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The Chater Collection and Bizen-Ware Collection of Sir Catchick Paul Chater by James Orange.
Image: Liz Chater's private archive.
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This isn’t
so much about James Orange’s successful career in Hong Kong, it is about his
early life and in particular, the first journey that took him to the fragrant harbour. He is, of course, remembered for his engineering skills in
Hong Kong, predominantly the Tytam Waterworks project. He is also famously
known for pulling together the Chater Collection book that catalogued
the 430 paintings and drawings that made up this unique and valuable art owned
by Sir Catchick Paul Chater. James was a
collector in his own right and it is very likely that he and his good friend
Sir Paul Chater spent some time during their 40 year friendship discussing,
comparing, even gossiping about their joint love of Oriental art, china and
porcelain ware. Was James influenced and encouraged by Sir Paul? It is very
likely, their areas of interest where the same, for instance, they both
collected Chinnery. If you were to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum or the
British Museum in London to view James’s collection, I would like to think that
you would be seeing a portion in mirror-image of what was in the Chater
Collection, which is now sadly lost, apart from 80 pieces housed at the
Museum of History in Hong Kong.
But what of
James Orange? He was the energetic and enterprising head of Leigh and Orange, a
firm of architects and civil engineers, associated with most of the big schemes
of modernizing and extending Hongkong during the late 19th century.
His friendship with Sir Paul Chater developed during an exciting time of growth
and expansion in Hong Kong, one that Sir Paul was spearheading. Such building
and engineering projects required a cool head, analytical mind and a design
visionary to match his own unbridled ideas. Sir Paul was the
mover-and-shaker that was making Hong Kong an enviable place to be both
economically and personally. I imagine
that if Sir Paul said “how do I do this?” James replied “leave it with me”. James was
behind Chater’s vision of strong durable wharves and godowns, and the skills he
used during his early engineering career in England gave him the confidence to
make the strongest buildings for Chater’s Hongkong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown
Company. James was instrumental in the creation of almost the entire premises
and docks of the Hongkong and Whampoa Dock Co., the wharves and godowns of
Alfred Holt & Co., the piers and wharves of the Star Ferry, the huge installations
of the Asiatic Petroleum and Standard Oil Companies, as well as the Hongkong
Rope Works, Green Island Cement Works, and the Junk Bay Flour Mill, to name but
a few. All of which had some connection to Sir Paul Chater, whether it was as a
creator, a company director, investor or advisor, somewhere in the burgeoning
businesses of the up-and-coming Hong Kong, Sir Paul had a part to play. Then of
course there was Sir Paul’s own showcase home, Marble Hall, and Sir Paul’s
generous donation of funds to enable St. Andrew’s Church to be erected in
Kowloon. Conveniently adjacent to this own land and back garden; all designed
by the talents in the staff of Leigh & Orange. Chater would not have anyone
else other than James when it came to the big reclamation project that he
undertook. It was a trusted and professional working relationship from which
they both benefited, as well as a trusted and solid personal friendship bound
by their respective love for the Orient. Their friendship mirrored the kind of foundations
James used for his buildings; solid, sturdy and completely reliable.
Early
Orange Life
Very few, if any, know of the early years because his life in Hong Kong acted as a separating barrier to his family back in England. James’s
father, George, was a salty seafaring ship owning captain, based in Jersey, Channel
Islands. He was born at St. Brelade, Jersey, in 1810, one of the sons of the
shipowner Jean Orange and Anne Orange (née Le Brocq). He had been an
apprentice, mate and master in the foreign trade for 26 years when his Master’s
Certificate of Service (number 45019) was issued in 1851. His first engagement
as master was in the Brazil trade in 1834. He became master of the schooner AMELIA
(1834) in 1837 and in the following year managed to save her cargo after she
was stranded on rocks in the Black Sea. Between 1839 and 1845 he was master of
the schooner AMICUS (1839). Later in life he had ship owning interests
as part of the partnership of Orange and Briard, including the barque AMICUS
(1856) and full-rigged ship FORT REGENT (1863), employed in the India
and China trades. George Orange died at St. Helier in 1871.
