Woo Wai-tak, Arthur 胡惠德 (1919-d.1964)

Arthur Woo

updated October 1, 2013.

Obstetrician and Gynecologist; Rotarian to Rejuvenate the Club after WWII.

Diocesan Boys' School; studied Latin and French in England; trained and qualified at Middlesex Hospital 1913; LRCP (Lond.) January 1913; MRCS (Eng.) January 1913; MBBS (Lond.) May 1916;  FRCS (Eng.) May 12, 1949; FICS (Hon.); studied in New York and Baltimore under a Rockefeller Foundation scholarship, including training at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. WWI, military hospitals in Britain. Gravesend General Hospital. General Lyinim Hospital. Brompton Hospital. Obstetric and Gynecological House Surgeon, Middlesex Hospital. Peking (Beijing). First Assistant to Professor J. Preston Maxwell, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Peking Union Medical College 協和醫學院. Medical Advisor to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Transportation, ROC. Personal physician to ROC President Li Yuanhong 黎元洪. Hong Kong nlt.1919. Registered to practice Hong Kong May 9, 1919. Private practitioner 1919, address: China Building. Lecturer in Gynecology and Obstetrics; Internal Examiner, HKU. Private hospital, honorary consulting gynecologist, Nethersole Hospital; Medical Superintendent (and owner), Babington Hospital 惠德頤養院, Babington Path 巴丙頓道. President, HKCMA 1924-25. Council, HKBMA. President, China Medical Association 中國博醫會 1928 [1]. Y's Men's Club, President 1935, 1936; Governor, South China District 1936. International Medical Relief Committee, Founder and Inaugural Chairman 1937. JP (unofficial) 1938. Residence: #11 Old Bailey 1919. Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, status of the practice unknown. Resumed practice after the war nlt.1948, address 1: 1/F, Alexandra Building 1948; address 2: Edinburgh House 1960s. Director, St. John Ambulance Association, Hong Kong 1952. Largely responsible for the re-establishment of the Rotary Club of Hong Kong 1945 (the Rotary was initially formed in 1932). Honor: King's Silver Jubilee Medal 1935; The British Realm of the Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, Associate Serving Brother 1938; Commander 1949. OBE June 10, 1954. Club: Chinese Recreational Club, director.

b. 1888 Hong Kong – d. February 1964 Hong Kong. Protestant, Hong Kong Anglican Church. s/o U I-kai 胡爾楷. Siblings: 1. Katie Woo, PhD. 胡素貞, headmistress of St. Paul’s Girls’ School 1916-52.

Publications: Cervicitis and Its Treatment by the Newer Dyes, [n.l.], 1922. A Study of Three Cases of Leucorrhea, Chinese Medical Journal of China, 1924.

Reverdin's Needle

[Designer of Reverdin-Woo neddle. Woo demonstrated the use of his modification of Reverdin's needle on September 21, 1929 at the Peking Union Medical College. The original Reverdin's needle, a handled needle for surgical use with eye aperture controlled by thumb stud, was invented by Swiss surgeon Jacques L. Reverdin in 1879. The needle is sometime referred to as the Reverdin-Woo needle.]

[Woo went to England in 1921 to receive specialist treatment of undisclosed nature and there was false reports of his death as the result of the treatment.]

[Woo was sued in 1935 by John S.H. Waan, Chinese Secretary to the Italian Consul-General for willful neglect and exposure of a patient, causing grievous injury to health. The patient in question was Wann's 31-month-old daughter, Natalina, who died after having been under the care of Woo. The trial ended after Woo's lawyer submitted no case to answer on the grounds of lack of evidence.]

[1] Woo was the first Chinese elected to the office of President of the China Medical Association 中國博醫會. He was also the last president of the association which in April 1932 amalgamated with the Chinese Medical Association 中華醫學會 and ceased to exist henceforth. The China Medical Association was originally the Medical Missionary Society of Canton founded in February 21, 1838. The words "of Canton" in the name of the society was later replaced by "in China".

