial Surgeon at the head and government officers thick and thin all over from top to bottom. On his death the Court of the College (which may be regarded as the forerunner of the University of Hong Kong) passed a resolution expressing appreciation for his services.\n\nHis interest in education also included schools, particularly the Roman Catholic schools. After the founding of St. Joseph's College in 1875 he rarely missed a Prizegiving Day there, and usually donated prizes, including on one occasion, somewhat ironically, an inkstand. He also acted as an examiner at St. Joseph's. Bishop Raimondi said that he tested the boys thoroughly and cross-examined them as he would have cross-examined a witness in court. He advocated teaching English to Chinese children. He also acted as a steward at, and patron of, the Hong Kong School's Athletic Sports.\n\nOne of the obituaries of Francis recorded that he used to say that when he first arrived and stood on the deck of the troopship and gazed at Hong Kong he determined to be Governor one day. Whatever the truth of that there can be no doubt that, as was said in another obituary, he coveted a seat on the Legislative Council. He might have had a chance of nomination by Hennessy save that Hennessy was intent on nominating a Chinese (Ng Choy) and also", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210700, "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-1986", "page_number": 51, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "34 \n\nWALTER GREENWOOD \n\nForeign Community. Self interest as well as sympathy attached him to Hennessy\" (reference was then made to his acting judicial appointments and that of A.D.C.). \"Mr. Francis is a clever reasoner and skilful logician but he cannot persuade the community that their memories play them false. Either he endorsed the policy of Hennessy or he did not act with independence of mind and judgment. Whichever impeachment he chooses to admit the Justices will reject him\". \n\nFrancis wrote in answer to this that he was not in collusion with Hennessy and did not support him on the issue of corporal punishment. “I stood up for fair play for him in the face of a very hostile meeting of my fellow citizens on whose goodwill I was mainly depending for my bread\". He said he was at odds with Hennessy over corporal punishment when he sat as a magistrate and was very nearly removed for that. His appointment as Puisne Judge was on the recommendation of the Chief Justice. His acceptance of the appointment of A.D.C. was purely personal, Hennessy being in difficulties with the military authorities, and it was the temporary filling of a gap. “Although Hennessy honoured me with some degree of his friendship and patronage and I sympathised and fought for him in some things I never hesitated publicly to dissent from his policy when I was not in accord with it\". \n\nWhen the Justices met Francis was proposed by P. Ryrie who said \"the meetings of the Council will be made very much more interesting by his presence\". In the event Chater was elected by 35 votes to 15 and afterwards said of Francis \"I admire his abilities. His fluency in addressing meetings is undoubted”. The Daily Press had the last word saying that the majority in favour of Chater was even larger than expected. In 1887 Francis seconded A.P. MacEwan as the member for the Chamber of Commerce. In January 1888 Chater was again elected as the Justices member, Francis being out of Hong Kong at the time. In May 1888 Ryrie proposed Francis as the Chamber of Commerce member saying that the unofficial members felt the need for someone who could advise them on legal points of order. However B. Layton, a merchant, won the contest by 20 votes to 16. The Daily Press in an editorial said that Francis was a man of wide experience outside", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210702, "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-1986", "page_number": 53, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "36\n\nWALTER GREENWOOD\n\nmember, being re-elected in 1891 and 1894, until his resignation in 1895. It was a substantial commitment, involving fortnightly meetings and reading papers in-between meetings. Considerations of space allow reference only to certain events in 1894 and 1895 for which Francis is best known. Suffice it to say that he appeared to try to dominate the proceedings of the Board but at the same time had an ambivalent attitude to it because he considered that it did not have sufficient powers and independence to make it an effective body. For example, in March 1894 he seconded a proposal that it be reconstructed on a popular basis but also argued that that was premature until its powers had been enlarged. Prior to the election in June 1891 the Daily Press said that he had rendered good service and that his keen and ever-ready criticism, sometimes perhaps degenerating into captiousness, had exercised a wholesome influence both on the Board and its officers. The China Mail in its obituary said that he was not an unqualified success and his performance as a member of the Board might have deprived him of support for a place on the Legislative Council.