Media

Preserving the Past, Informing the Future
“Deacons Archives” Turnover Ceremony and Exhibition at HKU Library

03 Apr 2014

The handover ceremony of Deacons permanent loan collection, formally named as Deacons Archives, was held today (April 3, Thursday) at the Library of the University of Hong Kong (HKU). An exhibition on some of the collection items will be held at the library until April 28, 2014.

Deacons is Hong Kong's oldest and largest commercial law firm. It has deposited its archival records permanently at HKU. The collection contains the bulk of the early surviving records of Deacons and its predecessors, including client files, deeds and papers, legal documents, accounting records, letter books, photographs, etc. The date range of the collection is from 1846 to 2007.

The highlight of the collection is mainly the relevance and value to academic researchers and historians in respect of the economic and business history of Hong Kong and also historians and writers researching a particular person such as Sir Paul Chater who founded Hong Kong Land and undertook the first major Land Reclamation project in Hong Kong.

There are several volumes of documents related to Chater business transactions which relate to his deceased estate. Copies of this material were sent to the Chater family's own historian, Liz Chater, who authorized the donation of the Chater related materials in the Deacons archive to HKU.  These will be very valuable additions to material the HKU Library already has on Sir Paul Chater, including his own personal library which is housed in a special room in the HKU Library.

Deacons Archives is organized into 65 series, with over 160 boxes of records occupying about 35 linear metres of shelf space. The documents on display are various types of records relating to HKU, wills of local renowned entrepreneurs, land lease and land sale deeds, and other intriguing records ranging from the 1900s to the 1960s.

Exhibition Information:
Date: April 4 to April 28, 2014
Opening Hours:  09:00 to 22:00 (Monday –Friday); 09:00-19:00 (Saturday); 10:00 – 19:00 (Sunday and Public Holidays)
Venue: Special Collections 1/F, Main Library, The University of Hong Kong
Free Admission

More information about the exhibition:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xzpqszfyxtez6e6/5t8RPOMp0U

More information about Deacons Archive:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6kcilar5xnzsyx0/5fW4MrRC_4

For media enquiries, please contact:  
Mr. Gary Chin, Tel: 2859 2211 / Ms. Marina Yeung, Tel: 2859 8903
For details of the exhibition, please contact: 2859 2207 (Special Collections, Main Library)

(From Left) Mr. Peter Sidorko, University Librarian of HKU, Ms Lilian Chiang, Senior Partner of Deacons, and Professor Chow Shew-Ping, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Vice President (University Relations)