08/03/2026
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻 𝟭𝟴𝟮𝟰 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗶𝗿𝘀
𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗮
𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝗻 𝟭𝟴𝟭𝟴 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹,
𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟴𝟮𝟯
𝗯𝘆 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿,
𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗶𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱
𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀
𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝟭𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗹
𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗙𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿
𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟴𝟮𝟮.
𝗥𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱
𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝗻 𝟭𝟴𝟱𝟯 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻,
𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗞𝗼𝗻𝗴
𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝟭𝟴𝟭𝟴 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹
𝗯𝘆 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝟭𝟵𝘁𝗵 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗹,
𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟭𝟮 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗼𝘆𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗼𝘆𝘀,
𝘄𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱,
𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴
𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲,
𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲.
𝟭𝟴𝟮𝟮...
After our first principal, Rev. William Milne, passed away in June 1822 at the age of 37, his friend and our founder Dr. Robert Morrison, then aged 40, sailed with a heavy heart from Canton to Malacca through Singapore in January 1823, to take care of Rev. Milne’s unfinished work, his 4 orphans, and to discuss with Sir Stamford Raffles a possible merging of our school into a new "Singapore Institution" (now the Raffles Institution). This was Morrison's first ever trip outside China since his arrival at Canton in 1807.
In the midst of his tight schedule, in May 1823, Dr. Morrison completed this Memoirs of Rev. William Milne, as a homage to his friend's achievements, and as a testimony of how Mr. and Mrs. Milne’s personal struggles, zeal, and family sacrifices embody the Christian missionary ideal - in seven chapters, Morrison charts their lives, including a large number of extracts from Rev. Milne’s journal, essay, will and letters.
This Memoirs was first printed and published by the College under the name of its printing arm the "Mission Press" in Malacca in 1824. It was also reprinted in 1825 by an Irish publisher, and in 2008 by the YWCOBA to celebrate the 190th anniversary of YWC.
Not only that this Memoirs is an important source of information concerning the history of protestant missionary work in Asia, it is also an important milestone in the history and heritage of YWC:
- it is among some of the books first printed and published by Ying Wa College.
- it contains important first-hand research materials regarding the early history of Ying Wa College and the life and labour of Rev. William Milne.
- it is the brainchild of both Morrison and Milne.
.. 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲
With the help of Dr. Titus Boeder of Maggs Brothers (one of the oldest book dealers in London), we managed to secure this rare first edition of the Memoirs with the original 1824 boards and bindings, which was collected in London and brought back to us in person by our 19th Principal Mr. Dion Chen.
To support, a group of 12 old boys, all members of the Milne House, participated in this meaningful project and provided funding for the acquisition. They are:
袁國軒 (1994) Yuen Kwok Hin Billy Yuen
顏曦 (1997) Heyse Ngan
李俊偉(1998) Lee Chun Wai Simon Simon Lee
陳瑞源 (1998) Chan Sui Yuen
李俊蔚 (1999) Li Chun Wai Edward Li
袁善貺 (1999) YUEN Shin Fong Vincent Yuen
曹永強 (1999) Cho Wing Keung Wallace Cho
顏朗 (2000) Long Ngan
徐澤昌 (2001) Tsui Chak Cheong 中醫師徐澤昌博士
趙梓弘 (2003) Chiu Tsz Wang Chiu Wang
林漢傑 (2005) Lam Hon Kit Kit Lam
劉加淳 (2007) Lau Ka Shun Garson Garson Lau
The spirit of acquiring and donating the Memoirs to Ying Wa is not only about preserving the text within the four corners of it. It is also about preserving an item which was physically printed more than 200 years ago by and in Ying Wa, existed in the same space and time and breathe the same air with Dr. Robert Morrison, at the beginning of our school’s history. While our Malacca campus has long gone, traces of that history is now permanently housed in Ying Wa. Its presence would help generations of Ying Wa boys to transcend time and space to the very beginning of Ying Wa. Its presence is a physical milestone of our history.
Special thanks to Ms. Lesley Liu (HKU Library Preservation and Conservation Department) for her help in assessing the Memoirs' condition and suggestions on its preservation.
For those interested in reading this Memoirs, please follow the links below to the ones collected by:
Oxford University (through Google Books)
https://books.google.com.hk/books?id=is4GAAAAQAAJ&pg=PP5 =onepage&q&f=false
Singapore National Library
https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/book-detail?cmsuuid=8e904e62-59d4-456d-bbcb-86dc76161948
Reference:
Eliza Morrison (1839), "Memoirs of the life and labours of Robert Morrison", Vol II, Section VI
Eugene Lim (2021), "Singapore’s First (Failed) School Merger: The Star-Crossed Union of the Anglo-Chinese College and the Singapore Institution" https://www.ri.edu.sg/highlights/story/singapore-s-first-(failed)-school-merger-the-star-crossed-union-of-the-anglo-chinese-college-and-the-singapore-institution
YWCOBA Heritage & Archives Group
March 2026
