RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 ADVENTURERS IN HONG KONG 55 not serve his full sentence because he was released on grounds of ill-health. But, as Des Voeux notes, the day after his release from Victoria Gaol he was seen avidly betting at the Happy Valley Race Course. He was, clearly a great card and popular with drinking circles in Hong Kong. The Telegraph was an evening newspaper. After Fraser-Smith's death, J. J. Francis became publisher and Chesney Duncan its editor. 28 John Joseph Francis (1839-1901) was educated in Dublin and intended for the Catholic priesthood. But instead of entering the Church he enlisted in the Army, coming out to China in the Royal Artillery during the Second China War. He took his discharge in Hong Kong and commenced the study of law in the office of a Mr. Owens, solicitor. He was admitted to practise as an attorney in 1869 and entered into partnership with another solicitor and soon acquired a lucrative practice. Ambitious, he gained admission to Gray's Inn and was called to the Bar of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong in 1877. By 1888 he was the Colony's leading barrister. Francis was extremely touchy and truculent: in 1895 he returned to the Governor a silver inkstand, given to him in recognition of his work during the plague, on the grounds that the gift did not sufficiently acknowledge his services. He died of apoplexy at Yokohama's Grand Hotel in 1901. A fitting end: he was an apoplectic soul. Francis lived at 'Shirley House' in Bonham Road, a commodious residence with extensive grounds. 29 A. Macmillan, Seaports of the Far East, London, 1923, p. 366. 30 22 November, 1888. The Hong Kong Hotel, situated in Pedder Street, was originally managed by Parsees; in 1866 it came under European management and soon became a first-class hotel with all the facilities of a good West End hotel. 31 7 January, 1889. 32 Soulié states that Mayréna on his way to Hong Kong marooned Afong on Hainan Island but that the intrepid Chinese took passage on a junk and appeared in Hong Kong to haunt the King of the Sedangs. 33 China Mail, 7 January, 1889. 34 George Murray Bain (1842-1909) was born and educated at Montrose, Scotland. He joined the China Mail as a sub-editor and reporter (some say printer) in 1864. In 1875 he became sole proprietor of the China Mail and in 1879 took over the editorship of the paper himself. With N. B. Dennys he started the China Review in 1872. The China Mail was edited from Wyndham Street, a short distance away from the Hong Kong Telegraph on Pedder's Hill. Bain, unlike Fraser-Smith, appears to have been pious, temperate, and acutely respectable. 35 Hong Kong Telegraph, 27 December, 1888. 36 'Drey' was the name of a Sedang locality. 37 China Mail, 24 January, 1889. 38 Hong Kong Telegraph, 25 January, 1889. 39 7 January, 1889. 40 Sir Hugh Clifford, Heroes of Exile, London, 1906, pp. 69-70. Clifford states that it was the Hong Kong merchants 'who had paid his (Mayréna's) passage and had supplied his Majesty with a little ready money' and that they had been actuated partly by a desire to remunerate one from whom they had derived so much entertainment'. Sir Hugh Clifford (1866-1941), a colonial administrator, who served in Pahang from 1887 to 1899, was, apparently, in Hong Kong in late 1888; it is possible that he had taken local leave but I have been unable to confirm the fact. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 118 REVS. J. SMITH AND WM. DOWNS 14-There is a softball game almost every evening now and that gives us something to look forward to, although swimming is also a good attraction during the day. Tweed Bay Beach is a very fine sandy one, but not very large. We learn that the Holy Father has given $15,000.00 HK to victims of the war, and each internee at Stanley will receive about $5.40. — 15 Feast of the Assumption. Only one Mass in the Club Chapel today. We are hoping to receive our long-looked-for permission to leave Camp today, as hitherto something important usually happened on a Feast Day, but there is as yet no news from "The Hill." However, we did have quite a surprise when the Sisters gave us a dish of ice cream for supper. How they manage these things is more than we can fathom. No show tonight, but a farcical game of softball between the Police and the Ladies. The next few days are quite uneventful, with baseball the main feature of the day. As clothing is becoming quite a problem for the internees, flour sacks are being utilized for articles of apparel. On the 17th there was another death at the Hospital. The British are also having lectures each Tuesday for those who wish to attend. Rain kept us indoors at times and it looks as if we might have a typhoon. One of the patients who had been allowed to go to St. Paul's Hospital for X-ray treatment failed to return to Camp and as a punishment no more patients will be allowed this privilege for a month, no matter how sick they may be. 20-Seven months in Camp today and at last the good news has come: we get our call to sign our papers on "The Hill" at 9:30 a.m. These papers merely say that we shall do nothing against His Imperial Majesty's Japanese Government if we are paroled, and we gladly accede to such a request. Accordingly, promptly at the appointed time, we 13 Maryknoll priests, Brother Thaddeus and two of the remaining four Maryknoll Sisters, Sister Dorothy and Sister Henrietta Marie, sign the required papers and are informed that we may leave in a "few" days. Fathers Meyer and Hessler, with Sisters Eucharistia and Christella, will remain in the Camp to look after the Catholics. At present there is only one other priest left, Father Charles Murphy of Scarboro Bluff, Canada. He is seeking his release. 