Augustus Shelton Hooper (September 1859 – 13 June 1936) was a Hong Kong English civil servant, architect, member of the

Sanitary Board The Urban Council (UrbCo) was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon (including New Kowloon). These services were provided by the council's executive arm, the Urban Services ...

and Licensing Board, and secretary of the Hongkong Land Investment and Agency Co. Limited.

Biography

Hooper was born in September 1859 to the seventh son of Henry Wilcocks Hooper, a solicitor & coroner for

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, and Julia Evelina Richards. He was educated at the

Newton Abbot College Newton Abbot College is an 11-19 secondary school situated in Newton Abbot, Devon. The College, recognised by Ofsted as a good School, offers education for GCSE and Sixth Form students. History Newton Abbot College was established as the Gramm ...

, Devon. He came to Hong Kong in September 1886 as a surveyor of the

Land Office The General Land Office (GLO) was an independent agency of the United States government responsible for public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 to take over functions previously conducted by the United States Department o ...

of the

Hong Kong government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong Special administrative regions of China, ...

. He was later appointed an assessor and municipal rates valuer in 1888 until his resigned in 1889 and joined the Hongkong Land Investment and Agency Co. Limited as the first secretary, being a land expert from the government. Hooper was made

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

in 1890. In 1893, he was made the agent and trustee for the Hong Kong and South China Masonic Benevolence Fund when it was established by the government under the Masonic Benevolence Fund Incorporation Ordinance. By 1905, he was an authorised architect. He attempted to run for the Sanitary Board election in 1891 and in 1903 but was not elected. He successfully gained the seat in the 1906 Sanitary Board election and also the Licensing Board in 1910, where he was re-elected in 1916 and 1919. He served on the Sanitary Board until his retirement in 1911 due to his disagreement with government's decision of changing the Scavenging and Conservancy by-laws. During his service on the Sanitary Board, Hooper was appointed by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Matthew Nathan Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Matthew Nathan (3 January 1862 – 18 April 1939) was a British soldier and colonial administrator, who variously served as the Governor of Sierra Leone, Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast, Hong Kong, Natal and Queen ...

to the Public Health and Regulations Ordinance Commission in 1906 to inquiry into the alleged corruption and bribery in the Sanitary Department, which led to the amendment of the Public Health and Building Ordinance to reform the

in 1908. Hooper was a prominent

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

in the colony, member of the

Hong Kong Club The Hong Kong Club () is the first gentlemen's club in Hong Kong. Opened on 26 May 1846, it is a private business and dining club in the heart of Central, Hong Kong. Its members were (and still are) among the most influential people in the city, ...

and also President of the Hong Kong Devonian Society. Hooper retired after thirty years service as secretary of the Hongkong Land Investment and Agency Co., Ltd. and left Hong Kong on 1 January 1920 and was granted a pension. He died in a London nursing house on 13 June 1936 at the age of 74.

Personal life

Hooper was a member of the

Royal Hong Kong Golf Club Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

and Hong Kong Cricket Club. He resided at "Rougemont",

MacDonnell Road MacDonnell Road (, formerly ) is a street in the Mid-Levels area of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. MacDonnell Road is one of the most expensive roads in Central Mid-Levels, together with Old Peak Road, Magazine Gap Road, Tregunter Path, Bowe ...

. He married Sarah Hooper who died on 31 August 1942 in Matlock. They had one son and two daughters. One of their daughters named Christine Jessie Shelton Hooper, who married Colonel John Urmson Hope, son of Maj.-Gen. John Edward Hope and Mary Urmson, on 27 November 1907 and had children named Christine Mary Shelton Hope and John Patrick Molesworth Hope. Dorothy Annette Shelton Hooper, another daughter of them, married to John Farrar Macgregor at St. John's Cathedral on 30 August 1911. Their son was manager of the Manila Wine Merchants, a subsidiary of Caldbeck, Macgregor and Co.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Shelton August 1859 births 1936 deaths British expatriates in Hong Kong Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England Hongkong Land Hong Kong architects People from British Hong Kong Hong Kong civil servants Hong Kong surveyors Architects from Exeter Members of the Sanitary Board of Hong Kong Hong Kong businesspeople