RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1961 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch RASHKB and author Vol. 1 (1961) ISSN 1991-7295 50 THE MORRISON LIBRARY AN EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY COLLECTION IN THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG DOROTHEA SCOTT. A.L.A. THE HISTORY The history of the Morrison Library goes back to 1806 when the members of the English Factory in Canton unanimously decided to establish a Library by subscription "comprising a moderate collection of works of acknowledged value and respectability; together with an annual contribution of all the most desirable new publications, which are at present, generally either not imported at all, or multiplied by unnecessary repetitions. . . It would be a library. . . far surpassing in extent, variety, and adaptation to general use, any collection that has hitherto been in possession of, or attempted to be formed by, any European in this country". The president of the select committee of members of the Factory granted a "very commodious" room for a library and by 1832 it contained 1600 different works in about 4000 volumes and a catalogue was published. The Library flourished until the withdrawal of the charter of the East India Company in 1834 and the break-up of the English factory. Just about this time, on the 1 August, 1834, occurred the death of the Rev. Robert Morrison, D.D., the first protestant missionary to China and well-known scholar. A circular dated 26 January, 1835 was distributed among the foreign residents in Canton and Macao suggesting the formation of the Morrison Education Society to carry on the work he had started and to be a "testimonial more enduring than marble or brass". The idea received considerable support, twenty-two signatures to the circular were obtained, the sum of $4,860 was subscribed and a provisional committee consisting of Sir George R. Robinson, bart., Messrs. William Jardine, David W. C. Olyphant, Lancelot Dent, John Robert Morrison (Robert Morrison's son who had succeeded his father as Chinese Secretary and Interpreter to His Majesty's Commission in China) and the Rev. E. C. Bridgman was formed to act until a general meeting of the subscribers in China could be convened to form a board of trustees. The Chinese Repository, a monthly magazine in English, had been founded in 1832 by Morrison and Bridgman. It gave its support to the foundation of the Society and in the number for June 1835, it published the details given above, saying, "We have been led to make these remarks by a desire to suggest to the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1961 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch RASHKB and author Vol. 1 (1961) ISSN 1991-7295 51 friends of Education the expediency of establishing a public library in China. This plan was brought to our notice by the following letter, (which we publish with Mr. Colledge's permission) addressed: To the Rev. E. C. Bridgman, corresponding secretary to the provisional committee of the Morrison Education Society. My dear sir, On the dissolution of the British factory, it became necessary to make some disposition of the library belonging to the members of that establishment; and it was proposed to give the whole collection to the Morrison Education Society. The arrangement, however, not meeting with the concurrence of all the proprietors, a division of the books was determined on; and while I regret that so excellent a suggestion should not have been adopted, I am still happy in performing with my share, what it was my anxious wish should have been done with the whole, by presenting it to that admirable institution. The very injudicious method pursued in the division of the works, has allotted to me volumes of comparatively little value. Such as they are, I present them to the Morrison Education Society; with an ardent hope that I may live to see an institution, which so distinctly marks this enlightened age, attain, under your fostering care, the full realization of its philanthropic intentions, by promoting virtue and happiness through the blessings of education. I am, My dear sir, Respectfully and faithfully yours, T. R. Colledge. Macao, May 21st, 1835. Further early history of the Society can be traced through reports in the above-mentioned journal. One book still in the Library, A Catalogue of Books and Manuscripts Collected with A View To The General Comparison of Languages, And To The Study of Oriental Literature, by William Marsden, London, 1827, is inscribed by the author, "For the Library at Canton from the Author" and reminds the reader of the origin of some of the books. "Proceedings relative to the formation of the Morrison Education Society including the Constitution" were published in December, 1836. By this time there was a collection of some 1500 books on scientific, literary, and other subjects which had been presented to the Society, 700 from Mr. T. R. Colledge, 600 from Mr. J. R. Reeves, and others from Messrs. Dent, Fox, A. S. Keating, and J. R. Morrison, who gave a number of his father's books, some of which still bear his signature. A constitution was drawn up for the Library which stated that "The books belonging to the Society shall form a public library and be styled the 'Library of the Morrison Education Society'," and also provided that “rules for the regulation of the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1963 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v PROTESTANT CEMETERY IN MACAO 19 Cochin China, Siam, and who died in Macao while en route to Japan in an attempt to open that country to American trade. To the south of Crockett is Ljungstedt, a Swedish merchant, a philanthropist, an educationalist, and a Knight of Wasa, and alongside him are three small humble altar-tombs of the three children of an American girl, Caroline Shillaber of Danvers, Massachusetts, who married an English doctor, Thomas Richardson Colledge in Macao in 1833. After their return to England in 1838/39, Dr. Colledge practised his profession in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, for about forty years, and both he and his wife are buried in the churchyard of the small village of Shurdington just outside Cheltenham. Their tombstone supplied us with the Christian names of one of their children buried in Macao whose memorial does not give the child's name, for it merely refers to "the infant son of" Dr. and Mrs. Colledge. The name was Lancelot Dent, the head of a famous merchant house here in those days. One cannot mention Mrs. Colledge without referring also to her school friend Harriet Low. She came out to Macao in 1829 as a companion to her aunt. Her uncle was William Henry Low, head of the American firm of Russell & Co. Together they all three left Macao to return to the States in 1834, but the uncle died in Cape Town while on the journey home. Harriet, fortunately for us, kept a diary from the day she left Massachusetts, and it gives us most valuable information of the community life in Macao in the early thirties, as well as of many of the individual members of the community itself. Along the eastern wall near the north-east corner of the Lower Terrace is the grave of another Boston merchant, Captain Nathaniel Kinsman. His wife too was a diarist, but whereas Harriet looked at everything through the sparkling and bewitching eyes of a gaiety-loving girl of twenty-one, Rebecca Kinsman viewed the life amongst the members of this predominantly masculine society from the viewpoint of a married middle-aged Quakeress. Yet a third feminine writer to whom we also owe much was the widow of Dr. Robert Morrison. She wrote a biography of her husband which was published in two volumes, and although it necessarily deals mainly with the Morrison family, it nevertheless gives much information too about their contemporaries in Macao. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1963 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v PROTESTANT CEMETERY IN MACAO APPENDIX 21 Below are two lists of those known, or believed, to have been buried in the cemetery or memorialized in its Chapel. The first list is arranged alphabetically, and the second according to the numerical order used in the official list in the Chapel. The first list gives the location and number of the memorial, while the second gives in addition the sex, age at death, date of death and nationality. In those cases where the exact age is not known and it is certain that the individual was an adult, the evidence is given in brackets e.g. Able-seaman, Ship's captain, &c. "40+" means "40 at least". The following abbreviations are used; LIST I U = Upper Terrace; L = Lower Terrace; C = Chapel. A. ADAMS, Joseph Harod ALLEYN, Frederick Perceval ASTELL, John B. BACON, Francis W. + BALLS, Sarah Anne BARNETT, William BARTON, Charles John Wood BARTON, Euphemia Isabel BATEMAN, James BATES, Edwards Whipple DEALE, Daniel BEALE, Thomas BIDDLE, George Washington BOECK, Christian BOVET, Margaret BRIDGES, Henry Gardner BROOKE, John F. BUTTIVANT, John Henry C. CAMPBELL, Archibald S. CANNING, James CAPPER, Cawthorne + 38 U 55 L +++ 131 L 59 L + 79 L 49 L -- 11 U + 12 U 121 L 2 U 160 L 159 L 58 L 46 L 105 L 4 108 L 68 L 154 L 89 L 162 L 116 L ++ 40 U +++ +++ + 133 L 94 L 96 L 95 L 22 U 100 L 10 98 L + 87 L --- + ++ ++ +++ 151 L 7 U CHINNERY, George CHURCHILL, Henry John Spencer COLLEDGE, Lancelot Dent COLLEDGE, Thomas Richardson COLLEDGE, William Shillaber COOPER, Mark Beale CROCKETT, Ann CROCKETT, Caroline Rebecca CROCKETT, John CRUTTENDEN, George CUSHMAN, Daniel +++ ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1963 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v PROTESTANT CEMETERY IN MACAO 31 LOWER TERRACE Cont'd. No. Name Sex Row Age Date of Death Nationality 94. COLLEDGE, Lancelot Dent M Crockett Group 7/12 16 Dec. 1838 Br. 95. COLLEDGE, William Shillaber M Crockett Group 15/12 29 Sept. 1838 Br. 96. COLLEDGE, Thomas Richardson M Crockett Group 10/12 26 July 1837 Br. 97. DANIELL, Edmond Murray M Crockett Group 8/12 15 May 1836 Br. 98. CROCKETT, Caroline Rebecca F Crockett 5 Group 21 Dec. 1835 Br. 99. SENN VAN BASEL, Hugo Rudolph Jacobus M Crockett Group 2 days 20 June 1839 Dut. 100. CROCKETT, Ann F Crockett Group 21 days 21 July 1835 Br. 101. T. ? Crockett ? Group ? ? ? 102. HIGHT, John Francis M Crockett Group Adult 9 Feb. 1844 Br. 103. HARRISON, George W. M Crockett 20 Group 6 June 1844 Amer. 104. MARKWICK, Richard M Crockett 44 Group 30 Jan. 1836 Br. 105. BOVET, Margaret F Crockett 23 Group 6 Jan. 1837 Br. 106. REYNVANN, Clazina van Valkenburg F Crockett 24 Group 9 Nov. 1846 Dut. 107. KEY, Peter M Crockett Group 42 8 Oct. 1835 Br. 108. BRIDGES, Henry Gardner M Crockett Group 61 19 Dec. 1849 Amer. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1964 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r JOURNAL OF OCCURRANCES AT CANTON 41 40 Fan Kwais. Fan-kuei ₺ A foreign devil. foreign devil. The title of one of Hunter's books of reminiscences was The Fan Kwae' at Canton before Treaty Days 1825-1844, by an old Resident, London, Kegan Paul, Trench & Co. 1882; reprinted Shanghai 1911. (J.L.C-B.) 41 blows them sky high. By a coincidence Eric Partridge in his interesting work A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 4th Ed. 1951 p. 68 defines to blow sky high as "to scold or blame most vehemently" and adds origin U.S. and anglicised ca. 1900. Here we have an American example of the use of the phrase "to blow sky high" in 1839. (J.L.C-B.) 42 Hae yaw? Probably part of the common expression pronounced in Cantonese "hac yao ch'i lei" £À which means literally "there is no such principle!" So it comes to imply "it can't be done”, (J.L.C-B) 43 bond. The bond presented to the American Consul by Commissioner Lin "stipulated that should any opium be found on an American vessel, the ship would be liable to confiscation and its entire crew liable to death. The Consul, moreover, was to be held responsible for his countrymen's behavior." Dulles, F. R., 1930, The Old China Trade, p. 157. (L.T.R.) 44 Pankugua. Probably a reference to P'an Cheng-wei (pidgin Pwan-keikua). (See note 21.) (J.L.C-B) 45 Chinchoo. Ch'üan-chou, a port in Fukien. (J.L.C-B.) 46 the Governor of Macao. Don Adriao Accacio da Silverira Pinto who served as Governor from 1839 until 1843, (J.L.C-B.) 47 16 foreigners. A list is given in the Blue Book, Correspondence Relating to China 1840, p. 403, which states "Supposed names of the sixteen individuals, as given in the list appended to the Kwang Chou fu's letter to Capt. Elliot dated 4 May 1839." "Supposed" because J. R. Morrison in translating from the Chinese had to guess what names were meant by the sounds of the Chinese characters used for transliteration, The names listed were: Dent, Henry, D. Matheson, Daniell, Inglis, Ilbery, Dadabhoy, A. Jardine, Heerjeebhoy, Stanford, Green, Franjee, A. Matheson, Matheson, Bomanjee, Goldsborough. The 16 left Canton with Elliot on 24th May. (J.L.C-B.) 48 the Chung Hup. This may refer to the two characters pronounced in Cantonese Chung Heep. This officer commanded a brigade. (J.L.C-B.) 49 Snipe. She was a brig of tonnage reported variously as 176 to 196 tons, and registered sometimes as British, sometimes American. She was owned by Augustine Heard & Co., and for many years she was commanded by Capt. William Endicott of Boston, and was stationed at Woosung as an opium receiving ship. (L.T.R.) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1970 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241 CHINESE EMIGRATION AND THE DECK PASSENGER TRADE 85 at the French settlement on New Caledonia, after which the French authorities sent a ship to rescue the survivors on Rossel Island. Only one small Chinese boy was found, whose story was that the rest of the passengers and crew had been eaten by the natives. This was accepted as gospel by the press in Sydney where the boy was taken, although there were some glaring inconsistencies in his story, and it was repeated in the British Admiralty Sailing Directions. Not until thirty years later was it seriously questioned, when its most important critic was Sir William MacGregor, the first Australian administrator of New Guinea. It is now generally believed that, rather than wait to be taken on to Australia and a life-time of labour to repay the inflated cost of their passages, the Chinese had preferred to take a chance in New Guinea. Food, including the highly prized luxury bêche-de-mer, was comparatively plentiful, and life in New Guinea with freedom must have appeared infinitely preferable to life in the Australian goldfields saddled with a heavy personal debt. When the first official census was taken in New Guinea, many Chinese were recorded, of whose origins there was no satisfactory explanation. Another notable incident in the history of Chinese emigration, and which had a happy conclusion, concerned the Peruvian ship Maria Luz in 1872. The Maria Luz had left Macao with over 300 indentured labourers for the Peruvian guano islands, and was forced into Yokohama harbour in distress. One coolie jumped overboard and swam to H.M.S. Iron Duke, where he reported that the passengers on the Maria Luz had either been kidnapped or decoyed on board under false pretences. As a result of the publicity and outcry which this caused, all the passengers were sent back to China. Peru had then no treaty relations with Japan, but threatened war unless Japan apologised and indemnified her. The British government, however, warned Peru that any hostile act on her part would invite retaliatory action by the Royal Navy; and the whole question was referred to France, who gave her verdict in favour of Japan. This case focussed public attention on the many unsavoury aspects of the emigrant trade, and also led to the opening of diplomatic relations between China and Japan. It is necessary to remind ourselves that conditions in many of the emigrant