\n\nIn May 1894 plague struck Hong Kong, and a Permanent Committee of the Sanitary Board, comprising three members with Francis as Chairman, was set up to cope with the emergency. It met daily at his chambers at 4 p.m. Its actions were not universally popular. It was in conflict with the Government on occasion, and at one stage was said to be daggers drawn with the Governor. The business community complained that its activities had an adverse effect on commerce, and its relations with the Chinese community were not assisted by wild rumours such as that pregnant women were cut open and children's eyes were gouged out to make medicines for the treatment of the plague. There were recriminations as to whose fault had led to the outbreak and whether the right steps were taken to combat it. Francis bluntly laid the blame on gross mismanagement by the Public Works Department. Whatever the rights and wrongs of particular matters, there were many tributes to his work. The Governor in a dispatch to the Secretary of State, Lord Ripon, in June said that the Permanent Committee acted with extraordinary energy and efficiency and that the Government was indebted to him and others. The acting Attorney General paid tribute to his great assistance, at enormous sacrifice of time, and his wonderful and rapid grasp of any subject and great", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210704, "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-1986", "page_number": 55, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "38\n\nWALTER GREENWOOD\n\nThe members elected in 1899 resigned in April 1901 on the ground that the Board could do nothing effective until it received adequate and independent powers, a view that Francis always held. Hong Kong had to wait until 1936 and the creation of the Urban Council for any further advance toward democratic local government.\n\nThe passing of the plague was followed not only by a post-mortem but also by a consideration of who should be rewarded, and how, for services rendered during the plague. The two outstanding candidates were F.H. May, the Captain Superintendent of Police, who served on the Permanent Committee, and Francis. In September 1894 at a public meeting a committee was appointed, with Edward Ackroyd as chairman, to decide on awards to be made on behalf of the community. In December Ackroyd wrote to the Governor \"The Committee consider that to Mr. Francis their best thanks are due for all his exertions and the time he devoted to the wants of the Colony for so many weeks. As Chairman of the Permanent Committee Mr. Francis had a heavy, troublesome and laborious task to perform, and throughout the duration of the epidemic he was unremitting in his devotion to his duties and gave up a great portion of his time, no doubt to the detriment of his extensive practice, to carry on the work he had voluntarily undertaken. Your Excellency is too well acquainted with his services for any need of further mention. Our Committee decided that his actions are deserving of the fullest recognition, that the best thanks of the community, with a good medal, should be tendered to him, and that his valuable services and useful work should be brought, through Your Excellency, to the special notice of the Secretary of State\". Meanwhile the Government was considering what recommendations it should make. It was chiefly concerned with officials but also considered non-officials including Francis. In September the Governor in writing to the Secretary of State expressed the hope that the latter had not failed to notice the untiring and energetic effects on behalf of the public weal of the medical staff and of Francis. However he seems to have been lukewarm to the suggestion, apparently favoured by May, that Francis should have the C.M.G. saying that he had no objection but \"it was easily earned\". He appears to have suggested that silver inkstands be given to the Colonial Surgeon and Francis but to no", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210706, "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-1986", "page_number": 57, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "40\n\nWALTER GREENWOOD\n\nHis letter received wide publicity. The Daily Press wrote \"The community will sympathise with Mr. Francis in the treatment to which he has been subjected. It was generally understood that he would at least be made a C.M.G., and to ask him to accept a paltry inkstand while conferring a C.M.G. on Mr. F.H. May can only be construed as a marked intentional insult. The explanation is perhaps not far to seek. In the first place Mr. Francis is not an official and in Crown Colonies the Government is very chary of conferring honours outside the charmed circle; and in the second place he has on certain points deemed it his duty to oppose the Government sometimes with what may have been considered unnecessary warmth. Whoever is at fault the omission of his name is a disappointment to the whole Colony”. In a letter signed Honoris Causa (anonymous letters have always been a feature in Hong Kong) a correspondent wrote “In common, I fancy, with most of the Hong Kong community I thoroughly agree with the letter of Mr. Francis to the Governor except that knowing some of the men the honour of C.M.G. is bestowed on I must congratulate him in not having been created a Colonial Made Gentleman”. The expectation that Francis would be honoured was not confined to Hong Kong. The Straits Times wrote \"The great public services of Mr. Francis would entirely warrant a C.M.G.” Indeed it was believed at first in Singapore that he had got one because the official telegram reporting the award to May read \"Francis May Hong Kong Companion Michael”. However there was reaction the other way. A piece in the Straits Times said “Mr. Francis has succeeded in making what is almost a record in bad taste. The provocation was no doubt great but it was inexcusable for him to publish his letter to the Governor. He had no right to an honour, he only did his duty. The habit of living in small societies tends to throw men off their balance. Mr. Francis lacks self-restraint, dignity and a saving sense of humour. He has taken himself so seriously that no-one else