Methodist Sailors' and Soldiers' Home [1929-????]

The group of photos from 1972 are courtesy of Dave Davies. He writes:

I lived in Hong Kong with my family from November 1971 until May 1974.

I lived in Wanchai from November 1971 until September 1972.  I had a 2 storey apartment in the Soldiers and Sailors Home (22 Hennessy Road).

The Vicar/Warden that ran the Soldiers and Sailors home had a 2 storey apartment inside the S&S which he didn’t use as he had a house half way up the peak. He helped to subsidise his house by renting out the apartment.  The flat had a balcony overlooking Hennessy Road which is shown on some of my Hong Kong photos.  I also remember that it had a huge fireplace in the dining room which is also shown on my photos.

Sadly this building has now been demolished and replaced with a Skyscraper.

My wife & I lived in HK Aug 1963 to Aug 1966. The Rev. C.S. "Henry" Clarke was Minister of the Methodist Church & also superintendent of the S & S. He arived in 1963 a month or so before we did. We were good friends of the Clarke's. They did live at the S & S for the first year or so then moved to the mission apartments half way up the Peak. Also living there were Rev. Frank Evison, Chairman of the District (like a Bishop) for the Methodist Church and Rev. Stanley Vincent who was Secretary of the British & Foreign Bible Society.

Rev. Clarke was also Free Church Chaplain to the Royal Navy. After church on Sunday a group of us would meet at the S & S for lunch and then take any visiting servicemen out for a drive to the beach and show them the sights of HK. Over the years we entertained many of them in our home. Late afternoon we would all gather at the Clarke's for tea before going to the evening service.

We have many good memories of our time in HK.

Best wishes,

Herb

The following excerpt comes from a booklet produced in 2013 to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the Methodist international Church. Revd Dr G Howard Mellor has kindly sent me a soft copy of the booklet and permission to include excerpts here. 

The new S&S home ((ie this building)) was completed in 1927 [Update, 5 Jan 2015: it was completed in 1929, see below] at 22 Hennessey Road with a new manse for the minister at 75 Ventris Road. The Minster of the English Methodist Church also served the S&S Home right through until the 1990s.

The ministers of MIC used the S&S Home as a base for their offices, whilst living in one of 6 flats built by the MMS at 51 Barker Road. It seems they held services in the mornings with Sunday School, had Sunday Lunch at the S&S Home and held afternoon fellowship groups with a Sunday evening service at the Home.

There were three very significant ministers during this time, Joseph Sandbach, Edgar Hopkins and Cyril Clarke. They developed the work and encouraged community involvement.

You can click here to download the complete booklet.

China Mail 30 January 1929

The Wesleyan Sailors' and Soldiers' Home was opened by Governor Clementi on 30 January 1929.

Thanks David.  That’s cleared things up nicely. Andrew

The S&S Home was of course part of the Methodist Church - at the time it was built, 1927, it was still the Wesleyan Methodist Church of which the church and this building were the English Hong Hong Circuit. In fact this was the second S&S Home. The first was on the waterfront, Praya East at the corner with Arsenal Rd, and right next to the Blue Building of the Navy. In fact in the photo D you see the edge of a building with scaffolding and it might be that the this is the S&S Home under construction. It housed 100 beds and was established in 1901. The original home was demolished to make way for Hennessey Rd. In fact a I have a map of the proposed construction which drives through the old building.

I found a source which indicated the Dominicans built the Blue Building and rented it out to the navy - very enterprising!

Rev. Dr. G. Howard Mellor,

Former Senior Minister of Methodist International Church

As has been stated, the Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Home was started at Praya East in 1901 and transferred to more commodious premises in Hennessy Road in 1929, with an extension in 1934.

After the war, when life and property in Hong Kong was being restored, Methodist missionary Rev Bill Ream returned in October 1946 from 12 months’ furlough in England to take over the refurbishing of the Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Home from Rev Joseph Sandbach, the minister of the English Methodist Church, whose church building had been restored with the help of Methodist laymen.  This allowed Sandbach to go on furlough himself, having laboured on from the end of the war.

The Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Home building had been taken over by the Japanese army during the war, and British forces after the war.

The top floor missionary guest house had been restored first for the flood of missionaries returning to China via Hong Kong post-war.  Ream found it fascinating meeting missionaries of so many countries and different denominations, returning to work in churches, hospitals, schools and universities in China, mostly Kwangsi and Kwangtung Provinces.  ('Missionaries' might usefully have been added to the title of the Home!)

Pre-war the Home’s ground floor had served as a restaurant, which was run by James Lee.  Lee had showed up again and was tasked with his old job under Ream’s supervision. 

The next goal was to re-open the first and second floors, with bedrooms, dormitories and a quiet room-cum-chapel.  The Royal Navy provided beds and unlimited supplies of chocolate and other items.

Seeing Hong Kong’s revival gave Ream deep satisfaction, noting men and women working long hours that elsewhere might seem exploitative. He himself worked harder than ever, helped by the convenient restaurant below and frequent breaks for chocolate.

There was no tolerance for red tape; officials, guided by common sense, took responsibility, and commerce and industry followed, serving distant interests efficiently with few complaints. Ream, supported by a capable committee of laymen, found the mission bank account untouched and spent it all on repainting and re-equipping the Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Home, then appealed to London for more funds and amazingly received £4,000.

He enjoyed being trusted to report completed actions, not proposals. Another time, when church registration needed checking, Ream discovered the English Methodist Church was still under its old name, ‘The Wesleyan Methodist Church and Garrison Chapel’; the matter was quickly fixed by phone, and the name was changed to what everyone thought it was.  No one knew if the change had been noted or approved by their London headquarters.  They had a job to do and they got on with it.

Having cultivated strong relationships during his time in Stanley Camp, Ream frequently found himself in a unique position to resolve challenges that arose in post-war Hong Kong. A New Zealand doctor and his wife had recently arrived and taken up residence in the Missionary Guest House. When the doctor was suddenly struck by appendicitis, Ream wasted no time; leveraging his network, he phoned a former fellow internee who now worked at Queen Mary Hospital, securing the doctor's admission at remarkable speed.

Ream's connections with European police were helpful during the challenging post-war period, especially regarding prostitution near his premises, (they were on the edge of the Wanchai red light district). After repeated requests for police intervention were declined due to limited resources, Ream spoke directly with the ladies. Together, they struck an informal agreement; if the ladies crossed to his side of the street, he would call the police, but if they remained on the opposite side, he would not intervene. The arrangement worked smoothly throughout Ream's tenure and, he hoped, continued to benefit those who followed him.

His ability to find practical solutions and foster mutual understanding, whether with local authorities or those on the fringes of society, was emblematic of the spirit that characterised Hong Kong's revival in those years.

Life at the Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Home soon resumed its routine. Chinese staff member A Wing, formerly ‘No. 1 Boy,’ returned looking frail after enduring the hardships of the war, but with the right support, he quickly regained his physique and vitality. Staffing levels at the Home were now sufficient.

Ream’s big goal was to re-open the Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Home by Christmas 1946, the 5^th anniversary of the surrender to the Japanese.  It was hard work but he and his team did it.

In May 1947, Rev Sandbach returned from furlough to take charge of both the Home and the English Methodist Church. This relieved Ream of his responsibilities, allowing him to look forward to taking up a position in mainland China for the first time since he had arrived in 1938.

Bill Ream - Too Hot for Comfort.