ships to South-east Asia during the 1850's and Page 90 Page 91 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 176 REV. JAMES LEGGE the end of June and the beginning of September, and was then removed from its quarters of which I have spoken on board ship. Many civilians also fell victims to Hongkong fever. The mortality was mainly owing to the want of accommodation for the multitudes who kept pressing into the new colony, and to the miasma set free from the ground which was everywhere being turned up. I remember visiting officers who were living in small huts reared on the hill behind the general's house. It was no wonder that one after another they were seized with fever, and either died, or were invalided home. Then the drains were for the time all open, and an atmosphere of disease, which only the strongest constitutions and prudent living were able to resist, might be said to envelope the inhabitants day and night. I have intimated my opinion that there was no subsequent year of sickness and mortality so great as that of 1843; and nothing can be more delightful than the change in the colony in this respect. I do not think there is now a healthier residence on this side of Africa. This has been very gradually arrived at, by the increase of good houses, effectual drainage, the better supply of water, and the growth of trees and vegetation in general. There were other unhealthy years, and it came to be said that we might expect one of that character every seven years; but we have ceased to be troubled with the apprehension of such a periodic visitation. As to the healthiness from increased vegetation, I may mention that Dr. William Morrison, the colonial surgeon, who himself died from abscess of the liver, in October, 1883,* told me, some years before that event, that he had advised planting the ground on the south of the street behind the Murray Barracks with bamboos, as being of speedy growth. It was done, and soon the grove which every one of you knows, began to wave, and there was from that time a marked improvement in the health of the soldiers in those barracks. The Colony, I have said, is now one of the healthiest residences, if not the very healthiest, in the East. The average of 14 years, reckoning back from the present, gives a rate of mortality for the foreign residents, not including the military, of a very little over 4 per cent; and in 1868, the rate was a trifle under 2 per cent, rather lower than the rate of mortality in Great Britain. * SIC: Morrison died later than the date given, but I have no reference books available at the time of writing. Ed. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1972 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h SIR JAMES HALDANE STEWART LOCKHART 59 ent Chinese he was largely instrumental in reorganizing the District Watchmen Force (a body of watchmen paid for by voluntary subscriptions from the Chinese community) and he obtained the appointment of twelve leading Chinese gentlemen as a supervising committee; he remodelled the Po Leung Kuk (a voluntary association concerned with the welfare of girls and young women); and he helped in the reformation of the Tung Wah Hospital and strengthened its committee of management.11 He was active, then, in setting up a number of official Chinese committees, linked to government through their special relationship with the Registrar General's Department, of which he was head. The Registrar General in all cases was ex officio chairman of the committees. Lockhart's views on the importance of the Chinese element in the population are to be found in a trenchant report he submitted in 1894 to the Governor, Sir William Robinson, 'on the subject of a petition addressed to the House of Commons praying for an amendment of the Constitution of the Crown Colony of Hong Kong.' This petition from Hong Kong taxpayers to the House of Commons owed its origin principally to the imposition upon the taxpayers in 1891 of an additional military contribution of £20,000 a year, a decision that irritated and excited particularly the European business community. In 1894 T.H. Whitehead,13 Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council and leader of the business faction, was granted six months' leave of absence from the Council and he took with him to England a petition signed by 363 members of the community — (in Lockhart's words) ‘284 British, 10 Anglo-Chinese, 3 American, 4 Portuguese, and 47 British Indians.' The petitioners sought the election of representatives of British nationality in the Legislative Council; freedom of debate for the Official members with power to vote as they desired; complete control in the Council over local expenditure; the management of local affairs; and a consultative voice in questions of an Imperial character. With great dialectical skill Lockhart took the petition to bits and exposed the vacuity of its arguments. In his memorandum to the Governor he averred: 'Most of the taxes fall almost entirely on the Chinese. The only tax to which the British and other residents as a whole are subject in the same manner as the Chinese is the tax of 13 per cent levied on the rateable value of house ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 32 H. J. LETHBRIDGE not on his side. He had come to Hong Kong with an express aim - to obtain cash. His design was to persuade Hong Kong merchants to invest heavily in the exploitation of the territory he claimed to rule as soi-disant King of the Sedangs, a title he had assumed in June 1888 with the passive assent of an innocent montagnard people. There were rich men in Hong Kong - speculators, gamblers, risk-takers - and Mayréna hoped to interest them in the mineral wealth and natural products of his new kingdom. Thus he assumed that meeting Sir William and Lady Des Voeux at Government House would vouch for his respectability and provide an entrée into the social enclosure of the rich European merchant class. Morès, on the other hand, had no such motivation. He was in Hong Kong with William Van Driesche, and an engineer, a M. Thorel, en route for Tonkin. His visit to Hong Kong was an accident. The Calédonien, the ship he boarded at Marseilles, berthed at Saigon and Hong Kong but not at Haiphong, so Morès was forced to travel on to Hong Kong and transfer to another ship for Haiphong, the entry port for Hanoi and the Red River basin. He was in a hurry and bent on business. Hence he stayed in Hong Kong for only a week, leaving on 29 November by the small German steamer, the Clara. It was during this week that the alleged duel between the two adventurers took place; but to explain why they had both wandered into the East and why they clashed, we must first examine their previous careers. Marie-Charles David de Mayréna16 The future King of the Sedangs was born into a bourgeois milieu at Toulon on 31 January, 1842. His father was a commander in the French navy, who died when Mayréna was a child so that he was reared entirely by a complaisant mother. He failed his examinations for the Ecole navale in 1857 but joined the Sixth Dragoons in 1859, transferring to the Spahis de Cochinchine in 1863. He served in Indo-China until 1868, when he resigned and returned to France. His career so far had been unremarkable. The next year he married a colonel's daughter; but little is known about the marriage and it seems likely that they soon separated or divorced. Mayréna was a great womaniser. The Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870 and he was recalled to the colours and procured the rank of captain. In February 1871 he was awarded the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 NOTES AND QUERIES 225 and half-caste parentage, and to board, clothe and instruct them with a view to industrial life and the Christian faith according to the Church of England'. (Resolutions of Jan. 18, 1870) After the reorganisation, the Committee came under male domination; local firms were liberal supporters. Some members of