George had
married Mary Pirouet in August 1839 in St. Helier, Jersey. They had at least 10
children. James was born on 21st November 1856 in St. Helier,
Jersey.
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Baptism entry for twins James and Francis Orange in St. Helier, Jersey.
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He and his
twin brother, Francis, both chose the same path; they were educated together
and subsequently took their engineering apprenticeships together, both
qualifying as civil engineers at exactly the same time, on the 8th
February 1876. During their apprenticeships,
they worked on the same projects, and as twins, their bond must have been even
stronger than most.
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Not the best image. The twins, James and Francis Orange, Jersey Channel Islands.
Image: Society Jersiaise photographic archive
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They both
entered the profession in 1872 under the guidance of civil engineers Edward
Perrett and Charles Whitaker, both serving as indentured pupils for the next 5
years. They were given separate lead responsibilities but also shared their
design ideas. For example, Francis was given sole charge of erection of
the Grape Sugar Corp. Factory,
and
Floating Swimming Bath Charing Cross, and James assisted him. Whereas James was
given sole charge of erection of manufactories at Whitechapel and Belvedere.
In 1877 they were both engaged with Mr. F.T. Reade in the
design for ironwork of the Metropolitan Fruit and Vegetable Market Scarboro’
Spar.
In 1878 James was engaged by Mr. J. Marmont M.I.C.E., to
construct Tramways at Gloucester and Reading. In 1879 he erected large sheds at
St. Malo, France, for Messrs. H. Young & Co., later he was Manager of Pilsometer
Engineering Company Works Battersea.
In 1880 James became engineer to Messrs. H. Young & Co.,
contractors and engineers and carried out various works such as Victoria
Station Improvements, Waterford and Wexford Railway Viaduct and Bridges
(something Francis worked on with him), Brighton New Shelter, and Clacton Water
Works, which may well have brought him to the attention of the Public Works
Department in Hong Kong. He also, in conjunction with Mr. Ancell, designed and
carried out several warehouse buildings of special iron construction in Southwark St; Jersey Public Offices and
Library and Bilen Market.
His professional path was about to swap an island in the
English Channel for an island in the South China Sea. In November 1882 James
secured the position as resident engineer with the Public Works Department in
Hong Kong, with special charge of the Tytam Waterworks. But first, he had to
get there.
He left England in early November 1882 on a voyage he probably
thought would be relatively straightforward. Taking a boat from England to
Trieste where he picked up the P and O Mail Steamer Malwa, departing
there on 14th November.
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The Malwa. Image courtesy of www.clydeships.co.uk
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It had a brief stop in Venice on the 17
th and
another in Brindisi on the 20
th, departing after a 6 or 7 hour
delay, at 10.30am.
It had been held up
as the captain was forced to wait for a delayed mail train. By now the
Malwa
had around 200 passengers on board; besides all the overland travellers for
India, China and Australia who were scheduled to transfer at Suez to two other
connecting vessels, one called the
Ravenan and the other called
Ballarat,
the
Malwa had her own Bombay passengers and several French travellers
going to Alexandria, Bombay being James’s destination port. The smooth uneventful
voyage was about to change, and be anything but.
