RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d 180 THE LIBRARY BACKHOUSE, E. and BLAND, J. O. P. Annals and memoirs of the court of Peking, from the 16th to the 20th century. London, Heinemann, 1914. BALL, J. Dyer. Things Chinese; or, Notes connected with China. 5th ed., rev. by E. Chalmers Werner. Shanghai, Kelly & Walsh, 1925. BELCHER, Sir Edward. Narrative of a voyage round the world, performed in Her Majesty's Ship Sulphur, during the years 1836-1842, including details of the naval operations in China from Dec. 1840 to Nov. 1841. Publ. under the authority of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. London, Colburn, 1843, 2 vols. BERNARD, W. D. Narrative of the voyages and services of the Nemesis, from 1840 to 1843; and of the combined naval and military operations in China: comprising a complete account of the Colony of Hong Kong, and remarks on the character and habits of the Chinese, from notes of W.H. Hall, London, Colburn, 1844. 2 vols. BISHOP, John L., ed. Studies in Chinese literature. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard U.P., 1965. BLAND, J. O. P., and BACKHOUSE, E. China under the Empress Dowager; being the life and times of Tzu Hsi, compiled from state papers and the private diary of the comptroller of her household. New and rev. cheaper ed. Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1914. BODDE, Derk. China's first unifier: a study of the Ch'in dynasty as seen in the life of Li Ssŭ († 208 B.C.). Hong Kong, University Press, 1967. BOUCHOT, Jean. Scènes de la vie des Hutungs; croquis des moeurs pékinoises. 2e éd. Pekin, [Nachbaur] 1922. BREDON, Juliet. Hundred altars. Shanghai, Kelly & Walsh, 1936. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 NOTES AND QUERIES 203 He won his knighthood in 1902. His activities also extended to religion (he built St. Andrew's church in Kowloon), sport (he presided over the Jockey Club for many years) and the arts (the "Chater Collection" of porcelain, pottery and paintings was highly valued). The house Marble Hall was built towards the end of the nineteenth century. About five hundred feet above sea level, it was said to command excellent views of the harbour and stood amidst two acres of shrubs and tropical plants. A Public Works Department memorandum noted that its external walls were of "stuccoed brickwork finished in the Classic Style through which runs a strong Jacobean tendency"; the main staircase was "of monumental design executed in polished Italian marble." The house was flanked on three sides by wide verandahs and contained a spacious hall, drawing room, card room, dining and billiard rooms, four bedrooms (each with its own bathroom and easy access to a drying room), a large kitchen, pantry, scullery, silver and wine closet, and ample servants' quarters. Internal materials included mahogany from England and stained and polished teak. Admiralty House Sir Paul Chater died on 26 May 1926 and, in his will, bequeathed Marble Hall and its furniture, fixtures and household effects (including pottery, paintings and all his racing cups but excluding some china and curios) to the government of Hong Kong. The gift was to take effect when his widow, Lady Maria Christine Chater, ceased to live in the house. She apparently left the colony in 1927 with no intention of returning, but the house did not become the property of the government until her death on 11 March 1935. Governor Sir Cecil Clementi had suggested in 1926 that Marble Hall be offered to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty for use by the Naval Commander-in-Chief of the China Squadron, and in 1935 the gracious residence became the colony's "Admiralty House." The Admiral found other accommodation after Christmas Day, 1941, but following expulsion of the Japanese from Hong Kong in 1945 he once again took residence in Marble Hall. Soon afterwards, however, the house was damaged by fire. It apparently stood dere- ================================================================================