21 — Packing up our few belongings and Dr. Talbot gives us cholera shots. Softball gives us a good evening's entertainment. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 148 CARL SMITH Upon reading it Hung believed he had found the key to explain the strange things that had happened to him in his dreams and visions. Soon he was formulating the initial ideology upon which the Taiping movement was based. It was a strange mixture of that which was traditionally Chinese and new elements derived from the Christian teachings of the foreigners. Liang A-fa lived for a short time in Hongkong, long enough for him to acquire a property in the Lower Bazaar. This and the one next to it, purchased by his son, were used by the Rev Mr Elijah Bridgman for a school and dispensary. In 1845 Liang A-fa left Hongkong disillusioned with life in a British colony. Both he and his son had experienced rough treatment on the streets of Hongkong from Europeans. He was in the unhappy situation of not being accepted by his countrymen because of his foreign faith and his connections with foreigners. At the same time he was not able to adapt to life in a place governed by foreigners. A STUDENT AND TEACHER WHO BECAME A TEAM Ho Fuk-tong, or as he was also known, Ho Tsun-shin, met the Rev. Mr. James Legge at the Anglo-Chinese College in Malacca. Fuk-tong, 22 at the time, was only two years younger than his future teacher and colleague, when they met. Mr. Legge had recently arrived from England to assist the ailing principal of the college, the Rev. Mr. John Evans. After some months, Mr. Evans died and Mr. Legge took charge. Ho Fuk-tong was his star pupil. Fuk-tong was the son of a woodblock-cutter and printer brought from China to work in the Malacca press of the Ultra-Ganges Mission of the London Missionary Society. After the father had been away from home for some years, his son left China. Page 165 Page 166 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 168 CARL SMITH sion on them. They saw it as the key to open the door to success in the business world. By every mail they wrote to Kim-leen offering to establish him in business. Just as Miss Grant had recognised a good marriage partner for her student in Song Hoot-kiam, they saw a good business partner in Lee Kim-leen. He might have made a good businessman. It was not likely he would make an effective preacher. Even Dr. Legge recognised this, admitting he had a delicate constitution, a nervous temperament and a weak voice. In compensation, he had the ability to relate well to children and Dr. Legge said he set an excellent example for the other boys in the school. In 1850, he was given $12 a month to serve as a teaching assistant in the school. The same year he returned to Singapore to marry one of Miss Grant's scholars. The young couple returned to Hongkong where he resumed his duties as teacher. It had been hoped that his wife would assume responsibilities for a girls' school the mission wished to open. However she had a very difficult time adjusting to Hongkong. Both the people and the language were strange to her. The climate affected her health. In addition she soon had a child to care for. After a year or so, Lee Kim-leen found teaching uncongenial and asked to be placed in the printing office of the mission press. He was to learn the management side of the business under Mr. Cole, the mission printer. When Mr. Cole left in 1855, Kim-leen and another old-time mission employee took charge. Within a short time his health broke down. Ill with tuberculosis, the doctor advised him to return to Malacca. He left Hongkong in 1855 with his wife and children. In Malacca there was some improvement in his condition, but it was only temporary. In February 1856, Dr. Legge reported: “Kim-leen died happy”. Even though Hoot-kiam and Kim-leen did not fulfil Dr. Legge's hopes that they would become ministers, they appear to have led correct and useful lives. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h AGM for an approach for financial assistance to those leading “Hongs" which support the parent body in London with its publishing expenses, a letter has now been sent to them to this end. We waited for publication of the new book and the latest Journal before taking action, so that they could see the results of our labours and (hopefully) feel more encouraged to help thereby. There is no doubt that the time has come to seek their assistance, given the difficulty in making ends meet and yet pursuing an energetic and rounded programme of activities in line with our remit. The Programme The past twelve months saw 9 lectures, 10 visits and one Chinese dinner, besides the usual dinner following the AGM. The visits were the largest number on record. This was due to a greater sharing of the load by members of the Activities Committee, which now includes Members of the Society as well as Councillors. Details are as follows: Dr. Maria Jaschok “Concubines and Bond Servants" 18 April Dr. Tom Stanley **Emperor Hirohito and the Pacific War' 12 May Professor Tong Kin-woon “Oracle Bones, the Key to Shang China" 9 June Stephen and Anne