Former French Mission Building

File:Augustine Heard & Co., Hong Kong.jpg. St. John's Cathedral is visible on the left.]]

The building is built on a podium due to the hilly nature of Government Hill. Originally a mansion called Johnston House, the building was altered in the 1870s and 1880s to a three-storey building. The present three-storey building opened in 1917 as the result of a major renovation, also described as an "extensive rebuilding", of the previous structure. The building is probably based on a previous structure near the site known as "Beaconsfield", but it is clad in red brick rather than an all white façade.Antiquities and Monuments Office: Central and Western Heritage Trail: [http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Monument/en/trails_central1.php?tid=a7 Central Route] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013192931/http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Monument/en/trails_central1.php?tid=a7 |date=13 October 2012 }} It is constructed in granite and red bricks in Neo-Classical style, dating from the Edwardian period.discoverhongkong.com: [http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/attractions/architecture-former-french-mission.html Former French Mission Building] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305093635/http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/attractions/architecture-former-french-mission.html |date=5 March 2012 }}

File:Former French Mission Building 03.JPG

The original structure on this site dated back to 1842. The first Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Henry Pottinger resided there from 1843 to 1846. His successor, John Francis Davis also lived there for a while, before moving to Caine Road. The building likely served as one of the earlier homes of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong during this period (1843–1846). The building then had several owners, including Emanuel R. Belilios,{{cite book |title= Voices from the past: Hong Kong, 1842-1918|last= Bard|first= Solomon|year= 2002|publisher= Hong Kong University Press|isbn= 978-962-209-574-8|page= 340}} and was occupied among others by the tai-pans of Augustine Heard and Company, a trading firm that went bankrupt in 1876.{{cite book |title= Streets: Exploring Hong Kong Island|last= Wordie|first= Jason|year= 2002|publisher= Hong Kong University Press|location= Hong Kong|isbn= 962-209-563-1|pages= 22–23}} It was also used by HSBC and was home to the Russian Consulate in the 1870s.{{cite web|url=https://www.hkcfa.hk/en/about/cfa_building/french_mission/index.html|title=The Former French Mission Building - Brief History|website=Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal|access-date=20 November 2018}} The government then leased the building from 1879 and, by 1911, the Sanitary Board and Registrar-General's offices were located in the building.{{cite book|title=Mapping Hong Kong|last=Empson|first=Hal|publisher=Government Information Services|place=Hong Kong|date=1992|page=Plate 3–4}}

File:Former French Mission Building.JPG

In 1915, it was acquired by the Paris Foreign Missions Society, which commissioned a major renovation. The architects were Leigh & Orange.{{cite journal|date=2006-05-30 |title=From British Colonization to Japanese Invasion |journal=HKIA Journal |issue=45: 50 years of Hong Kong Institute of Architects |pages=47 |url=http://www.hkia.net/en/pdf/journal/journal_issue45_03.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218084111/http://www.hkia.net/en/pdf/journal/journal_issue45_03.pdf |archive-date=2012-02-18 }} In the process, a chapel topped by a cupola was added in the north-west corner, and the building was refaced with red bricks. It reopened in 1917 and became known as the "French Mission Building".Consulate General of France in Hong Kong & Macau: [http://www.consulfrance-hongkong.org/spip.php?article2113 16 stories about Hong Kong-France relations] In 1953, it was sold back to the Hong Kong Government.

From 23 August 1945 to April 1946 the building was used by the provisional Government of Hong Kong following the end of Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.

When the Society of Jesus were expelled from Canton in 1949, it moved its St. Ignatius Language School to Hong Kong where it was housed in the top floor of the building, together with accommodation for Joseph Mallin of the Society.{{cite book|title=Pictorial Memories of the Jesuits in Hong Kong, 1926-2016|author=Society of Jesus|publisher=CLIC Ltd|place=Hong Kong|date=2016|isbn=9789887771203|pages=63, 70}}

It was then used successively by the Education Department, the Victoria District Court (1965–1980), the Supreme Court (1980–1983), and the Government Information Services (starting from 1987). It has been used as the Court of Final Appeal since the inception of the Court at the time of the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong, on 1 July 1997.Finance Committee - Public Works Subcommittee (Papers) 8 Nov 95: [http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr95-96/english/fc/pwsc/papers/pw081158.htm "Conversion of the French Mission Building into the Court of Final Appeal"] On 7 September 2015, the court moved to the Old Supreme Court Building.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hongkongfp.com/2015/09/07/court-of-final-appeal-moves-into-former-legislative-council-building/|title = Court of Final Appeal moves into former Legislative Council Building|date = 7 September 2015}}

The building was declared a monument on September 14, 1989.Environment Protection Department: [https://web.archive.org/web/20091028021126/http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/eia_planning/sea/annex_i.html List of Declared Monuments as on 1 January 1999] (archive) It was decided in 2011 that it would be made available for adaptive reuse after the relocation of the Court of Final Appeal to the Old Supreme Court Building.Legislative Council Panel on Development: [http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr10-11/english/panels/dev/papers/dev0716cb1-2690-3-e.pdf "Progress Report on Heritage Conservation Initiatives"], 15 July 2011

• Béthanie, a building built in 1875 by the Paris Foreign Missions Society in Pok Fu Lam

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last1=Fung |first1=Chi Shan Athena |last2=Lo |first2=Henry |date=2022 |title=Collected Essays of the Greater Bay Area Built Heritage Summit |url=https://www.amo.gov.hk/filemanager/amo/common/form/2022_AMO_Summit-EN.pdf |chapter=Decades of Adaptive Reuse: The Former French Mission Building |location= |publisher=Antiquities and Monuments Office |pages=137-159 |isbn=}}

{{Commons category|Former French Mission Building}}

• [http://www.info.gov.hk/isd/40th/40-index.htm GIS through the years]

{{s-start}}

{{succession box

| title = Home of the
Legislative Council of Hong Kong

| years = 1843 – 1846

| before = none

| after = Caine Road (1846-?)

}}

{{succession box

| title = Home of the
Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong

| years = 1997 – 2015

| before = Established

| after = Old Supreme Court Building

}}

{{end}}

{{Central, Hong Kong}}

{{Government buildings in Hong Kong}}

{{Heritage conservation in Hong Kong}}

{{coord|22|16|45.75|N|114|9|34.71|E|type:landmark_region:HK|display=title}}

Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1917

Category:Central, Hong Kong

Category:Declared monuments of Hong Kong

Category:Government buildings in Hong Kong

Category:Government Hill

Category:Landmarks in Hong Kong

Category:Official residences in Hong Kong

Category:1917 establishments in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Category:20th-century churches in Hong Kong

Category:Neoclassical architecture in Hong Kong