Having left Brindisi and after about 2 hours at sea, that
dreaded cry of “a man overboard” was heard. A life-buoy was thrown over
the stern, look-outs were sent to the mast-head, a boat was lowered and the
steamer turned around. A Portuguese cabin steward, who had apparently been
drinking heavily, had tied twelve dozen new knives around his waist and had deliberately
jumped overboard and was drowned, search though they did, the man was not seen
again. Needless to say, this incident cast a severe depression over the ship
for some time. By Thursday 23rd November the Malwa came into
Alexandria. Some passengers got off the boat to look around only to be met with
a burnt town and destroyed fortifications. One can only guess at what James
must have been thinking, but it must have been something like “things can
only get better. Can’t they?”. The ship continued on to Port Said and made
it through the canal and reached the Suez end by mid afternoon on Saturday 25th
November. What happened next, ended up being subject to a detailed
investigation. Having dropped off the Canal pilot, the captain of the Malwa
was heading towards the rendezvous point in the Suez Harbour near the canal
exit, to meet the Ballarat for passenger transfer. Most of the
passengers were on the starboard side of the Malwa watching the Ballarat
as they proceeded towards her; she was of particular interest to everyone as she
was a new steamer. Suddenly the second
officer called out “everyone rush forward”. All commenced to do so, but
immediately there came a shock, a crash, a smashing of booms and stanchions, a
tumbling on deck of the port-side lifeboat, a tearing away of dead lights and
it was seen that a vessel, the Clan Forbes, had steamed directly at the Malwa
amidships, port side, and tore a large hole in her water-line that was
probably 8 feet long and 2 feet wide. There was a further large hole below the
water-line which had been made by the fluke of the hanging anchor of the Clan
Forbes. Two passengers, who happened to be ships captains in their own
right immediately sprang into action. Captain Fowler was lowered over the side
on a rope by fellow passenger Captain Chisholm. Capt. Fowler called for
blankets which he then stuffed into the hole, and tried to keep it in place
with his feet. Captain Atkinson, Commander of the Malwa seeing that it
was hopeless and that she was going to sink ordered the boat stations to be
lowered. Lord Beresford, a third fellow sea-faring captain of the Royal Navy
who was also a passenger, shouted to Captain Atkinson to head for the shore and
beach the ship, which would save both life and ship. Capt Atkinson heeding the
advice and immediately headed for the quarantine ground at full speed, which
was about a mile away. It was an anxious
time; he had no idea if the ship would reach It before the water got too high
in her. She sailed at great speed towards the mud flats opposite the quarantine
area. The quarter-boats were being lowered to the rail, and as the Malwa
passed close to the stern of the Carysfort, a man-of-war, lying at
anchor, the captain shouted “I am sinking send your boats.” The fully
manned man-of-war boats were in the water very quickly, and they raced after
the Malwa as quickly as they could, the crew pulling their oars at a
fast pace. All on board the Malwa were quiet and collected, and the
sight of the man-of-war boats following them restored confidence that their
fate would not be a watery one. The passengers were told to brace for impact,
but the ship quietly slid onto the mud without any perceptible jolt at all, and
gently settled on the mud bed. Initially the ladies and children were placed in
the man-of-war boats, but the captain, finding that the ship was upright and
had settled down, ordered them back to the ship. The water inside very soon
filled up level with that outside, about one foot below the main deck, it then
being low tide, although at high tide the next morning it was of course up to
her ports; about four feet over the main deck, about one foot over the saloon
tables. The mail bags were on the upper
deck, having been got up for transhipment, and officers and men at once began
to salvage, baggage etc. Some of the latter which had been stored on the orlop
deck got wet of course, but it was at once got up and transferred to the Ravenna,
excepting such as belonged to the Ballarat passengers, which was sent
off with them. Remarkably, there was no extra excitement, except a little
rushing about for baggage, all had great confidence in what was being
done. All felt that they had much to be
thankful for, if she had been a mile or two further out at sea, it is doubtful
she could have been beached in time, and would very likely have sunk in deep
water, with untold consequences to all the passengers, including James Orange. Also
on board was a well known Armenian barrister based in Calcutta, Gregory Charles
Paul and his wife, Aglaia. She was the only passenger whose valuable dresses
suffered irrevocable damage. James, along with all the other passengers who
were destined for Bombay, had to wait in Suez for a week until the next steamer
arrived. The remaining passengers then took their connecting ships as planned;
the Ballarat continued to Australia via Colombo and the Ravenna
went to Calcutta and China.
