The story of the trowel can be traced back to 1881.In that year, the then Governor, Sir John Pope Hennessy, used it to lay the foundation stone of the original building of St. Joseph's College in Robinson Road. The principal then was Brother Cyprian. He gave this trowel to Sir John as a present.When Sir John had finished his term of office in 1885, he decided to go back to his hometown in Ireland. He took the trowel with him as a remembrance. He died there in 1887 and the trowel was not seen until
In 1936, Brother Stephen Buckley, a former Principal of St. Joseph's College found this trowel in a pawnshop. He bought the trowel from the shop and brought it back to St. Joseph's.
During the Japanese occupation in Hong Kong, they used St. Joseph's as a hospital. After their defeat, they took away many valuable things with them, among them there was the trowel.