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Wei Yuk
Sir Boshan Wei Yuk CMG JP (Chinese: 韋寶珊; pinyin: Wéi Bǎoshān; 1849 – 16 December 1921) was a prominent Hong Kong businessman and member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.
Wei was born in Hong Kong in 1849, the son of Wei Kwong (1825–1879), an adopted son of an American missionary, Elijah Coleman Bridgman, at the age of 13; and became the head compradore of the Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London and China in 1857. His brothers Wei An and Wei Pei were a solicitor and barrister respectively. He married the eldest daughter of Wong Shing, the second Chinese member to be appointed to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong in 1892. Wei received classic Chinese private education and studied at the Government Central School (today known as Queen's College).
Wei was one of the first Chinese to go abroad for Western Education. He proceeded to England in 1867 where he entered the Leicester Stoneygate School. He went to Scotland in 1868 and studied at the Dollar Academy for four years. He returned to Hong Kong after a European tour in 1872.
Wei entered the service of the Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London and China. Practicing the Chinese custom, he retired from its service for three years when his father died in 1879 and rejoined as compradore and held the position for nearly sixty years.
Wei was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1883 and an unofficial member of the Legislative Council in 1896, representing the Chinese community alongside Kai Ho. In the 1908–09 session presided by Governor Sir Frederick Lugard, an Ordinance to amend the Magistrate's Ordinance 1890 and to effect certain other amendments in the criminal law was tabled in the Legislative Council, criminalising the Chinese habit of spitting in and out of doors were strongly dissented by Kai Ho and Wei, on the ground that to penalise a universal and almost involuntary habit would antagonise the whole Chinese population. A petition movement with 8,000 signature were launched and defeated the legislation.
Shortly after the 1911 Revolution, Wei and Kai Ho voted for an amendment to the Peace Preservation Ordinance which authorised the flogging of rabble-rousers in the prisons, in order to prevent any political and economic instability in Hong Kong, despite Wei and Ho supported the revolution. In April 1912, the Hong Kong government banned the circulation of Chinese coins as it feared the effects of their depreciation after the revolution. In November, Governor May encouraged the Star Ferry and Hong Kong's two tramways stop accepting Chinese coins. Many Chinese took it as an insult to the new Chinese republic and left the local residents with less money for tram fare. A colony-wide boycott broke out, and Wei and Kai Ho defended the tram companies and condemned the boycott for harming the economies of both Hong Kong and Guangdong in a meeting at the Chinese Commercial Union. The boycott ended by early February 1913 with the help from local Chinese merchants.
Boshan Wei Yuk was reappointed for further six-year terms in 1902 and 1908, and a further three-year term in 1914. When he retired from the Legislative Council in October 1917, Governor Sir Henry May paid a very high tribute to Wei.
He was associated with the official proclamation of the accession of King Edward VII and King George V. He was also a member of the Hong Kong Jubilee Committee in 1890, the Retrenchment Committee in 1894, the Queen's Statue Committee, and the Insanitary Properties Commission, in 1896, the Victoria Diamond Jubilee Committee, and the Indian Famine Relief Committee, in 1897, and the Typhoon Relief Fund Committee in 1906. He was also member of the Council and Court of the University of Hong Kong from 1911 to 1921. Wei and Kai Ho were the first Chinese Freemasons. They took an active part in forming the University Lodge of Hong Kong No. 3666 when the University of Hong Kong was opened in 1912.
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Wei Yuk
Sir Boshan Wei Yuk CMG JP (Chinese: 韋寶珊; pinyin: Wéi Bǎoshān; 1849 – 16 December 1921) was a prominent Hong Kong businessman and member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.
Wei was born in Hong Kong in 1849, the son of Wei Kwong (1825–1879), an adopted son of an American missionary, Elijah Coleman Bridgman, at the age of 13; and became the head compradore of the Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London and China in 1857. His brothers Wei An and Wei Pei were a solicitor and barrister respectively. He married the eldest daughter of Wong Shing, the second Chinese member to be appointed to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong in 1892. Wei received classic Chinese private education and studied at the Government Central School (today known as Queen's College).
Wei was one of the first Chinese to go abroad for Western Education. He proceeded to England in 1867 where he entered the Leicester Stoneygate School. He went to Scotland in 1868 and studied at the Dollar Academy for four years. He returned to Hong Kong after a European tour in 1872.
Wei entered the service of the Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London and China. Practicing the Chinese custom, he retired from its service for three years when his father died in 1879 and rejoined as compradore and held the position for nearly sixty years.
Wei was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1883 and an unofficial member of the Legislative Council in 1896, representing the Chinese community alongside Kai Ho. In the 1908–09 session presided by Governor Sir Frederick Lugard, an Ordinance to amend the Magistrate's Ordinance 1890 and to effect certain other amendments in the criminal law was tabled in the Legislative Council, criminalising the Chinese habit of spitting in and out of doors were strongly dissented by Kai Ho and Wei, on the ground that to penalise a universal and almost involuntary habit would antagonise the whole Chinese population. A petition movement with 8,000 signature were launched and defeated the legislation.
Shortly after the 1911 Revolution, Wei and Kai Ho voted for an amendment to the Peace Preservation Ordinance which authorised the flogging of rabble-rousers in the prisons, in order to prevent any political and economic instability in Hong Kong, despite Wei and Ho supported the revolution. In April 1912, the Hong Kong government banned the circulation of Chinese coins as it feared the effects of their depreciation after the revolution. In November, Governor May encouraged the Star Ferry and Hong Kong's two tramways stop accepting Chinese coins. Many Chinese took it as an insult to the new Chinese republic and left the local residents with less money for tram fare. A colony-wide boycott broke out, and Wei and Kai Ho defended the tram companies and condemned the boycott for harming the economies of both Hong Kong and Guangdong in a meeting at the Chinese Commercial Union. The boycott ended by early February 1913 with the help from local Chinese merchants.
Boshan Wei Yuk was reappointed for further six-year terms in 1902 and 1908, and a further three-year term in 1914. When he retired from the Legislative Council in October 1917, Governor Sir Henry May paid a very high tribute to Wei.
He was associated with the official proclamation of the accession of King Edward VII and King George V. He was also a member of the Hong Kong Jubilee Committee in 1890, the Retrenchment Committee in 1894, the Queen's Statue Committee, and the Insanitary Properties Commission, in 1896, the Victoria Diamond Jubilee Committee, and the Indian Famine Relief Committee, in 1897, and the Typhoon Relief Fund Committee in 1906. He was also member of the Council and Court of the University of Hong Kong from 1911 to 1921. Wei and Kai Ho were the first Chinese Freemasons. They took an active part in forming the University Lodge of Hong Kong No. 3666 when the University of Hong Kong was opened in 1912.