Selected bibliography: Address & Papers , Dedication Ceremonies and Medical Conference, Peking Union Medical College, September 15-22, 1921, Peking: Peking Union Medical College, 1922, p.385. British Medical Journal, June 19, 1954, p.1435, Medical Birthday Honors. Carroll, John M., Edge of Empires: Chinese Elites and British Colonials in Hong Kong, Harvard: Harvard University Press, 2005. The China Mail, August 4, 1936, p. 7, Y's Men's Club, Dr. Arthur Woo Re-elected. Hong Kong Daily Press, February 4, 1936, p.7, Y's Men's Clubs, Dr. Arthur Woo. The Hong Kong Government Gazette, May 9, 1919, Notice #205; May 4, 1923, Notice #206; May 9, 1941, Notice #558. The Hong Kong Telegraph, August 15, 1935, p. 7, No Case to Answer, Dr. Arthur Woo Vindicated; September 30, 1937, front page, Coordinating Aid for War Victims, Dr. Arthur Woo Heads Local Organization. London Gazette, January 4, 1938, p.30; June 24, 1949, p.3132. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, June 21, p.7; August 30, 1935, p.11, Well Known Doctor Sued, Neglect of Baby Patient Alleged.

Wan Tun-mo 尹端模 (1897-1927)

updated March 28, 2014.

Wan Man-kai. Credit: Twentieth Century Impressions of Hong Kong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China

The inaugural Chairman of the Hong Kong Chinese Medical Association.

b. October 10, 1869, Hong Kong -d.1927, Hong Kong. Alias Wan Man-kai 尹文楷. Hong Kong [n.d.]. Tientsin (Tianjin) 1884. Tientsin Chinese Government College 天津西醫學堂^[1] 1884-89. Surgeon, Imperial Chinese Navy 1890. Assistant Professor, Tientsin Chinese Government College. Canton (Guangzhou) [n.d.]. Lecturer, Medical School, Pok Tsai Hospital 博濟醫學堂^[2]. China-Western Dispensary 廣州冼基東西藥局 1893^[3]. Hong Kong 1897.

HONG KONG. Government Central School [n.d.]. Staff surgeon, Nethersole Hospital 1897. Staff surgeon, Alice Memorial Hospital (vice U I-kai 胡爾楷, deceased) 1898. Private practitioner 1900. Public Vaccinator November 16, 1897. Authorized to practice February 5, 1915^[4]. Authorized medical practitioner to sign medical certificates of death 1915. Tutor in Medicine, Physiology and Surgery, HKCMC.  Inaugural President, HKCMA 1920-22. Director, inaugural board of Yeung Wo Nursing Home 1922. Founder and Chairman of the Board, Great Light Newspaper 1900s^[5]. Managing Committee, Po Leung Kuk 1921. Board of Education 1922-27. JP (Non-official) 1923-27. University Court, Hong Kong Univ. 1926 (three year term). Chairman, Chinese Club 華商會所 1900-1927.

s/o Wan Wei-tsing 尹維清 (London Missionary Society minister, Bolou (Boluo) County, Kwangtung (Guangdong) 廣東省博羅縣).
m. [s.n.] (d/o Au Fung-chi 區鳳墀)^[6].

Publications: 病理撮要, 胎產撮要, 兒科撮要, 病症名目, 體質窮源, 醫理略述 [I will have these translated some other times. Some are translated works, but I don't know which ones.]

[1] Tientsin Chinese Government College opened in 1881 under the patronage of Li Hongzhang 李鴻章.

[2] Pok Tsai Hospital was established by medical missionary John Kerr. Sun Yat-sen attended the medical school attached to the hospital in 1886, before moving to Hong Kong and matriculated at the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese.

[3] The China-Western Dispensary in Sinkay, Canton was established by Sun Yat-sen towards end of 1893. It is unknown whether or not Wan was a partner in Sun's dispensary, or the other way around. In November 1894, Sun gave up medicine and became a full time revolutionist. The close friendship between Wan and Sun went back a long way - they were classmate in the Government Central School in Hong Kong.