Jardine, Matheson and Company were on the Committee from 1869 to 1901, William Keswick serving the longest from 1869 to 1888, except for his absences from the Colony. Sir Catchick Paul Chater served from 1874 to 1925. The school was particularly useful in meeting the educational needs of the increasing Eurasian element in Hong Kong and the China Coast. It educated many of the future leading members of these communities. In 1869, it was decided not to admit any more girls as boarders, though they could continue as day students. In 1892, the girls then in attendance were transferred to a Boarding School 'Fairlea' conducted by Miss Margaret Johnstone. Before occupying a building especially erected for the school on a lot on Bonham Road at Eastern Street in 1863, the school had been at the Albany, a building loaned to them by the Government. The Bonham Road building was enlarged and improved over the years. In time, however, it became inadequate for the needs of the school, especially as a growing emphasis on the role of sports in the life of the school was frustrated by a lack of proper playing fields. In 1917, a definite decision was made that a new site be secured. The firm of Messrs. Little, Adams and Wood drew up plans for a new school in 1920, but negotiations with the Government for a site were not completed until 1923. Site formation began in 1924. The general strike of 1925 and the resulting financial recession slowed down the construction and necessitated the elimination of certain parts of the original plans. An imposing tower, a feature of the original plan, was never erected. The buildings were occupied in 1926, but in 1927, the school somewhat reluctantly released the premises to the Army for a hospital for the Shanghai Defence Force. The school took up temporary quarters in a recently built block of buildings on Nathan Road near Prince Edward Road. In January 1928, the premises were returned to the school. The school faced another crisis in 1932 when suggestions were made that the Government resume the property in default of payments on the debt the School owed and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d 64 E. G. PRYOR The Chinese community in Hong Kong became panic-stricken and there was a mass exodus of workers back to China. In the China Sugar Factory, for example, some 300 workers downed tools and walked their way back to Swatow about 180 miles away. The economic life of the colony suffered considerably as a consequence. So much so that Sir William Robinson recorded that "without exaggeration, I may assert that, so far as trade and commerce are concerned the plague has assumed the importance of an unexampled calamity."* Conditions in the hospitals became exceedingly crowded. The Kennedy Town Glass Works Hospital was intended to accommodate 100 patients but at one point contained 200 afflicted persons. Admissions to hospital at the peak of the outbreak averaged 80 a day whilst dead bodies piled up in the streets at the rate of over 100 a day. A new pig depot had to be hastily converted into a hospital to take 140 patients and the running of all hospitals was assumed by European doctors as it was soon found that Chinese traditional medicine was of no avail. During the frantic efforts to rid the colony of the plague about 7000 persons were dispossessed of their homes, 350 houses were condemned and sealed off and several boatloads of patients were sent to Canton. With the advent of cooler weather the plague abated and there was hope that the visitation of 1894 would not be repeated. Indeed, there was no outbreak in the following year but in 1896 the oriental version of the black death stalked the streets of Hong Kong and carried off 1078 unfortunates, the majority being Chinese in the congested district of Tai Ping Shan. The plague thence became an almost annual occurrence usually making its appearance in February or March reaching a peak by July and then virtually disappearing during the autumn and winter. Over the period 1894-1901 some 8600 persons succumbed to the disease and this represented a mortality rate of about 95 per cent. Relentless efforts were made to root out the assumed cause of the problem which was generally thought to be insanitary living conditions. Regulations were passed requiring notification to the nearest police station of any cases of plague and in default of this obligation there was a penalty of $25, which at that time was a * Ibid, p. 5. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d NOTES AND QUERIES 293 The former had been purchased in 1859 at a Government Land Sale by an Austrian, Gustav Overbeck (later Baron von Overbeck), a partner in the firm of Dent and Co. In the following year, Lot 607 was granted by Government to the Berlin Women's Society as a site for their foundling hospital. The trustees were Overbeck and the Rev. Johann Ludwig Ladendorff. New trustees were named in 1869, and of these, three were German merchants; Berthold Friedrich Johann Schwarzkopf, founder of the firm of Blackhead and Co., Friedrich August Julius Menke, of William Pustau and Co., and Gustav Overbeck. The other trustee was Ladendorff's successor as Superintendent of the Foundling Hospital, Rev. Ernest Klitzke. In 1892, Lot 624 was purchased by the Government. The remaining lot was registered in the name of the Director in Hong Kong of the Berlin Ladies Mission for China, incorporated by Ordinance No. 12 of 1889. At the time of the First World War, the property was administered as alien property. Finally, in 1925, it was surrendered to Government. As residents of an English colony with a predominant Chinese population, those for whom English or Chinese is not a first language tend to organize groups where they can use their mother tongue. A German Club was organized in Hong Kong in 1859, and by 1867 a recognized German church congregation was meeting regularly. German church services had been held previous to 1867, however. A report of the Berlin Society concerning its activities in 1858 mentions the baptism of a certain Lydia (Wei-mong) “at a German service at Victoria”. The Day Book of the Rev. Rudolph Lechler, of the Basel Missionary Society, notes on May 19, 1861, attendance at a German service on Morrison Hill, where the premises of the Berlin Society were located before they occupied "Bethesda" in July, 1861. Another Basel Society missionary, the Rev. Philip Winnes, in 1858 reported, "I preached to the German sailors, for there are always ships arriving from Hamburg and Bremen. Also this year a poor German established a German Inn for sailors, where always a few people are staying until they can find employment. In this inn, I preached until the sailors had had enough, and that they had quite soon.” (Heidenbote, March, 1858, p. 15). ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 202 WILLIAM Y. CHEN Keng-sang, Ch'u. K’eng-tsang-tzu. Taipei, 1955. 庚桑楚,亢滄子,台北,台灣商務,1955. 48, 2 p. SA Ko, Ch'ang-keng. Pai-yü-ch'an ch'üan chi. Taipei, 1969. 葛長庚,白玉蟾全集,台北,自由出版社,1969. 3 v. (1472 p.) LC, SA Ko, Hung, ca. 350-330. Pao-p'u-tzu. Taipei, 1965. 葛洪.抱朴子,台北,中華書局,1965. 365 p. in various pagings. LC, SA Lao-tzu yen chiu tzu liao hui pien. Hongkong, 1974. 老子研究資料彙編,香港,陶齊書屋,1974. 2 v. Lieh-hsien ch'üan chuan. Peking, 1961. 列仙全傳,王世貞辑,北京,中華書局,1961. 3 v. LC CA Liu, Hsiang, 77?–6? B.C. Li tai chen hsien shih chuan. Taipei, 1960. 劉向,歷代真仙史傳,台北,自由出版社,1960. 1 v. LC, SA Lü, Yen, b. 798. Lü-tsu ch’üan shu. Taipei, 1967. 呂函,呂祖全書,台北,自由出版社,1967. 2 v. (806 p.) LC, SA Murakami, Yoshimi, 1906– Chugoku no sennin. Kyoto, 1967. 村上嘉實,中國の仙人,京都,平樂寺書店,1967. 3, 2, 248, 12 p. LC, SA Shen, Fen, 10th cent. Hsü shen-hsien chuan. Shanghai, 1937. 沈汾,續神仙傳,上海,商務,1937. 1, 1, 3 p. CA Shoji, Tatsusaburo. Shina sennin retsuden. Tokyo, 1911. 東海林辰三郎,支那仙人列傳,東京,聚精堂,1911. 3, 3, 15, 498 p. CA, LC Ssu-ma, Ch'eng-cheng. Tien-yin-tzu. Taipei, 1966. 司馬承禎,天隱子,台北,台灣商務,1966. 14 p. SA Tung yû t'u chih. Shanghai, 1936. 洞寓圖志,鄧牧編,上海,商務,1936. 2 v. in 1. CA Wang, Chien, Sung dynasty. I-hsien-chuan. Shanghai, 1937. 