It was a sweeping vision, the one Granville Sharp had for his legacy to Hong Kong. From the quiet solitude of his home, looking down on the cluster of buildings already spreading, rising and jostling for space on the shores of Victoria Harbour, the philanthropist developed his dream.
In the cool, crisp mountain air, Hong Kong's expatriate population would come to give birth to new generations, to have their ailments healed, illnesses cured, bones set and broken bodies made whole again.
And if they were penniless, no matter; his bequest would be a sizeable one. The point was healing, not profit. Sharp's hospital would be renowned for its serenity, dignity and altruism. And, along with those virtues, it would immortalise the name of his beloved wife, Matilda.
'I desire that the hospital shall in all things be considered to be established as an absolutely religious and evangelistic institution,' his will recorded.
'That the institution be for the glory of God and the good of man and not for the glory of the medical profession in any way. That it be for the benefit, care and happiness of patients primarily who are helpless and not for that of either superintending or general officers of the profession . . . and emphatically that the hospital be for the poor, the helpless, the forsaken and for him who is alone and desolate.' Sharp's will, penned on October 13, 1897, specified a site on Mount Kellett, The Peak. 'The only announcement should be thus: engraved in plain black, upon a white marble stone, at the entrance. To the glory of God and for the good of man and in most loving memory of Matilda, resident of this colony from 1858 to 1893, who died full of love for everyone on the 22nd August of the latter year.' One century later, there is little love lost among the team of doctors, nurses and business people who keep Matilda's name alive. Those who profess to love the hospital say the dream has lost its way, the vision is blurring. Worried doctors say an honest and thorough examination is needed to heal the healer.
The Matilda arose on Mount Kellett Road during the decade after Sharp's death. It was intended as a health haven for expatriates, those who felt lost among the Cantonese-speaking medical and nursing staff of other hospitals.
As the years passed, the colonial high-ceilinged rooms survived heavy bombing during the Japanese occupation of World War II. When the territory boomed, its economic overdrive fuelled growth everywhere, including the Matilda, where new wards and facilities opened to care for Hong Kong's swelling population.