A Taste of Hong Kong Lasallian Heritage
A Trowel of 1881 Round the World in 98 years |
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The story of the trowel can be traced back to 1881.In that year, the then Governor, Sir John Pope Hennessy, used it to lay the foundation stone of the original building of St. Joseph's College in Robinson Road. The principal then was Brother Cyprian. He gave this trowel to Sir John as a present.When Sir John had finished his term of office in 1885, he decided to go back to his hometown in Ireland. He took the trowel with him as a remembrance. He died there in 1887 and the trowel was not seen until In 1936, Brother Stephen Buckley, a former Principal of St. Joseph's College found this trowel in a pawnshop. He bought the trowel from the shop and brought it back to St. Joseph's. During the Japanese occupation in Hong Kong, they used St. Joseph's as a hospital. After their defeat, they took away many valuable things with them, among them there was the trowel. On 7th July 1979, a mysterious
man came in the main door of the school with a newspaper wrapped
pack. As soon as he reached the office, he fled leaving the pack
alone. Mr. John Chan, the office clerk, opened the pack and he
realized it was the valuable trowel. He took the trowel to Brother
Patrick, the principal at that moment.Finally, the trowel is back
to the family of St. Joseph's and it is now kept in a safe
place so that it will be safe forever.
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