王簡,疑仙傳,上海,商務,1937. 2, 21 p. CA ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1982 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p 35 The 1866-1869 Land Regulations The first two sets of Land Regulations had been drafted by the Chinese and/or local foreign authorities; this was not the case with the third Constitution, the one of 1866-1869, In the years between 1854 and 1866 a great number of problems had arisen, partially caused by the influx of Taiping rebellion refugees. Moreover, civic discipline among foreigners was waning (taxes were not being paid, nuisances were being caused in the form of building materials left lying around, the authority of the Municipal Council to levy taxes was being questioned, the members of the Municipal Council had been held personally responsible for any deficits and debts of the municipality, etc.). All this contributed to the opinion that something had to be done to increase the authority of the Municipal Council, and on April 15, 1865, a Public Meeting of landrenters appointed a Commission to draft new Land Regulations. This Commission consisted of Henry Dent (member of the Municipal Council 1863-64 and 1864-65), R. F. Gould (former municipal secretary), Thomas Hanbury, James Hogg, and William Keswick (all members of the Municipal Council 1865-66), J. P. Lynill, and G. Tyson. The new proposed Regulations were published on January 22, 186610, and discussed in Public Meetings on March 9, 12, 13, and 1711. After a delay of three years, they were eventually approved by the foreign powers in 1869. There were a number of differences between the draft and the final version, but space does not permit me to detail these12. The new Constitution consisted of 29 articles, in which the position of the Municipal Council was strengthened as compared to the former Land Regulations. These Land Regulations were subsequently slightly amended, some articles being added in 1898. In this form, they remained in force until 1943, when the Settlement was returned to China. In the course of these years, only a few byelaws were altered or introduced; and thus, during the greater part of its existence, the Settlement had as its constitutional foundation a set of Land Regulations devised essentially by the landrenters themselves in 1866. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1982 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p 62 J. H. HAAN APPENDIX MUNICIPAL COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP 1849-1865 Note: Dates after the term of office refer to the Public Meeting at which the Municipal Council was elected. Members Firm Nationality Russell & Co. Rathbones American British 1851 (June) MacVicar & Co. J. M. Smith & Co. Wetmore & Co. American British American 1849 (March) — 1850 (August) (10.3.1849) John N. Alsop Griswold Thomas Moncreiff 1850 (August) (2.8.1850) Hector C. R. MacDuff J. Mackrill Smith Oliver Everett Roberts 1851 (June) — 1852 (May) (14.6.1851) Edward Langley Clement D. Nye William Seton Brown Oriental Bank Bull, Nye & Co. Rathbones British American British 1852 (May) — 1853 (July) (25.5.1852) William Hogg Edward Cunningham (Chairman) Russell & Co. American Lindsay & Co. Blenkin, Rawson & Co. British British William Kay 1853 (July) — 1854 (July) (21.7.1853) William Shephard Wetmore Wetmore & Co. American Shaw, Bland & Co. British? (Chairman) John Hammond Winch J. Caldecott Smith 1854 (July) — 1855 (March) (11.7.1854) William Seton Brown (Chairman) x David O. King (Treasurer) x Edward Cunningham Charles A. Fearon William Kay Dr. Walter Henry Medhurst x John Skinner Dent, Beale & Co. Birley, Worthington & Co. King & Co. Russell & Co. Aug. Heard & Co. Blenkin, Rawson & Co. London Missionary Society Gibb, Livingston & Co. British British ? American American British British British Note: In March 1855 only those members marked "x" were still in office, plus: H.C.R. MacDuff, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1982 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p 63 Nationality Members 1855 (March)—1856 (January) (23.3.1855) William Shephard Wetmore William Thorburn William Herbert Vacher Henry Alexander Ince Clement D. Nye 1856 (January)—1857 (January) (14.1.1856) George Griswold Gray Firm Nationality Wetmore & Co. American Hargreaves & Co. British Gilman, Bowman, Dent, Beale & Co. American Bull, Nye & Co. British (Treasurer) James Lawrence Man Andrew Arch. Ranken 1857 (January) — 1858 (February) (31.1.1857) George Watson Coutts Hugh Bold Gibb Charles W. Orne Russell & Co. American Geo. Barnet & Co. ? Smith, Kennedy & Co. British Watson & Co. British Gibb, Livingston & Co. British Russell & Co. American Note: In February 1858 G. W. Coutts is no longer mentioned as member. 1858 (February) — 1859 (February) (4.2.1858) William Wetmore Cryder Hugh Bold Gibb John Thorne Note: In February 1859 only J. Thorne is mentioned as member. 1859 (February) — 1860 (February) (31.1.1859) Robert Reid (Chairman) William Wetmore Cryder Wetmore, Williams & Co. American Gibb, Livingston & Co. British ? ? Birley, Worthington & Co. British (Treasurer) Hubert Marshall Murray Gray Wetmore, Williams & Co. American Smith, Kennedy & Co. British 1860 (February) — 1861 (February) (15.2.1860) Rowland Hamilton (Chairman) Smith, Kennedy & Co. British James Whitlow (Treasurer) Richard R. Tyers Holliday, Wise & Co. British 2 British 2 1861 (February) — 1862 (April) (2.2.1861) William Howard (Chairman) J. Priestley Tate (Treasurer) Chartered Bank Blain, Tate & Co. William Shephard Wetmore British ? ? Wetmore, Williams & Co. American Note: In April 1862 only J. P. Tate is mentioned as member. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1982 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p 64 1862 (April) -- 1863 (April) › (31.3.1862) Henry Turner (Chairman) x J. H. HAAN Agra & United Service Bank British James Cock (Treasurer) x Watson & Co. British Andrew Brand Smith, Kennedy & Co. British Henry Sturgis Grew Russell & Co. American Alexander Michie x Lindsay & Co. British Note: In April 1863 only those members marked "x" were still in office (A. Brand had died). 1863 (April)- 1864 (April) (4.4.1863) Henry William Dent (Chairman) James Cock (Treasurer) Robert Brand David Reid J. Kearney Rodgers August Wieters George Fairley Heard 1864 (April) — 1865 (April) (16.4.1864) Henry William Dent (Chairman) x Robert Crawfurd Antrobus x James Cock Frank Blackwell Forbes x Rudolph Heinssen x Julius Kahn G. W. Talbot Dent & Co. British Lindsay & Co. British Watson & Co. British Russell & Co. American Siemssen & Co. German Reid & Co. (per 1.1.1864) British ? German Aug. Heard & Co. American Harkort & Co. ? Dent & Co. British Reiss & Co. British ? ? Note: In April 1865 only those members marked "x" were still in office, 1865 (April) — 1866 (March) William Keswick (Chairman) J. C. Coutts Thomas Hanbury James Hogg Nichol Latimer Clement D. Nye W. Probst Jardine, Matheson & Co. British ? ? ? ? Bower, Hanbury & Co. British Hogg Brothers British N. Latimer & Co. British Bull, Nye & Co (?). ? German Note: N. Latimer died during his term of office. As from April 1865 a different mode of electing a Municipal Council was followed (cf. main text). Source: North China Herald 1850-1866. