Help identifying a 1907 Victoria British School Hong Kong Athletics Cup

mikec
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Help identifying a 1907 Victoria British School Hong Kong Athletics Cup

Dear David,

I hope you don’t mind me getting in touch.

I recently found a presentation trophy while clearing my house in the UK, and after some research I think it may be of interest from a Hong Kong history perspective.

It is a Reed & Barton gilt-lined presentation cup engraved:

Victoria British School, Hongkong
Athletic Sports
24 May 1907
School Cup
Won by J. Bertram Friend
10 Points

I’ve attached photographs of the cup and maker’s marks.

I’ve been trying to identify J. Bertram Friend and to find any reports of the 1907 sports day but haven’t had any success. I wondered whether the name, the school, or the event rings any bells, or whether you could suggest any archives or resources that might help.

My eventual aim is to document the history of the trophy before deciding whether to sell it, and I thought you might be the best person to ask.

Many thanks for your time and for everything you’ve done preserving Hong Kong’s history.

Kind regards,
Mike Corfield


 

Date picture taken
unknown
Shows place(s)
Sookunpoo School / Victoria British School [????-????]

Comments

There are more photos of the cup at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1639311162816368/posts/27311857421801723/ where Martin Lee has identified the winner as "James Bertram Friend, born 1894, Father, a naval storekeeper for HM Dockyard."

With his father working in the dockyard, James was entitled to attend Victoria British School in Victoria Barracks. [Correction: The Victoria British School was on Caroline Hill, not the school in Victoria Barracks - see Moddsey's comment below.]

The Victoria British School, also known as Victoria School was a government run school located on Caroline Hill, near the Cotton Mills at East Point, sometimes referred as being at Tang-Lung-Chau.

It was a school for students of European parentage and complemented the Kowloon British School on Robinson/Nathan Road at the time. 

The school commenced operations in March 1905 and had an infants, lower and upper school section. Preliminary information indicates J. Bertram Friend (better known as Bertram) was in the upper school section.

Some notes regarding the school at: https://gwulo.com/node/31171