The Reverend Arthur Dudley Stewart
史超域牧師
(1877–1953)
Reformer of St. Paul’s College
聖保羅書院革新要臣
Born in Fuzhou to a missionary family, Arthur Stewart was the seventh principal of St. Paul’s College,* serving from 1909 to 1930. He was an older brother to his successor, Col Evan Stewart.
Stewart joined St. Paul’s in late 1905 during Bishop Hoare’s direction. While Bishop Lander tended to St. Paul’s College after Hoare’s death, Stewart briefly taught at St. Stephen’s College and learnt Cantonese. In 1909, Stewart was appointed headmaster at the newly-reopened Anglo-Chinese St. Paul’s College.
Responsible for the College’s educational direction, Stewart continued long-standing policies such as teaching in English and having a resident missionary, while prioritising affordable access to a Christian education. In addition to the spiritual element, much emphasis was placed on physical exercise. The 1920s saw St. Paul’s as a frequent top contender in inter-school athletics; student baptisms were a regular sight, and graduates found success across many fields.
With both Bishop Lander and the Church Missionary Society’s backing, enrolment rose steadily, which strained the College campus. Stewart raised funds and oversaw multiple extensions being built, including St. Paul’s Church / Wu Ting Fang Hall (1911), the College Hostel (1919) (now the Church Guest House), and the College laboratories (1925). When Stewart took over, St. Paul’s College only had eighteen students and staff; by the time of his retirement, the College had over 500 boys.
Stewart remained as College chaplain for three more years, before succeeding Bishop Lander’s vicarage at New Barnet. He returned to Hong Kong briefly to teach at St. Stephen’s. The Stewart Building at St. Paul’s, opened in 1964, honours the two brothers who had given so much to the College over half a century.
* Retroactively, the Revd Vincent Stanton is considered the first principal of the College; Bishop Smith the second (but the first warden), Bishop Alford the third, and so on.