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 212 J.H. HAAN CRYDER, William Wetmore 1858-1859, 1859-1860 Junior partner in Wetmore & Co.;23 from May 25, 1857 partner in Wetmore, Williams & Co.24 CUNNINGHAM, Edward 1852-1853, 1854-1855 Born 1823, died 1889. Mercantile assistant Russell & Co. 1845-1849; partner 1850-1857, 1861-1863 and 1867-1877;25 part of 1849 and in 1850 he stayed in Canton,26 United States Consul 1851-1854; Consul for Sweden and Norway 1853-1864.27 Member Recreation Ground Committee 1861;28 trustee British Episcopal Church 1863;29 member of the NCBRAS, as resident until 1870,30 as non-resident until 1877,31 Member Committees I, III, IV, VI and VII. Apart from his political functions, Cunningham's philanthropic attitude was praised from several sides. Cordier called him "one of the most public-spirited men Shanghai has ever known"32 and S.W. Williams dedicated the fifth edition of his "Commercial Guide" to "Edward Cunningham Esq. of Shanghai (...) as a mark of respect for his character as a philanthropist and merchant (...)". At the time of his return to the United States he took with him a large bell which is now in the possession of the Museum of the American China Trade, Milton.33 Later a street was named after him (Cunningham Road). Portraits. Author.34 315 DENT, Henry 1863-1864, 1864-1865 Partner in Dent & Co. from July 1, 1860.36 Consul for Portugal 1863-1865.37 Member of the Commission Provisoire that ran the French Concession 1865-1866.38 Trustee British Episcopal Church 1863, treasurer Recreation Fund 1863-1865;40 trustee Chinese Hospital 1865.41 Treasurer NCBRAS 1864,42 Member Committees IV and IX. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 216 J.H. HAAN INCE, Henry Alexander 1855-1856 At first lived in Hong Kong, 1850. 107 Partner in Dent, Beale & Co. from July 1, 1854;108 interest ceased June 30, 1858. KAHN, Julius 1864-1865 111 Authorized to sign for Reiss & Co. (a British firm) from October 10, 1859;110 partner May 1, 1860 till April 30, 1865.1 He donated the vases that adorned the entrance of the Shanghai Club. KAY, William 1852-1853, 1854-1855 Partner in Fox, Rawson & Co. in Canton;112 since 1846 in Shanghai as partner of Blackin, Rawson & Co.'113 Member of the Committee to study the erection of a new building for the Shanghai Library 1852.114 KESWICK, William 1865-1866 Possibly was first a resident of Yokohama.115 Partner in Jardine, Matheson & Co. since July 1, 1862.116 Consul for Denmark 1863-?.117 Trustee British Episcopal Church 1866;118 member of the management committee of the Society for Relief of Distressed Foreigners of All Nationalities 1865.'119 Unofficial member of the Legislative Council in Hong Kong 1867-1872, 1875-1886.120 Member of the NCBRAS.121 Member of Committee IX. KING, David O. 1854-1855 Before 1850 he lived in Canton.122 At first partner in J.M. Smith & Co.; later Smith, King & Co.'123 and King & Co.'124 Vice-Consul for Prussia 1853-1854.125 1856-1858 he resided in Bangkok.'126 Author127 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 154 CARL SMITH Canton and Macau. In Macau he was a close friend of the eccentric painter George Chinnery. In one of Chinnery's paintings, Hunter appears in a group of men gathered informally on the verandah of the mansion occupied by the English firm of Dent and Co on the Praia Grande at Macau. Along with two other old friends of Chinnery's, Hunter maintained a watch beside the artist's bed the night of his death in 1852. He also helped to take charge of the deceased's effects. It is from Hunter that we have a number of interesting anecdotes about Chinnery. After Hunter left Russell and Company he did business on his own and connections with American firms, particularly Augustine Heard and Co, for whom he handled some of their Macau affairs. From 1864 to 1868, Hunter lived in Hongkong. During this time he was a member of the Heard firm. But in 1868, he retired and moved to Paris. In 1859 he was appointed French Consul at Macau. As he grew older he suffered poor health. In 1886, it was thought his death was imminent. Notice was sent to his children and three of his daughters set sail for France. Their ship, the Victoria, went down at sea. One of the daughters drowned, the two others were rescued. The daughter who drowned was still single. This suggests that she may have been the crippled daughter mentioned by Lieut Preble in 1855. She had been taken to Hongkong by her mother for a series of operations to cut the tendons in her foot, which turned inward, so that it could resume a more normal position. At the time Preble mentioned the operations their ultimate success was not yet assured. William Hunter survived the crisis which had summoned his daughters to his supposed death-bed for another five years. He died at Nice in 1891 aged about 80. WHEN LEGGE TOOK OVER ANGLO-CHINESE COLLEGE The Rev. Dr. James Legge, famous for his translation of the Chinese Classics into English, moved the Anglo Chinese College from Malacca to Hongkong in 1843, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 182 500 or 600 p.a.), without any prospect of being able to use it the subsequent season. Apparently it was also the custom to sell all the scenery, etc., at the end of the season and this too could only be done at a heavy loss (for 1865 it had cost Tls. 2,400 and fetched but Tls. 200).109 In order to investigate the feasibility of a permanent, i.e., stone, theatre, a provisional committee was appointed in September 1866.10 The chances of realising the object in view did not seem very rosy though. At a meeting of the committee held on November 10, 1866, it was decided that the "circulation of a subscription list towards a permanent theatre should be deferred for the present" and instead guarantors for the construction of a temporary theatre (i.e., one of wood, which was much cheaper) should be sought.11 In this they were successful and on November 16, it was announced at a meeting that Tls. 3,500 had been subscribed. This, however, was not deemed sufficient to cover all the expenses and an amended motion was adopted stating that instead of fitting up a godown, a temporary theatre, on the plans submitted to the meeting, be built and fitted up, provided a sum of Tls. 6,000 be guaranteed within a week".12 And despite the rather severe limitations under which a number of merchants had to operate due to the collapse of the building boom - an adjourned meeting was informed on November 22 that this sum had indeed been guaranteed." The new theatre would be built in wood and was designed by a local architect, Mr. William Kidner; originally it would contain 700 seats, but this was considered too much, 500 or 600 being enough. The firm of Dent & Co. showed itself willing to provide a plot of land for the sum of Tls. 250 annually and the cost of the theatre itself was estimated at Tls. 3,900. Some months later, on March 1, 1867, the wooden Lyceum Theatre opened on Yuanmingyuan Road* (later, Museum Road), with Morton's Whitebait at Greenwich and Faust and Marguerite (author not mentioned: F.C. Burnand?, T.W. Robertson?, J. Halford?). One may well ask why the foreign residents had not found the courage and the money to erect a really “lasting structure" for, naturally, wooden buildings were prone to fire and it should come as no surprise that the "temporary'' theatre proved to be very temporary indeed, for on March 2, 1871, it burned down. Once again a substantial sum of money had been wasted on what turned out to be an ill-advised scheme. Sadder and wiser, it was finally decided in 1872 to construct a brick theatre on an adjacent site on Museum Road, stage entrance on Yuanmingyuan Road. On *This is the theatre marked "b" at Appendix III. