Kwan Yuen Cheung was born in Guangdong on December 30, 1832 to Kwan Yat and his wife.  He was the third of four sons and had three sisters. Due to the turmoil of unrest caused by bandits in his youth, he migrated with his older brother to Hong Kong where he started working as a general assistant for the London Missionary Society. His father Yunzhu (Kwan Yat) was already a baptized Christian. His diligence was greatly appreciated by all, and was later promoted to be a printer for the Society. In the 1870's, an American dental missionary took a liking to this hardworking young Christian convert, making him as an apprentice assistant, and training him in the Western method of dentistry. Upon retirement, his mentor*, made Yuen Cheong a gift of his entire set of dental instruments in appreciation of his years of loyal service. Subsequently, Great Grandfather obtained the Hong Kong Government’s registration after passing an examination set by the Medical Department, and became thus the first western-trained Chinese dentist to practise in the Colony and in Canton.

Kwan Yuen Cheung's wife, Lai Amui was born on June 1, 1839 in Shunde County in Guangdong. Some 10 years later, during the Taiping Rebellion, the family of five became refugees to escape from bandits and soldiers. On their way to Canton, her mother was unfortunately killed by the “Red Scarf Bandits”, the followers of the self-styled ‘Christian’ Emperor Hong Xiuquan. Upon reaching Shamian District, her two brothers were separated from them in the crowd. Great grandma Amui found herself extremely tired after several days’ traveling on foot.  Her bound feet were swollen and bleeding.  So her dad left her resting on the steps outside a house to go on his own to search for the boys. But he was never to return. Very tired and hungry, her cries alerted the lady of the house who happened to be the wife of a British police officer sent to Canton to learn the Cantonese dialect. Feeling sorry for her, they took her in and brought her up. She enrolled in the local missionary-run Girls' School and was taught English daily by Lady Ball. The Balls were leaving on furlough to the United States in 1857 and decided to arrange their pupil's marriage in Hong Kong where they knew about Kwan Yat's third son.  Through the missionary network, they were happily matched and married in 1857.  Their union produced fifteen children.

As one of the first few Chinese in the Colony with knowledge in English, she became at various times a teacher of English in the London Mission School, interpreter for the Government departments, commercial companies, the hospital and the courts. In the early days of the Alice Memorial Hospital, she even served as its Matron for a time having been trained as a nurse at some point. 

The Kwans were active practicing Christians in Hong Kong. Kwan Yuen Cheung served for many years as an elder of his church. Of the ten sons, four became Western-trained physicians, two were engineers, and three of the girls trained in nursing and midwifery. The rest took up other professions, all of them actively participating in the affairs of the community. Today, their descendants who live in different parts of the globe, continue this Kwan tradition of love of learning and service.  

(Adapted from the book, “Opening of Hong Kong as a Port and the Kwan Family,” by S.S. Kwan (12-7) & Y.Y. Yung (8-9-3). 1997.)

Update: The British couple who took Lai Amui in and adopted her in 1850 was Daniel Richard Francis Caldwell and Mary Ayow Chan Caldwell.  Lai Amui enrolled in a mission girls' school run by Lady Isabella Robertson Ball, wife of Rev. Dyer Ball.  When the Balls went on furlough, the brought Lai Amui to Hong Kong to be matched with Kwan Yuen Cheung, who was also English-speaking and a Christian.  

Note:  the American dentist's name was Dr. Varnum David Collins. He was married to Mary Ball French, daughter of Rev. Dyer Ball and his first wife. Mrs Dyer Ball (second wife) was Isabella Robertson Ball, Lai Amui's teacher.

(Additional research courtesy of Debbie Jiang (8-11-2-2) 2023.)