Turning now to Sir J. Davis' gubernatorial measures, we find that the expansion of the Civil Service and reforms in the constitution of the Councils occupied much of his time. He brought with him, on his arrival (May 7, 1844) a Colonial Secretary (Hon. F. Bruce), a Colonial Treasurer (M. Montgomery Martin), a Court Registrar (R. D. Cay), a Private Secretary (W. T. Mercer), an Auditor General (A. E. Shelley), a Civil Engineer (J. Pope, to whom we owe the designs of Government House, Colonial Offices, and Cathedral) and a warrant appointing Major Caine (the Chief Magistrate) as Sheriff and Provost Marshal of the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice (J. W. Hulme) came a month later (June 9, 1844) and the first Hongkong Barrister (H. Ch. Sirr) arrived on July 1, 1844, but as the Colonial Office postponed the appointment of an Attorney General (P. I. Stirling) till August 5 and made some other important omissions, the Supreme Court could not be opened until October 1, 1844. Two years later (November 18, 1847) the present Court House was obtained by purchasing from Dent & Co. the so-called Exchange Building. The working of the Supreme Court, which held its first criminal sessions on October 2, 1814, was gradually perfected by a series of legislative enactments, dealing with the constitution of the Court (No. 6 of 1845 and 2 of 1846), trial by jury (No. 7 of 1845), criminal procedure (No. 8 of 1845 and 6 of 1816), summary jurisdiction (No. 9 of 1845), insolvency (No. 3 and 5 of 1846) and coroner's juries (No. 5 of 1847). A Vice-Admiralty Court was established (March 4, 1846) and held its first session on January 14, 1847. The division of the town into the present three districts (Sheungwan, Chungwan, Hawan), the lines of demarcation being Aberdeen Street in the West and Elliot's Vale (the present Glenealy ravine) in the East, dates from July 24, 1844, when the previously existing popular terms were officially adopted. By the opening of a new market (July 25, 1844) at Taipingshan, the congested state of the Chungwan and Sheungwan markets was considerably relieved. Owing to the dearth and high rents of houses suitable for Civil Servants, the Government provided