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 224 raw silk for their mills. Adanison arrived in Shanghai, on their behalf, in 1852. In 1858 he formed his own firm, exporting tea and general merchandise, and set up branches in Hong Kong, Foochow and Hongkow. There were ten European employees. In 1872, the firm appointed a shipping clerk in its Shanghai office named George Benjamin Dodwell. He was 20 years old, born in Derby, and was paid 400 pounds for the first year of service, with a room, fire, light and medical bills met by the firm. Dodwell was allowed five per cent of all profits of the shipping business on everything earned above 700 taels per annum (equivalent to 2,100 sterling). He also had a share in other profits in an attempt to stop him branching out on his own account. Another condition of appointment was that he should 'not indulge in racing of horses and ponies'. This contrasted with the conditions of service for Jardine's who were not against their employees having a wager. In 1876, Adamson Bell and Company's tea shipments (at the end of the nineteenth century nearly 60 per cent of China's exports consisted of tea and silk) were only marginally behind those of Jardines and Butterfield and Swires. For much of his work Dodwell was assisted by the firm's compradore. Nonetheless, a considerable amount of financial risk was involved. Dodwell and A.J.M. Carlill finally took over the bankrupt Adamson Bell Company [which is still known as Tien Cheang (天昌) meaning heavenly prosperity] on May 1st, 1891. Canadian Pacific Railways (CPR) chartered sailing ships to import goods from China and Japan. Dodwell had entered into a three-year contract with Sir William Van Horne of CPR. But, as business was good, CPR decided to run its own fast mail line in place of hiring old Cunarders. Dodwell was told his contract would not be renewed, but he was asked to continue to manage the CPR services at the Far Eastern end. Van Horne was impressed by Dodwell as a man, and he offered him full control of the new CPR shipping line if Dodwell would abandon his newly established firm and join CPR as an employee. He was offered a salary and commissions totalling at least 4,000 pounds a year. Dodwell declined, preferring to head his own new enterprise which he had rescued, and would rebuild, from bankruptcy. It is the worst day's work you have ever done, Dodwell", ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 244 Parsees. At one time, with a German Chairman and an American Deputy Chairman, the Board had no British members. The financial failure of Dent, in 1867, had the effect of freeing the Bank from dependence on any one enterprise and brought about more independent management control. Within months of setting up its headquarters in Hong Kong a branch was opened in London, and further branches were established in San Francisco (1875), New York (1880), Lyons (1881) and Hamburg (1889). By the 1880s The Hong Kong Bank had become banker to the Hong Kong Government, and to this day it is, in effect, the Central Bank of the Territory. World War I proved a difficult period, and its German directors resigned shortly after hostilities commenced. The Bank resumed its leading position in China and the Far East in the 1920s and 30s. Like the Chartered Bank, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank's branch in Shanghai operated without interruption all through the Cultural Revolution. Today 'Wardley' is the name of an investment company associated with the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank. In 1864, Wardley House (demolished in 1882 when its new bank building was completed) was the first premises of the Bank. William Henry Wardley was a staff member of Gibb Livingston. He started his own firm about 1850. Although the company was taken over by F.B. Johnson and James Bowman the name was retained. It stopped trading about 1861, before the Bank was established. But the name, Wardley, has been perpetuated. The Mercantile Bank The old Mercantile Bank can be traced back to October 1853, with the founding of the Mercantile Bank of Bombay. Within two months it had become the Mercantile Bank of India, London and China, a co-partnership of four Indian proprietors and four British. An office was opened in London almost immediately, and other offices, in 1854, in Madras, Colombo and Kandy. In 1855 branches started at Calcutta, Singapore, Canton, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Comparing these dates with the Chartered Bank, Mercantile got off to a quicker start, although both banks were established in the same year. Mercantile had a branch in Hong Kong, for example, four years before Chartered. Skipping a century, in 1958 the name was shortened to ‘Mercantile ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 253 Other firms As mentioned earlier this article is by no means exhaustive. Other old firms still exist. They include Lammert, Atkinson and Company, which was founded by George Rhinegold Lammert, who opened the firm in Stanley Street. Lammert Bros. (as they are now known), present advertisements claim, have been auctioneers in Hong Kong since 1855, and in 1870 the firm was advertised as a naval and general store, auctioneers and commission agents. Some sales were conducted in the medium of Chinese, which was unusual at the time. Another old, still-existing, establishment is George Falconer the Jewellers. The founder of the company had previously worked for Douglas Lapraik and Company, watch repairers. Lapraik came to Hong Kong from Scotland, in 1843, and before starting up on his own account worked for L. Just, watch and chronometer makers, in D'Aguilar Street. Lapraik started the Douglas Steamship Company in 1883. He also built the unconventional Douglas Castle, at Pok Fu Lam, now used as a hostel for university students. Another early shop in the Colony was Kelly and Walsh, established in 1885. Kelly, the printer, was Irish, while Walsh, the bookseller and publisher, was Scottish. There were about 20 shareholders. The first shop was in Queen's Road. It then moved to York Building (Chater Road), then to Prince's Building (Chater Road), to Swire House, and finally to its present location in Ice House Street. There were branches in Shanghai, Singapore, Hankow and Japan. Their printing presses were in Shanghai and Singapore, and Kelly and Walsh published about 500 titles all told. Liquidated firms Many fortunes were made and lost in early Hong Kong, and some once thriving companies ceased business long ago. Not all taipans went back to Britain on retirement as rich men. Recessions can be traced at intervals throughout the history of the Colony and a number of firms were badly affected. One of the most important houses to go out of business was Dent and Company (already briefly mentioned), which was founded by William Dent at the end of the 18th century. By the time the three ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 327 Russian empires came into conflict culminating in the Crimean War of 1854. This focused Hong Kong's attention on matters of defence. This concern was already heightened by pirates and elements in the local population which led the administration to review the consequences should the navy and military leave the young Colony unprotected. A pirate attack near Macao in May of 1854 prompted the then Lieutenant-Governor, William Caine, to address the issue of the unsavoury locals, "The danger to be apprehended is that during an attack by an enemy or a gang of pirates, these vagabonds might form themselves into bands for the purpose of plunder, to be joined perhaps by others from this vicinity, and then immense loss of property and life might ensue through their progress; nor must it be forgotten with what facility the Chinese houses in some parts of the town may be fired by incendiaries to increase the confusion, and consequent facility to plunder. The existence of a reserve such as would be formed by a Colonial Volunteer Corps might stop such proceedings at the outset or prevent them altogether" (p. 10). This concern for internal security against the backdrop of patriotism led to the formation of the corps Caine advocated. The ability of the author to place the reader in the overall context of the times adequately is something often found lacking in history books. That Mr. Bruce has this talent is shown by the book's portrayal of the fears and aspirations surrounding each stage in the evolution of the Corps. His profile of certain of the original 99 volunteers is particularly intriguing with such asides as 'Dent was the great rival to Jardine and that is probably the reason that none of the 99 were connected with the latter firm' (p. 15). In this first chapter we meet many of the characters who were the first Volunteers. These individuals reflect the frontier town atmosphere of the embryo port-city. There was Thomas Lane, clerk and shopkeeper who is remembered today in the name of one of Hong Kong's leading retail stores 'Lane Crawford' (p. 15). There was George Cameron who ran the El Dorado Tavern and, when he died in 1859 left it jointly to a friend and to the Chinese woman with whom he had lived for the previous seven years' and schoolmaster Joseph Thornton who must have known his way around the town's pubs as he eventually had to be dismissed for what were described as 'irregular habits' (p. 17), or when Alexandre Grandpre caused a stir when his wish to marry in ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g where the territory was not debarred from doing so by treaty. In preparation for the negotiations at Ottawa the colonies were also asked to consider what preferences might be accorded them by the dominions and what preferences they might give to the dominions in return on the lines of the Canada-West Indies agreement.” 