威廉·羅便臣

繁體中文

威廉·羅便臣（William Robinson，1836–1912）1891年12月出任港督。任內最嚴峻嘅考驗係1894年5月由廣州傳入嘅鼠疫：疫情在太平山區等華人稠密地段迅速蔓延，當年死亡人數超過二千五百人；政府宣布疫區由潔淨局管轄，派員逐戶檢查、強制隔離病人並清拆部分樓房，措施引起華人居民與商界強烈反彈。疫情其後困擾香港近三十年，促使政府正視房屋擠迫、排水與污水處理等根本問題，逐步改善公共衞生。他任內香港人口與轉口貿易繼續增長，工商活動持續擴展。他1898年2月離任，其後立法局於同年通過《展拓香港界址專條》下嘅新界安排。他其後返英，1912年逝世。

English

William Robinson (1836–1912) became Governor in December 1891. His gravest trial was the plague that arrived from Canton in May 1894: it spread rapidly through densely packed Chinese districts such as Taipingshan, killing more than 2,500 people that year. The government declared the affected area subject to the Sanitary Board, conducted house-to-house inspections, forcibly isolated patients and demolished buildings, measures that provoked strong resistance from Chinese residents and merchants. The plague troubled Hong Kong for nearly three decades and forced the government to confront overcrowding, drainage and sewage. He left in February 1898, the year the New Territories arrangements under the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory were concluded.