Ladies Recreation Club 1890 - 1915

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Ladies Recreation Club - a history

Chapter 2

 

New generation of ladies and gentlemen
1890 - 1815

A changing of the guard at the LRC was initiated by the Government wanting some LRC land to build a road (later extended and becoming May Road) from [Old] Peak Road to our uphill neighbour, "Macomer" (later called Clovelley).  But the Ladies were less than acquiescent.  A Government memo said "It is evident that the Ladies have an eye to business .." and "The ladies of the Recreation ground cannot of course be expected to part with a portion of their property without getting some return ...".

So the LRC agreed to exchange the steep slope that is now between May Road and Peak Road for a bit more land fronting Peak Road where Hornsey Road is.

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Officers of the Ladies Recreation Club

Year	President	Secretary	Treasurer	Committee
1890	Mrs. Noble	Mrs. Hirst	Mrs. Vernon
1891	Mrs. Harman	Mrs. Hirst	Mrs. Vernon	Mrs Hartigan Dr. William Hartigan Mrs Tomes Mrs. W.H.Forbes Mrs Just
1892	Mrs. Barker	Mrs. Hirst	Mrs. Vernon	Mrs Hartigan Mrs Tomes Mrs. Travers Mrs. Layton
1893	Mrs. Barker	Mrs. Hirst	Mrs. Bird
1894	Mrs. Barker	Mrs. Hawkins	Mrs. Vernon
1895	Mrs. Barker	Mrs. Bird	Mrs. Jackson
1896	Mrs. Bird	Mrs. Clement Palmer	Mrs. Francis
1897	Mrs. Bell-irving	Mrs. Clement Palmer	Mrs. Francis
1898	Mrs. Bell-Irving	Mrs. Clement Palmer	Mrs. Saunders
1899	Lady Carrington	Mrs. Saunders	Mrs. Francis
1900	Mrs. Gascoigne	Mrs. A. Turner	Mrs. Francis
1901	Mrs. Gascoigne	Mrs. A. Turner	Mrs. Francis
1902	Mrs. Gascoigne	Mrs. A. Turner	Mrs. Francis
1903	Lady Gascoigne	Mrs. A Turner	Mrs. Saunders
1904	no listing
1905	no microfiche
1906	Lady Gascoigne	Mrs. A Turner	Mrs. Saunders
1907	Lady Gascoigne	Mrs. A Turner	Mrs. Saunders
1908		Lucy Moxon
1909	no microfiche
1910	no listing
1911	no listing

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Trustees

The new gentlemen trustees shows the more diverse citizenship of the members and their husbnads.

1. Mr. George Edward Noble - (English) - Chief Manager of Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank replaced Sir Thomas Jackson 

    Mrs. Frances Marion Bertha (Daisy) Sexton Noble became the Club president.

2. Mr. James Johnstone Keswick - (Scottish) - LegCo member, Jardines, Mathesion & Co, and founder of Hongkong Land  

    Mrs. Marion Plumer Parkes Keswick

3. Mr. William Howell Forbes - (American) - Russell & Co. 

    Mrs. Dora Delano Forbes (American)

 

A bit more about the ladies

Marion (Minnie) Plumer Parkes Keswick married J.J. Keswick of Jardine's in 1884 when she was about 24 years old and he was 38, in Peking, in the same year the LRC tennis courts were opened.  They first moved to Shanghai, and later to Hong Kong.  Her husband became a trustee of the LRC in 1890.

Her father was Sir Harry Parkes, a charming rogue who managed to marry a beautiful wife and make a lifetime career as a British diplomat in Asia despite causing wars and other upsets at every opportunity. Minnie travelled with him extensively, even to attend a royal dinner at Buckingham Palace in 1881, and he was sorry to lose her company when she married Keswick and had to settle for writing letters.  To read a bit about Sir Harry in Gwulo, click here, and Minnie's account of the Legation in Peking click here

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Mrs. Dora Delano Forbes, was American.  Her husband also became a trusteee of the Club in 1890. She was 36 when the LRC was established. At age 16 she was engaged to William Howell Forbes of Russell & Co. and at age 20 - in 1867 - married him in Paris after he received his $100,000 "competence".
 

The young Misses Delano, ca. 1874, nine years before the LRC: Dora, Sara, Cassie, Annie, and Laura. (NARA, Franklin Roosevelt Library)

After a wedding in Paris, the couple returned to Hong Kong and lived in "Rose Hill". on Caine Road.  In this photo we can see a family party at Rose Hill with their tennis rackets.

Dora's nephew, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, became President of the United States.

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Mrs. Frances Marion Bertha (Daisy) Sexton Noble,  eldest daughter of Major JM Sexton Bombay Staff Corps - married George Edward Noble

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Lady Helen Gascoigne,  was married to Major General Sir William Gascoigne, the General Officer Commanding Hong Kong Forces 1899-1902.  She came from a military family, had been widowed once, and this was her second marriage.

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Florence Dare Hartigan, whose older sister had married Thomas Jackson of HSBC, married Dr. William HARTIGAN, a professor at the Chinese School of Medicine, and the physician for HSBC.    Read more