St Mary's Church, Causeway Bay 1911-1936

St Mary’s Church, Causeway Bay, began as a chapel built in 1911 under the direction of Bishop Lander (1908-1920) primarily to provide a centre for worship for the residents of the Eyre Diocesan Refuge nearby, founded in 1898 to rescue destitute local women.   Prior to this they had had to travel some 5 miles to St Stephen's in Bonham Road in order to worship.

In those days Tai Hang was a fishing village close to the sea with no Anglican church nearby.  Bishop Lander envisioned that the chapel could be a foundation for the eventual establishment of a Parish Church in the Eastern District stretching from Wanchai to Shaukiwan.

In 1914 the Eyre Refuge moved over to Kowloon and congregation numbers fell for a while but the population of Causeway Bay was growing rapidly and Bishop Lander’s successor Bishop Duppuy decided that the old chapel should be replaced by a new and more spacious church. This came into being under his successor.

I wonder if the Eyre Refuge was the building sitting above it, (or is that the Belilios Reformatory?)   Or perhaps the Refuge is the square 2 storey building to the right of the chapel with the inverted U gateway?  The church was described as being on 'a piece of land adjacent to the refuge.'  Before the church/chapel was built worshippers had to be collected from the refuge and taken to St Stephen’s Church on Bonham Road, some 5 miles away.

Can we identify the white building, the top of which is seen in the background? 

Sources:

Brief Introduction to St Mary's Church.

HKSKH St Mary’s Church