Henry Pollock
Pollock was instrumental to the establishment of the University of Hong Kong as he was one of the founders of the University. Pollock was originally a member of the council of the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese. In March 1908, along with Sir Paul Chater, Sir Kai Ho-Kai and a few other people, Pollock was appointed to the newly founded organising committee of the University of Hong Kong which was chaired by Sir Paul Chater by then governor Sir Frederick Lugard (later Lord Lugard). When the University of Hong Kong was officially founded in 1911, Pollock was appointed a life member of the University Court. Pollock was said to be an active member who frequently attend the Court's meetings, and was noted for his enthusiasm towards the development of the University. In acknowledging his contribution, he received Honorary Doctorates of Law from the University on 5 January 1925.
Pollock had close ties with St. Stephen's College as he was one of the guests invited to the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the College's new school site in Stanley in 1928. Furthermore, in 1933, under the assistance from him and Sir Robert Kotewall, the student-actors and student-actresses of the College were allowed to play on the same stage in a fundraising drama event regardless the opposition from the conservative Chinese community.
Accommodation at the University of Hong Kong
The University's first hall of residence, St. John's Hall, was built by the Church Missionary Society in late 1912. It has been a tradition of the hall to hold High Table Dinner every week since its introduction in 1916. This custom was subsequently taken up by other halls. St. John's Hall housed male students until the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. The original site is now occupied by St. Paul's College. A post-War inspection on August 31, 1945, found the hall totally ruined with only four of its walls remaining. Combined with St. Stephen's Hall, the new St. John's College was built in 1955 in 82 Pokfulam Road to replace the former hall.