[4] Wan was the first Chinese trained doctor to be authorized to practice in Hong Kong. Doctors who lacked the academic qualifications recognized by the Medical Board (essentially the General Medical Council in UK) to qualify to register were authorized to practice as private practitioners in Hong Kong as "exempted persons" effective July 8, 1908 [a]. They were however not to be listed in the Medical Register and not be addressed officially as "Dr". Wan was referred to as Doctor Wan in government documents since 1926.

[a] There were hospital appointments, more particularly at missionary or charitable hospitals, prior to 1908. For instance, Chung Boon-chor 鍾本初, a graduate of Tientsin Chinese Government College was engaged as a house surgeon of the Alice Memorial Hospital 1890-95, and the first Medical Superintendent 掌院 of Tung Wah Hospital 1896-1903.

[5] Great Light Newspaper 大光報 was a Christian newspaper; its contributor had included Sun Yat-sen.

[6] Several of his brothers-in-law were licentiates of HKCMC and practiced with him in Hong Kong.

Selected bibliography: Chinese Club, Hong Kong [internet]. Choa, Gerald Hugh, The Life and Times of Sir Kai Ho Kai, Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1981. Hardiman, David (Ed.), Healing Bodies, Saving Souls: Medical Missions in Asia and Africa, New York: Editions Rodopi B.V., 2006. The Hong Kong Government Gazette, November 20, 1897, #495; February 5, 1915, #58; June 9, 1922, #264; November 23, 1923, #5111; June 4, 1926, #311; December 17, 1926, #695; June 10, 1927, #349. Report of the Director of Education for the Year 1927. Report of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs for the Year 1921. Smith, Carl T., Chinese Christians Elites, Middlemen, and the Church in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Hong Kong University Press, 2005. Xu Guangqiu, American Doctors in Canton: Modernization in China 1835-1935, New Brunswick, New Jersey, Transaction Publishers, 2011.

To Ying-fan 杜應勳 (1899)

updated December 19, 2013

Coxion To

Alias To Coxion 杜國臣. Hong Kong nlt.1894.

HONG KONG. LMSHK 1899. House surgeon, Nethersole Hospital 1899-1908. House surgeon, Alice Memorial Hospital 1908-31 [1], concurrently owned and ran a pharmacy in Queen's Road. Authorized to practice June 17, 1936 - EOP [2]. Authorized medical practitioner to sign medical certificates of death 1908-EOP.

Siblings: 1. To Ying-kwan 杜應坤.
m. [s.n.]. Had issues: 1. son [s.n.].

[1] To's wife and son were also employed by the Alice Memorial Hospital.
[2] LMSHK was the qualification awarded to graduates of the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese HKCMC (1887-1912). Holders of LMSHK were not authorized to practice as private practitioners until July 8, 1908 [a]. From that day on they were permitted to practice as "exempted persons", but not to be listed in the Medical Register and not be addressed officially as "Dr".

[a] There were hospital appointments, more particularly at missionary or charitable hospitals, prior to 1908. For instance, Kwan King-leung 關景良, LMSHK 1893, was permitted to practice at the Alice Memorial Hospital 1893. To, himself, was engaged in the two LMS hospitals without the necessity of being registered.

Selected bibliography: The Hong Kong Government Gazette, July 10, 1908, Notice #482; May 9, 1941, Notice #558.

Thomson, John Christopher (1889-1909)

updated August 19, 2013

A Devoted Teacher.

