J. J. Francis
John Joseph Francis KC (25 April 1839 – 22 September 1901) was a senior counsel in British Colony of Hong Kong and the first elected member of the Sanitary Board.
He matriculated at the London University in 1875 and passed the Intermediate Examination in Laws, obtaining first place of those candidates who achieved second class at honours in 1876.
[4] In the same year he won the Lee Essay Prize at the Gray's Inn with the subject "The Judicature Act 1873, stating its object and provisions generally and its probable effect on the administration of the law in England.
[4] Shortly after his own admission Francis signed an affidavit in support of the application of Ng Choy the first Chinese to be admitted to practise in Hong Kong.
Thomas Hayllar QC and the Attorney General of Hong Kong, Edward Loughlin O'Malley, acted for Page.
[7] He was appointed acting in several judicial positions from 1878 to 1880 including Police Magistrate in September 1878 and 1880, Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court in April 1879 and presiding over the Criminal Sessions in February 1880.
[8] He was appointed member of the commission to Revise the Laws and Ordinances of Hong Kong in 1887 and also examiner of candidates for admission as attorneys both when he was solicitor and barrister.
In 1878 a number of Chinese, concerned about the traffic in women and girls, petitioned the Governor for permission to form an anti-kidnapping association.
[10][11] Francis was also a member of the financial committee of the Alice Memorial Hospital founded by a prominent Chinese, Ho Kai, in 1886.
[12] He joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Corps which was founded in 1862 but disbanded in 1866 and was revived under John Hennessy's governorship.
However his wholehearted support of Governor Hennessy, who was also an Irish Roman Catholic, was criticised by the opposition of the Hennessian government.
[14] In the late 19th century there were five unofficial members on the Legislative Council in which one of them was elected by the Justices of Peace and another by the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce.
In 1889 in a lecture on Crown Colonies he expressed a hope for an elected Council, and he was a leading member of the Hong Kong Association founded in 1893 for improving and popularising the Government.
[19] The Sanitary Board was established in 1883 to supervise and control the sanitation of the colony but was unpopular with the property owners and the Chinese community.
In May 1894 bubonic plague struck Hong Kong and a permanent committee of the Sanitary Board, comprising three members with Francis as chairman, was set up to cope with the emergency.
The Governor paid tribute to Francis's service by saying that the permanent committee acted with extraordinary energy and efficiency and the government was indebted to him and others in a dispatch to the Secretary of State Lord Ripon.
In September 1894 a committee was appointed with Edward Ackroyd the chairman to decide on awards to be made for the services during the plague on behalf of the community.
[22] In early 1895 the government decided to appoint an additional official member, the Medical Officer of Health, to the Sanitary Board.
[22] He was also appointed by the government to the committees formed to organise the celebration of the Queen Victoria's Golden and Diamond Jubilees.
[26] A full choral funeral service was conducted by Bishop Piazzoli at St. Michael's Roman Catholic Cemetery in Happy Valley on 30 October.
[26] Among those present being the then Colonial Secretary James Stewart Lockhart, Sir Thomas Jackson, Paul Chater and Ho Kai.
[26] He was one of the leading Roman Catholic laymen in Hong Kong and regularly attended church services and functions.
He lectured on various subjects in the Chamber of Commerce and the City Hall ranging from Jesuitism in 1872 through maritime and Asian affairs to the theory of British Advocacy in 1897.
In 1894 he was involved in a living chess tournament organised to raise funds for the Union Church and held in the grounds of J.J. Keswick at East Point.
He also acquired an interest in the Hongkong Telegraph upon Robert Frazer-Smith's death in 1895 which he retained until 1900 and directed the policy of the newspaper during the period.
[31] Stonyhurst, the house he built on 23 Coombe Road in 1887, became a Grade I Historic Building assessed by the Antiquities and Monuments Office in 2011.