can do ought but smile\". The Japan Mail wrote \"There is one thing that no man has ever succeeded in achieving with grace; it is a return of a gift on the ground of its inadequacy. Mr. Francis has made the essay and has accomplished it after a fashion not certainly wanting in ability but altogether wanting in grace. We may infer from the Governor's extolling the beauties of the gift that he had doubts of its suitability for Mr. Francis' most substantial and praiseworthy services. It is impossible not to sympathise", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210708, "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-1986", "page_number": 59, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "42 \n\nWALTER GREENWOOD \n\nsaying he expected a C.M.G. and this I believe dished his chances. In any case I submit that it is highly improper for a Government pensioner, who has been knighted, to publish such a statement and I think Sir Edward Ackroyd should be called upon for an explanation through the Colonial Office\". It may be that if Francis had not made his protest the Government would have had second thoughts. But as the China Mail observed it was not in his nature to allow the neglect to pass unnoticed. The handsome, paltry, historical silver inkstand was ordered to be returned to the Crown Agents to be sold for the benefit of the Colony.\n\nFrancis was prominent in public affairs in a number of respects in addition to those already mentioned. To take a few examples. He was on the committees formed to organise the celebration of the Queen's Golden and Diamond Jubilees. As to the former he favoured it being marked by a contribution to the British Indian and Colonial Institute, which had the support of the Royal Family, but in the end the committee decided on a statue which is now in Victoria Park. On the latter occasion he was awarded the Governor's Jubilee medal for his services. He was also on the Hong Kong Golden Jubilee committee. He attended a number of the protest meetings which were a feature of life in Hong Kong, and usually had something to say. His last public appointment was as Chairman of the Food Supply Commission in 1900. He had a number of business interests which, presumably, were not regarded as inconsistent with his status as a practising member of the Bar. The most interesting relate to Borneo and newspapers. In 1889 he paid an extended visit to Borneo and whilst there purchased the island of Balambangan. His main interest was in the prospects for growing tobacco. Whilst in Borneo he \"took the trouble to learn all about it” and of course lectured about it on his return. On the death of Fraser Smith in 1895 he acquired an interest in the Daily Telegraph which he retained until 1900. He was said to have directed the policy of the newspaper during that period. It was also said in an obituary that he was proprietor of the China Mail for a time.\n\nHe was a member of many clubs and societies. He was a founder member of the Jockey Club and secretary of its first rule committee. He took a prominent part in disputes between the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210710, "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-1986", "page_number": 61, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "44 \n\nWALTER GREENWOOD \n\nFrancis had a serious illness towards the end of 1895 and had trouble with his health thereafter. In August 1901, after making a new will, he went to Yokohama to seek refreshment. He died at the Grand Hotel on 22nd September, the cause of death being given as apoplexy. On 25th September both branches of the legal profession met at the Supreme Court to pay tribute to him. The acting Chief Justice, A.G. Wise, recorded his personal debt to Francis for his welcome at the start of his career and his advice throughout it. He said \"Francis loved a fight in court but differences with opponents died at the doors of the court, and outside it was difficult to find a more genial or generous friend”. Ackroyd, in his letter referred to earlier, wrote \"Like all of us he had his faults but one quality he possessed for which he ought to be remembered and his example followed was his faithfulness and devotion to his clients. He was thoroughly conscientious in the conduct of his cases and once he took up a case he bestowed on it all his energy and talent. His zeal for his client may sometimes have betrayed him into hasty or indiscreet action, especially if he thought there was on the part of witnesses any false swearing, but this was a fault we could soon forget when we thought of his independent conduct of a case”. A full choral funeral service was conducted by Bishop Piazzoli at St. Michael's Roman Catholic Cemetery on 30th October. His grave is surmounted by a simple cross on a stepped plinth and bears the inscription, reading from top to bottom, “R.I.P. Sacred to the memory of John Joseph Francis K.C. Born at Dublin 25th April 1839. Died at Yokohama 22nd September 1901. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth now saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours”. His widow left Hong Kong in 1902 and went to live in Germany where she died in 1912. \n\nAPPENDIX \n\nFrancis worked and lived at a number of addresses in Hong Kong. The first address I have found at which he lived was 2 Mosque Street. When in articles he worked at 2 Club Chambers, D'Aguilar Street, and continued there after being admitted as a solicitor. He lived in Alexandra Terrace in 1872 and 1, Caine Road in 1873. After his admission to practise at the Bar he had his chambers in Bank Buildings. He lived in a house in Bonham Road", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 } ]