Selby "Pukka Pidgin" 14 July Dr. Dea Birkett "Women Travellers in Asia' 28 July Chinese Dinner in the City Hall Restaurant 25 September Dr. Lauren Pfister "Clues to the Life and Academic Achievement of James Legge, 1815-1897” 20 October Professor John Hodgkiss **The Biology of Mangroves and the Role They Play in Hong Kong" | December Professor Graham Johnson "The Hong Kong Chinese in Canada: an Updating" 5 January Rev. Carl Smith (with Elizabeth Sinn, Susanna Hoe, Maria Jaschok, Patrick Hase and James Hayes) "The Ladies of Lyndhurst Terrace" 23 February Dr. Mimi Chan "Images of Chinese Women in Anglo-American Literature" ix ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 152 It is, moreover, fortuitous that he not only examines records for his own immediate purposes, but collates his data so systematically that it may conveniently be used by other researchers. His home, with hundreds of drawers of index cards, is more like a library. More importantly, his willingness to share his research experience and information has greatly helped other scholars in their study of Hong Kong. Recently, the Public Records Office has further processed his data to make it retrievable electronically. It would be no exaggeration to say that Carl Smith is a key figure (keystone?) in building a firm foundation for the study of local history, and has become something of an institution himself. Historical Geographers Another small group studying local history were the geographers, notably D.J. Dwyer, C.J. Grant, T.G. McGee and later Ron Hill of the University of Hong Kong, whose work covered the rural as well as the urban areas. It should be pointed out that under their guidance, many of their students have produced extremely interesting work, but unfortunately this is not widely known. Their field projects and BA theses, many of which are focused on localities and date back to the 1960s, are kept in the Map Library of the Geography Department, HKU, and these, with their contemporary descriptions and photographs, are in fact of immense value as source materials for local history. The Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Though the five groups were quite diverse in their focus and approach, two institutions did bring them together: the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS) and the Centre of Asian Studies (CAS) at HKU. Almost all of them had at least some of their works published in the Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, and the Society's Occasional Publications. As early as 1962, three years after the Society was re-established, the Hon. Editor expressed a hope to develop the study of Hong Kong by printing articles and short notes about the life and customs of the people. James Hayes' article, "The Patterns of Life in the New Territories in 1898" appearing in the 1962 Journal, in a way marked the beginning of the RAS' deep commitment to local studies. This was Hayes' debut, to be followed by massive output in each following volume. Not surprisingly, it was also he who reminded the Society that "Hong Kong has an urban history" (his italics).12 As Hon. Editor from 1967 to ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g 9 Feb 96 Locomotives of the Sugar Railways of Java Mr Brian Pearce 8 Mar 96 Paper Folkfore Dr Janet Scott In addition to these lectures we have had a series of 8 lectures given in association with the exhibition on buildings in Hong Kong presented jointly by the Society and the Antiquities and Monuments Office as follows: Title Lecturer Villages in the New Territories Dr. Patrick Hase Kowloon Walled City (in Cantonese) Dr. Elizabeth Sinn Approach to Conservation - Work on Historic Buildings in Hong Kong (in Cantonese) Mr S L. Lam The Space and Face of 19th Century Urban in Hong Kong The Rey Carl Smith The Military Installations in Guangdong Coastal Area during the Qing Dynasty (in Cantonese) Dr. Anthony Siu The Architecture of Necessity: On the inhabiting of City Form and Space in Hong Kong Mr. Desmond Hu Our Heritage: Hong Kong's Old Chinese and Colonial Buildings Dr. Daniel Waters The Three Hamlets of Mut Wo - Pak Mong, Tu Ho and Ngau Kwu Long Dr. Joseph Ting (in Cantonese) The response to these was excellent even though they were held on a Saturday afternoon. It was particularly gratifying to note that four were presented in Cantonese, Many of the lecturers are with us to-night and we welcome them as our guests. In addition to the above no less than 15 visits within Hong Kong and three visits outside Hong Kong have been organised as follows: Date Place 7 May 95 Tam Kung Festival, Shaukerwan 13 May 95 Maryknoll Fathers, Stanley 27 May 95 Balthus Exhibition, HK Museum of Art 15 Jun 95 1st Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles, Malaysia Lines xi ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 148 with 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. Since 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. An American in Hong Kong... The 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... "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!!! The 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? The 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. "The Asian division of the Library of Congress, right before the handover, came to Hong Kong with the purpose of getting documents ================================================================================