b. June 5, 1863, Lockerbie, Scotland. MA 1884, MB, CM August 1, 1888, MD 1892 (Edin.); CDTC 1904; DPH (Edin.) & (Glas.) 1904. London Missionary Society, medical missionary. Registered to practice in Hong Kong on January 18, 1889 through 1897. London Missionary Society Clinic, address: Po Yee Street, Sai Ying Pun 西營盤普義街 (working with William Young 楊威廉). Superintendent, Alice Memorial and Nethersole Hospitals 1889. Resigned from London Missionary Society 1896. Hong Kong Government, Assistant Colonial Surgeon 1897; Medical Officer and Medical Officer of Health to the Kowloon extension 1898. Surgeon, Tung Wah Hospital 1909. HKCMC: Secretary 1891-94; Treasury and Secretary 1895-1909; Director of Studies 1895-1902; lecturer in Chemistry 1896-97, Chemistry and Physics 1898-1901, Clinical Medicine 1909, Clinical Surgery 1892, Diseases of Tropical Climates 1901-09, Fever 1908, Materia Medica and Therapeutics 1892-96, Physiology 1895-96, Surgery 1896-97. JP (official) 1898. President, HKBMA 1899. Left Hong Kong December 28, 1909 due to ill-health. Publication: Reports on Malaria and on Hong Kong Mosquitoes, Government Gazette. Club: Hong Kong Club.

Selected bibliography: The Hong Kong Government Gazette, January 19, 1889; May 7, 1898, Notice #212. Hong Kong Government, Report of the Head of the Sanitary Department for the Year 1909. The Straits Times, October 19, 1909, p.6, Social and Personal.

Paterson, Randolph James Elliot (1915)

updated

MBBS (Edin.) December 18, 1911. Registered to practice Hong Kong May 21, 1915. Nethersole Hospital.

Selected bibliography: The Hong Kong Government Gazette, May 21, 1915, Notice #226.

Ho Ko-tsun 何高俊 (1902-EOP)

updated January 1, 2014.

Ho Ko-tsun. Credit: Twentieth Century Impressions of Hong Kong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China

Hong Kong born. Canton 1911-15. Deputy Director of Public Health, Canton 1911. Hong Kong ca.1916. Honor: OBE June 1949.

HONG KONG. Queen's college 皇仁書院, recipient of Belilios Award; LMSHK 1902. Acting house surgeon, Tung Wah Hospital 1901-02. Assistant to the Government Bacteriologist, William Hunter, October 14, 1902-1903 [1].  Resident surgeon, Nethersole and Ho Miu Ling Hospitals 1903-06. Medical Officer, Chinese Public Dispensary, East Distrcit (located in Wanchai). Public Vaccinator October 9, 1901. Authorized to practice (as a private practitioner) July 8, 1908 [2]. Private practitioner, 1908-EOP, address: 1/F., #55 Queen's Road Central 1941. Authorized medical practitioner to sign medical certificates of death 1908-EOP. Lecturer, Osteology and Surgery, HKCMC. Founding President and lecturer in Hygiene, Tai Yuk School 體育學校 (Hollywood Road) 1908. Inaugural Chairman, Yeung Wo Nursing Home (forerunner of Hong Kong Sanitarium) 1922. Member, Guangdong Medical Gongjinhui 1910 [3]. Club: Hong Kong Chinese Swimming Association 香港華人游泳會, founding member 1910.

b. August 10, 1878, Hong Kong - d. June 6, 1953, Hong Kong. Protestant.
m. [s.n.] Ma. Had issues: 1.Ho Fat-chung 何法中 (d.infancy, or neonatal death); 2. Ho Kin-chung 何健中 (d.infancy, or neonatal death); 3. Ho Chung-chung 何中中 (Ph.D.; Founder and Principal, True Light Middle School of Hong Kong 香港真光中學 1946; MBE; JP); 4. Ho Yuk-chung 何育中; 5. Ho Mei-chung 何尾中.

Publications: A Treatise on First Aid to the Wounded; Simple Remedies in varous Emergencies; 廣東省政府取締醫務之原因 (Reasons why Guangdong Government Banned Medical Services), China Medical Journal, March 1913 (all three published in Chinese).

[1] Three Chinese, all holders of LMSHK, were appointed as Assistant to the Government Bacteriologist. They were: Chan Fai-kwong, Ho Ko-tsun 何高俊, Lee Yin-sze 李賢士. This was the first instance Chinese were appointed; the positions were previously held by Japanese.
[2] LMSHK was the qualification awarded to graduates of the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese HKCMC (1887-1912). Holders of LMSHK were not authorized to practice as private practitioners until July 8, 1908 [a]. From that day on they were permitted to practice as "exempted persons", but not to be listed in the Medical Register.

