Tsang Tin-chien.
David Florance. Photos © University Archives, the University of Hong Kong
that it shows the first female graduate, Ms Tsang Tin-chien (1930 BSc Eng.), in one of the three oldest, and male dominated faculties at the University. While all the boys wore black attire in the photograph, she chose to wear white, looking sharp and bright, especially in a black and white photograph. The relationship between the donor and the photograph also fascinated me. The donor’s grandfather, Dr David Florance, who sat on the very left in the front row, was the Chair of Physics of University of Hong Kong but left for an appointment at the Victoria College of Wellington, New Zealand in 1923. It might have been his last group photo- graph taken in HKU before he left for his new position as Chair of Physics back in New Zealand, his home country. This photograph was gifted to Dr Florance by one of his students, Mr Khoo Chee-Lee (1924 BSc Eng.), who wrote and signed on the back of the photograph, on 10 February 1923.
We do not have a lot of information on Dr Florance, therefore, I took the opportunity to visit the J. C. Beaglehole Room, Special Collections at the Victoria University of Wellington during my private trip to New Zealand. The archivists there were incredibly nice showing me all the photographs of Dr Florance, including his portrait and
Garfield Lam at the J. C. Beaglehole Room, Victoria University of Wellington. Photo © Garfield Lam
a group photograph taken in Canterbury College Jubilee in 1923. The ongoing story of Dr Florance moving back to New Zealand enriched my understanding about him as alumnus of HKU, his good rela- tionship with our students, his continuous contribution to his home country and the memories left with his family.
Researcher-archivist relationship Some of the relationships are very sub- tle and unspoken. In 2018, a German researcher approached us about his research relating to one of our alumni Li Shiu-tong, or Tao Li, who was not officially matriculated at the University in circa 1929. Without his name appearing in any
Mr Khoo Chee-Lee. Photo © University Archives, the University of Hong Kong 28 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL DIGITAL
Canterbury College Jubilee, 1923, Christchurch, New Zealand. Photo © J. C. Beaglehole Room, Special Collections, Victoria University of Wellington
December 2021
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