Sir Boshan Wei Yuk, CBE (1849 – 16 December 1921) was a prominent Hong Kong businessman and member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.
Early life and education
Sir Boshan was born in Hong Kong in 1849, the son of Wei Kwong, the head compradore of the Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London and China.[1] His brothers Wei An and Wei Pei were a solicitor and barrister respectively.[2] He married the eldest daughter of Wong Shing, the second Chinese member to be appointed to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong in 1892.[3] Wei received classic Chinese private education and studied at the Government Central School (today known as Queen's College).[2]
Sir Boshan was one of the first Chinese to go abroad for Western Education.[1] He proceeded to England in 1867 where he entered the Leicester Stoneygate School. He went to Scotland in 1868 and studied at the Dollar Academy for four years. He returned to Hong Kong after a European tour in 1872.[1][3]
Career
Sir Boshan entered the service of the Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London and China. Practicing the Chinese custom, he retired form its service for three years when his father died in 1879 and rejoined as compradore and held the position for nearly sixty years.[1][3]
Sir Boshan was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1883 and an unofficial member of the Legislative Council in 1896, representing the Chinese community and reappointed for a further six-year term in 1902[4] and 1908,[5] and further three-year term in 1914.[6] When he retired from the Legislative Council in October 1917, Governor Sir Henry May paid a very high tribute to Sir Boshan. [1]
He was associated with the official proclamation of the accession of King Edward VII and King George V. He was also a member of the Hong Kong Jubilee Committee in 1890, the Retrenchment Committee in 1894, the Queen's Statue Committee, and the Insanitary Properties Commission, in 1896, the Victoria Diamond Jubilee Committee, and the Indian Famine Relief Committee, in 1897, and the Typhoon Relief Fund Committee in 1906.[1][7] He was also member of the Council and Court of the University of Hong Kong from 1911 to 1921.
Sir Boshan was chairman of the Tung Wah Hospital from 1881 to 1883 and from 1888 to 1889, the most prominent Chinese charity authority in Hong Kong. He co-founded the Po Leung Kuk (Society for Protection of Women and Children) and was the permanent member of the committee of the society. He was also a permanent member of the Hong Kong District Watchmen's Committee which was founded at his suggestion from 1898 until his death in 1921.[1]
Sir Boshan also served on many commissions appointed by the government to enquire into matters affecting the Chinese and served in connection between the Hong Kong and Chinese governments.[3] During the riots with the British acquisition of Kowloon hinterland, Sir Boshan was instrumental in pacifying the Chinese. He was presented with a gold medal and letter of thanks by the general public and an address of thanks from the Chinese community for his service during the plague epidemic of 1894.[3]
Sir Boshan was also the originator of the idea of a railway from Kowloon to Canton, and thence to Peking.[3] The idea was later carried out by the Hong Kong and Chinese governments as the construction of Kowloon-Canton Railway. Sir Boshan spent large sum of money in furthering the scheme,[3] which was failed at that time due to the opposition from the Chinese officials.[1]
During the Chinese Revolution of 1911 after Viceroy of Canton Chang Ming-ki sought refuge in the British Consul General's compound, Sir Boshan helped establishing peace and order at Canton. He acted as a guarantor of good faith on both the revolutionary army headed by Hu Han-min and the imperial forces commanded by Admiral Li Chun in Canton.[8]
He was rewarded the Third Class Order of Chao Ho by President Yuan Shih-kai for his service. He was also offered the civil governorship of the Kwangtung Province by President Yuan after Governor Hu Han-min was driven out by Yuan's army in the Second Revolution, but Sir Boshan declined it.[1]
Death
Sir Boshan died at his residence 37 Wong Nei Chong Road at 9:15 p.m. on 16 December 1921 at the age of 74.[1][3] He was survived by four sons and two daughters, one of the former was Wei Wing-lok, the well-known tennis player who figured in several important championship matches in England. Lady Wei Yuk died before his husband on 7 February 1921.[3]
Honours
In recognition of his great public services to Hong kong, Sir Boshan was created a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1908.[9] He was was decorated with the Commander of the Order of the British Empire and was knighted in 1919 after his retirement form the Legislative Council and [3]
Sir Boshan was also honoured by King Gustave V of Sweden with the First Class Order of Wasa in 1918.[1]
He was rewarded the Third Class Order of Chao Ho by President Yuan Shih-kai for his efforts in maintaining peace and order in Canton during the 1911 Revolution.[1]
