Frosty Moller – tug involved in evacuation of Waglan Island lighthouse staff, December 1941

HF: The article, Waglan Island lighthouse – a brief history, contains a brief mention of the Frosty Moller: Stephen Davies: Come the Japanese invasion in 1941, as far as I know, the original lens was broken up and thrown down the cliff into the water and the lighthouse machinery put out of commission. In Tony Banham’s exhaustive campaign narration (linked below), […]

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Forward Winsome – a brief history of a major HK toy company

Hugh Farmer: Yuen Hing Hong & Co was established in 1945 by a Mr Yeung. and appears to have started out in “the raw plastic business acting as an agent importers from Britain, USA, Germany and Italy.”[1] [Cecilia Young, would like to make it clear that she finds errors and discrepancies in this article. Ms Young is the daughter of […]

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Three HK bakeries 1864 – Dorabjee Nowrojee’s, The Wanchi and The Colonial, and mention of two other companies

HF: The first mention of a bakery in a Hong Kong newspaper I can find is that of Dorabjee Nowrojee’s in Queen’s road next to P&O Steam Ship Company’s office. The advert, published in 1864, is dated 1860 so it’s rather odd that it suggests a newly opened business. James Chan:  The Wanchi Steam Bakery Company and The Colonial Bread […]

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The construction of the HSBC building in Hong Kong – images from its architect Foster + Partners

HSBC Building Foster & Partners Construction Image 2

HSBC Main Building (香港滙豐總行大廈) is a headquarters building of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, which is today a wholly owned subsidiary of London-based HSBC Holdings. It is located on the southern side of Statue Square near the location of the old City Hall, Hong Kong.  The previous HSBC building was built in 1935 and pulled down to make way for the current building. The current building is the […]

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Shanghainese Builders in HK (Part Seven) – John Lok, Yao Kee, Paul Lee, TK Shen, Wide Project and Wai Kee

Shanghainese Builders 7 York Lo Image 2

York Lo: Shanghainese Builders in HK (Part Seven) – John Lok, Yao Kee, Paul Lee, TK Shen, Wide Project and Wai Kee In the first six articles in this series, all the Shanghainese builders profiled were firms that were established in pre-war Shanghai and moved to HK before or after 1949. This article will profile seven Shanghainese builders who were […]

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William MacGregor Smith (Wahee, Smith & Co.) c1831- c1907

York Lo has sent the following information about William MacGregor Smith. He was the Smith in Wahee, Smith & Co which in turn became The China Sugar Refinery. Smith is buried in HK cemetery – the tombstone states he was 76 (and was erected in 1907) and was from Scotland. On page 50 of Carl Smith’s book Chinese Christians there is […]

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