Conditions in Suez were far from ideal. The hotels were
already very busy and those passengers from the Malwa waiting for the
next steamer to arrive, found that they were sharing single rooms with up to 14
other people. It was a very difficult week for everyone and the arrival of the SS
Thames couldn’t come soon enough. That ship already had an almost fully
laden passenger count, but the ship-wrecked and weary travellers from the
Malwa were taken on board and took up positions on deck and inside where
they could. Most slept in upright chairs for that 15 day journey from Suez to
Bombay. James was not disembarking in the port, but was carrying on to
Singapore, presumably still sleeping in a chair. The final leg between
Singapore and Hong Kong on the SS Thames, really continued the nightmare
voyage. The vessel developed some serious trouble when a metal wall on the high
pressure cylinders broke and created a very dangerous situation; without it,
high pressure steam could have escaped and caused untold damage and injury to
passengers and crew. Given his
engineering background, James may have been called upon to help, I doubt very
much that he would have stood idly by and not offered to assist in some way.
When he finally arrived in Hong Kong on the 11th
January 1883; I’m pretty certain he would have been happy to get his feet on
dry land, have a decent hot bath and sleep in a comfortable bed. His Hong Kong
career lay before him, yet he certainly already had some tales to tell. James
helped shape Hong Kong’s future, his work has become part of its history and
heritage, yet it could have all been so different had he not been saved by a
fellow passenger and very experienced naval captain, who took control when
panic struck Capt. Atkinson and his vessel began floundering.
An investigation heard accounts of the incident from both
crews, but a German passenger onboard wrote
a brief account for the Frankfort Gazette in which he said:
“……we left the Canal on November 23rd at 3pm, and were approaching
Suez, when, through some inexplicable carelessness, we came into collision with
another steamer. Watertight compartments kept her afloat, but we began to sink
rapidly. Our crew composed chiefly of Lascars, ran about in utter confusion;
the captain lost his head entirely, and actually shed tears, instead of trying
to save the vessel and the lives of the passengers. At last, one of the latter,
an English naval officer, took command of the ship. He sprang on the bridge,
ordered all boats to be lowered, and the ship’s head turned to the bank. He
then signalled the engineer to put on full steam, and these energetic orders
having been obeyed, we managed to run ashore just as the water reached the
deck….”
In the spring of
1883, the conclusion of the investigation in London was that both ships were to
blame, each having taken actions that resulted in the collision. However, even
by having the high ranking Naval captain Lord Beresford write a public letter
supporting him and his actions, Captain Atkinson’s actions and behaviour at the
time did nothing to discourage passengers telling their side of the unfolding
incident.
James Orange went on to become very successful in Hong Kong,
and eventually joined with Robert Leigh and the well-known partnership of Leigh
& Orange was formed. James retired around 1915 and settled in London at a
charmingly appointed flat at No. 3 Gray’s Inn Square. His brother Francis had
for many years been based at No. 11 Gray’s Inn Square; still showing in their
latter years they were continuously close.
Whereas his brother had, eventually married, James remained single and
passed away in September 1927 at a London nursing home. Comfortably off, he
left an estate of just over £35,000.
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Extract from the Will of James Orange
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He left his collection of art split between the Victoria and
Albert Museum and the British Museum. There were also numerous bequests to
various friends and close family, bequests to the Bishop of Hong Kong for
distribution amongst various Church of England charities; the Italian Convent,
Caine Road and St. Paul’s Institution in Causeway Bay, as well as other named
bequests and legacies. As he was unmarried and childless, the residue of his
estate was bequeathed to his two nieces, Elsie and Doris Orange, daughters of
another brother, Edwin.
James’s cremation at Golder’s Green Crematorium on the 30th
September 1927 was largely attended, and even Alfred Bryer, a colleague from
his days at Leigh & Orange, was there. This branch of the Orange family of
Jersey died out with the passing of his brother Francis in 1933, the other four
brothers of James and Francis having predeceased them.
But one thing is certain, he left a marvellous art
collection and a wonderful career legacy that is still talked about today, and
to think he very nearly didn’t make it to Hong Kong in 1883; not many people
live to tell the tale of being rammed at sea, inches from death, nearly sunk,
deliberately run aground and so much more. However, we are pleased he did.
© Liz Chater 2021