34 The governor, Sir William Peel, discussed Hong Kong's position while visiting the Colonial Office in June 1932. Officials agreed with him that Hong Kong's status as a free port made it impossible to impose anything like a general tariff. Any such tariff would ruin the entrepôt trade which was vital to Hong Kong's existence and no practicable means could be devised of landing goods in bond for re-export without involving so much inconvenience as to drive the entrepôt trade to other neighbouring ports. Peel was prepared as a gesture to give a preference to empire products on articles such as spirits and tobacco which were subject to excise duty and to impose a higher rate of first registration tax on foreign motor cars than on cars imported from Britain and Canada. He did not ask for any preference from the dominions in return since in his view the bulk of Hong Kong exports consists of foreign goods the proportion of the cost of which, due to treatment in Hong Kong, was not large enough to secure a preference...” This showed a surprising ignorance of Hong Kong's growing trade in domestic manufactures which were largely exported to neighbouring Asian countries. The Ottawa conference convened in July 1932. The British delegation was led by Stanley Baldwin, the former prime minister, and four other cabinet ministers. Canada, Southern Rhodesia and Newfoundland were represented by their prime ministers; Australia and New Zealand by former prime ministers; South Africa and the Irish Free State by their finance and trade ministers. India, which had been given the freedom to establish protective duties in 1923, was represented by Sir Atul Chatterjee and other members of the Viceroy's Council. The interests of the colonial empire were safeguarded by the secretary of state for the colonies, Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister and one civil servant from the Colonial Office, G.L.M. Clauson. The conclusions of the conference were embodied in agreements between the United Kingdom government and the governments of the dominions and India. Britain consented to continue the free entry of goods grown, produced or manufactured in any part of the empire, and to impose additional duties on specified foreign goods which would give empire produce a preferential margin higher than the 10 per cent tariff already imposed by the Import Duties Act. Britain also agreed to 'invite' the non-self-governing colonies and protectorates to extend to all the dominions any preference at present extended to any part of the empire, and to increase the margin of preference or impose specific duties on a long list of items requested by the dominions. In return the dominions confirmed the existing ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 21 Kenya 33 per cent, Nigeria 58 per cent, Ceylon 52 per cent, Jamaica 60 per cent. 7. For example Nyasaland in 1929 raised the duty on imported soap from 5 shillings to 7 shillings to protect a newly established factory. In 1931 the duty was increased to 8 shillings a cwt. The Colonial Office first heard of these increases in 1932 when Unilever complained. Memo IDC(37)No.7, T160/763/F14811/2. 8. CO137/780. Georgina Waylen, 'Colonial Policy towards industrialisation between the wars: the case of Jamaica', Manchester Papers in Politics (University of Manchester, Nov. 1987, mimeo). 9. In 1931 a local company proposed to establish a cement factory in Kenya which required a protective tariff and a guarantee that a very high anti-dumping duty would be imposed on Japanese cement which dominated the market. The Colonial Office refused the request for protection on the advice of the Board of Trade because the local factory if successful would take over government orders, depriving British cement manufacturers of the last remnant of the market. CO533/417/18. In 1933 the Colonial Office rejected a scheme to erect a cotton spinning and weaving factory in East Africa which required a capital subscription of £500,000 from the governments of Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika. IDC(37)No.8, T160/763/F14811/2. A proposal for a soap factory in the Windward Islands was disallowed because it involved the colony being given a preference over the UK in other colonies from which the copra was to be exported. IDC(37)No.7, T160/763/F14811/2. 10. Hong Kong Blue Book 1846 (PRO, CO133/3), 226, stated ‘A large number of Chinese are employed in their respective shops and houses in the exercise of industrial trades and manufactures and there are scarcely any ordinary wants of the inhabitants which do not meet with a ready supply within the town.' 11. These dates are taken from the Return of Manufactures, Mines and Factories in the Blue Books compiled every year for submission to the Colonial Office. Not all the manufacturing enterprises were successful: the cotton spinning factory closed in 1914 and removed its machinery to Shanghai. But new manufacturing ventures soon took their place. Sir William Robinson (governor 1891-98) in his first address to the legislative council spoke of the advantages that would accrue from a further encouragement of local industries. 'The community may rely upon my aid and assistance in fostering in every legitimate way the development of such enterprises.' Hong Kong Legislative Council Debates, 25 Jan. 1892, 97. This was done by selling public land by private treaty at a discount for industrial development, H.K. LegCo. Deb., 4 Dec. 1893, 1–2. 12. CO129/379, 377-384 and 392-755. 13. Hong Kong Blue Book 1930. Blue Book 1932. The largest factory was that of the Green Island Cement Company which could employ 1,470 men when working at full capacity. 14. Statistics on imports and exports were first collected in 1918. Publication was discontinued in 1925 and resumed in 1931, but no distinction was made between re-exports and domestic exports until 1959. Estimates of gross domestic product were not made by government statisticians until 1961. Domestic exports have been calculated from Hong Kong Trade Returns 1932, compiled by the Imports and Exports Department (Hong Kong, 1933), CO133/103, by identifying all categories where exports exceeded imports, on the assumption that the surplus must represent Hong Kong domestic production. This calculation certainly understates local production since it does not take account of manufactures consumed locally. Also the trade figures do not include the very large volume of goods smuggled into China to avoid payment of customs duty. 15. Memorandum in Clementi to Cunliffe-Lister, 20 Sept. 1933, CO323/1232. 16. Report of the Commission appointed by the Governor to Enquire into the Causes and Effects of the Present Trade Depression in Hong Kong, February 1935 (Hong Kong, 1935), 88-89, CO129/554/5. 17. Trade Depression Report, 75. 18. W.K. Hancock, Survey of British Commonwealth Affairs Vol II, Problems of Economic Policy 1918-1939, Part 1 (Oxford, 1940), 87. 19. CO129/344. CO129/370. CO129/392. 20. F. V. Meyer, British Colonies in World Trade (Oxford, 1948), 9–11, 18–19. 21. Hancock, 125. Meyer, 10-11. ================================================================================