In Part I of this presentation, held on 15 June 2024, Dr Stuart Braga talked, in discussion with Dr John Scott, about two significant forebears who marked history in East Asia. This time in Part II, he will talk about his grandfather, Jose Pedro Braga and the key influences he brought to Hong Kong and Macao in the 20th century.
These three people, Stuart’s forebears, made vastly different impressions. The first was Manuel Vicente Rosa, who was Ouvidor (Crown Judge) in Macau and became known as ‘the richest and most hated man in the whole place’. The second was Delfino Noronha, leader of the Portuguese community in Hong Kong and Government Printer from 1859 to 1900. On his death, he was remembered as ‘prestimoso e benemérito Macaense’ The third was Stuart’s grandfather, Jose Pedro Braga, who was the first Portuguese member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council and the subject of this talk, again using the format of discussion with Dr John Scott When he died in 1944 in Macau during the war, the British consul, John Reeves, told his wife, ‘no-one has ever done for Hong Kong what your husband has done.’
The Speaker
Dr Stuart Braga, OAM PhD, was born in Hong Kong and educated at King George V School and in Sydney. He holds degrees from four universities, including the PhD from the Australian National University. Stuart Braga taught history for 40 years, retiring in 1998. He has since published many articles and has written several monographs on Australian military history and the history of the Portuguese presence in East Asia. He is a life member of the Royal Australian Historical Society. He was made a Fellow of the Australian College of Education in 1988 in recognition of his contribution to a wide range of educational activities. In 2023 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).
His PhD thesis, ‘Making Impressions: a Portuguese family in Macau and Hong Kong, 1700-1945’, was published by the International Institute of Macau in 2015. Stuart’s forebears arrived in Macau about 1714, and several of their descendants moved to Hong Kong in 1844. The Braga family still have an unbroken presence in Hong Kong after six generations. In recent years, Stuart and his wife Patricia have travelled extensively, visiting the UK, Europe, China, Hong Kong and Macau, where Stuart’s forebears resided for eight generations. They now live in Sydney and have three sons and ten grandchildren.
PROGRAMME
Venue: Online talk by Zoom
Admission: $50 for members, $60 for guests /non-members
Registration: Please email <membership@royalasiaticsociety.org.hk> and provide your membership number, if applicable, at the time of registration.
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