[a] There were hospital appointments, more particularly at missionary or charitable hospitals, prior to 1908. For instance, Kwan King-leung 關景良, LMSHK 1893, was permitted to practice at the Alice Memorial Hospital 1893.

The Guangdong Medical Gongjinhui held a welcome party to honor a visit to Canton by Sun Yat-sen in May 1912. Ho sat on the front row, first right. Credit: Yangcheng Evening News Digital Media.

[3] Ho was listed in 1910 as an active member, Guangdong Medical Gongjinhui 廣東醫學共進會, the medical branch of a republican movement group founded in Tokyo in 1905.

Selected bibliography: Hong Kong Government, Report of the Principal Civil Medical Officer for the Year 1902. The Hong Kong Government Gazette, October 12, 1901, #595; May 9, 1941, Notice #558. Wright, Arnold, Twentieth Century Impressions of Hong Kong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China, London: Lloyd's Greater Britain Publishing Co., Ltd., 1908, p.180.

Galbraith, Dorothy Evaleen (1925)

updated

MRCS (Eng.) 1924; LRCP (Lond.) 1924. Registered to practice Hong Kong May 8, 1925. Private hospital, Nethesole Hospital 1925.

Selected bibliography: The Hong Kong Government Gazette, May 8, 1925, Notice #265.

Chan Ping-in 陳炳賢 (1933-1984+)

updated April 1, 2014.

MBBS (HK) January 2, 1930. Registered to practice Hong Kong May 5, 1933. Nethersole Hospital 1933. Private practitioner aft.1933-EOP, address: 3/F, China Building 1948. Honorary Secretary & Treasurer, HKCMA 1936. Residence: G/F,  #13 Village Road 1941.

POST 1941 activities. Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, presumed in Hong Kong; status of the practice unknown. Resumed practice after the war nlt.1948. Listed in the 1948 member roster of HKCMA. Address 1948: 3/F, China Building, Tel: 32772.

Selected bibliography: The Bulletin of the Hong Kong Chinese Medical Association, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1948, p.50. The Hong Kong Government Gazette, May 5, 1933, Notice #317; May 9, 1941, Notice #558. 《香港年鑑》香港：華僑日報 (Hong Kong Year Book)。

Chan Hin-fan 陳衍芬 (1906-1908, 1939-EOP)

updated December 17, 2013.

Name variations: Chen Hin-fun; 陳顯芬. Hong Kong nlt.1905. Canton 1908. Guangzhou Guonghua Medical College 廣東光華醫學院, Lecturer; Director of Studies 1908; Principal 1933. Superintendent, Guonghua Charity Hospital 光華贈醫院. Editor, Chinese Medical Journal. Hong Kong 1939.

HONG KONG. LMSHK August 31, 1906. Superintendent, Alice Memorial and Nethersole Hospitals net.1906. Authorized to practice October 11, 1939 [1]. Private practitioner 1939-EOP, address: 1/F., #788 Nathan Road 1941. Authorized medical practitioner to sign medical certificates of death 1908-EOP.

Publications: 衛生展覽與市民健康的關係 (The Relations between Sanitation Exhibition and the Health of City Drillers), Guangzhou Sanitation 1908.

[1] LMSHK was the qualification awarded to graduates of the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese HKCMC (1887-1912). Holders of LMSHK were not authorized to practice as private practitioners until July 8, 1908 [a]. From that day on they were permitted to practice as "exempted persons", but not to be listed in the Medical Register and not be addressed officially as "Dr".

[a] There were hospital appointments, more particularly at missionary or charitable hospitals, prior to 1908. For instance, Kwan King-leung 關景良, LMSHK 1893, was permitted to practice at the Alice Memorial Hospital 1893.

Selected bibliography: The Hong Kong Government Gazette, July 10, 1908, Notice #482; May 9, 1941, Notice #558.