University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong was founded in 1911. Governor Sir Frederick Lugard had proposed to establish a university in Hong Kong to compete with the other Great Powers opening universities in China, most notably Prussia, which had just opened the Tongji German Medical School in Shanghai.
Sir Hormusjee Naorojee Mody, an Indian businessman in Hong Kong, learned of Lugard's plan and pledged to donate HK$150,000 towards the construction and HK$30,000 towards other costs. The Hong Kong Government and the business sector in southern China, which were both equally eager to learn "secrets of the West's success" (referring to technological advances made since the Industrial Revolution), also gave their support. The Government contributed a site at West Point. Swire Group contributed £40,000 to endow a chair in Engineering, in addition to thousands of dollars in equipment (its aim was partly to bolster its corporate image following the death of a passenger on board one of its ships, "Fatshan", and the subsequent unrest stirred by the Self-Government Society). Along with donations from other donors including the British Government and companies such as HSBC, Lugard finally had enough to fund the building of the university.
St. Paul's College, Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong was formed in 1911, and in its early days, it is compulsory for all students to live in a residential hall. Being directly opposite the Main Building of HKU, Fairlea was converted into St. John's Hall, the first hall of the newly founded university. Fairlea Girls' School moved to 4–6 Babington Path as a result. During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, St. John's Hall was occupied by an infantry company and also acted as a shelter for local Anglo-Indian and Eurasian refugees, and the Hall was extensively looted after the surrender of Japan. As HKU recommenced classes in 1946, St. John's Hall reopened in 1947 with the aid from the Education Department, with the condition that the latter could use the West Wing of St. John's Hall, location of which is now SPC's Stewart Building. The affiliated primary school of Northcote Training College soon moved in. When SPC regained its independence in 1950, it initially occupied the West Wing as well.