Current condition
Demolished / No longer exists
Date completed
Date closed / demolished
(Day, Month, & Year are approximate.)
Later place(s) at this location
Photos that show this Place
1900
1900s
1900s
Comments
The Hon. C. P. CHATER―In the
The Hon. C. P. CHATER―In the absence of the honourable member for the Chamber of Commerce, I beg to ask the questions standing in his name. The questions are:―
(1.) Does the Government, in view of the fact that a large area of recently cut soil is exposed all round the building, consider it safe to send boys into the "Belilios Reformatory" at Causeway Bay at any time within the next two years?
(2.) Will the Government before sending any boys into the Reformatory obtain a detailed medical report as to the sanitary condition of the surroundings of the Reformatory?
The ACTING COLONIAL SECRETARY―In answer to the first point of the question, I have to state it is not the case that a large area of recently cut soil is exposed all round the building. The site on which the Reformatory stands was cut years ago and no soil has been cut to speak of within the last 18 months. In answer to the second part of the question, I have to state that undoubtedly the Government before placing boys in the Reformatory will obtain a medical report as to the fitness of the Institution for their reception. I would like to add, sir, that as far as can be humanly foreseen the site is not likely to be a feverish one, for the buildings occupied by Europeans in the immediate vicinity are free from fever, and moreover I am informed by the architect that the workmen who have been engaged in erecting the building have not suffered from fever, which is a very hopeful sign. It has been generally found that when a building is going to be feverish the workmen engaged on it are subject to fever. 11TH MARCH, 1900.
Added map marker
Added map marker, based on a 1903 map, UK National Archive ref: MFQ 1-1363.
St. Mary's church is at that location today.
Regards, David
I'd found some mentions of
I'd found some mentions of the Belilios Reformatory building still standing in 1937. That put paid to my St Mary's Church idea, as it was built in 1936! Looking at the photos of the church, the Belilios building is just visible in the background.
I've moved the marker again, to where the Hotung Secondary School is today.
Belilos Reformatory
HK Telegraph 2 April 1900
The Beliolos Reformatory was opened by the Governor on 2 April 1900.
The building was just a shell
The building was just a shell after WW2 (see here) but the walls stood until at least 1949. The Hotung Secondary School, originally the Ho Tung Technical School for Girls, was opened on the site in 1953
Early History
The foundation stone of the Belilios Reformatory was laid in 1898 and it was opened in 1900, and named after the benefactor who funded it, Emanuel Belilios, a banker, opium dealer, businessman and philanthropist of Jewish Portuguese descent. William Curwen was the first headmaster of the reformatory.
It was intended as a boys' reformatory but no inmates were forthcoming to occupy this building, partly due to changes in the law regarding juveniles, and the building was used as a defacto overflow/branch prison, which was unsatisfactory due to the distance from the Gaol. The government then decided to build a Gaol extension and, after consultation with Mr Belilios, the Reformatory was offered to the Eyre Refuge Committee, chaired by Bishop Lander, as a reformatory for girls sometime before 1909. The Eyre Diocesan Refuge helped destitute Chinese women and girls.
Source: Hong Kong Legislative Council 1909