Left: ad for Mercantile Land’s Tor Po Mansion in 1961 (WKYP, 1961-4-8); Right: Tor Po Mansion today In 2019, property giants Henderson Land and Swire Properties teamed up and acquired 20 units in the 56-year-old Tor Po Mansion (多寶大廈) in Quarry Bay for a sum of approximately HK$182 million, giving them the right to bid for the compulsory sale of […]
» Read moreAirport Apron Buses This image comes courtesy of the Forgotten Transport blogspot with the image below caption suggesting the circled vehicle might be the first generation of apron buses at Kai Tak airport in 1947. See: The Forgotten Transportation blogspot Lorry buses Rickshaws Steamroller Image sent in by Klaus Liphard, May 2020.
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Stephen Davies: The water colour posted in the article, Leung Man Kwong (梁文廣) – clearance of HK harbour post WW2 and founder of Universal Dockyards, is fascinating. Given the angle of the photo, with what looks like the naval dockyard on the left and the HK Club area on the right, I think it is the unnamed freighter, sunk on naval anchorage […]
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HF: The Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) has published a Catalogue of Hong Kong Tunnels (up to February 2015). The list is extensive and as far as I know does not appear in a format which can be “searched”. The tunnels are grouped: 1. Road 2. Railway (MTRC and ex KCRC) 3. Water Supply 4. Drainage and Sewage 5. […]
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York Lo: Oriental Pacific Mills (東亞太平) – the Largest Wool Textile Producer in HK Left: Oriental Pacific Mills at Sheung Kwai Chung in 1966 (Land Use Survey, HKU Libraries); Right: logo of Oriental Pacific Mills Oriental Pacific Mills (refer to as “OP”) was the largest worsted and woolen spinning group in HK which was formed in 1959 as the result […]
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York Lo: Yan Kow (甄球) and Hip Hing Construction (協興建築) Left: Yan Kow (right) and Cheng Yu-tung (centre) and David Sin (left) at Hip Hing’s 10th anniversary celebration in 1971 (WKYP, 1971-5-3); Right: ad for Hip Hing and its 3 construction affiliates in the 1970s In the 1960s and 1970s, Yan Kow was a major figure in the construction industry […]
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IDJ and Hugh Farmer have been trying to find out about a power company that is supposed to have existed in Tai O on Lantau Island. China Light and Power’s website says that in 1955 the company acquired the Tai O Power Company “which supplies power to Lantau Island”. IDJ says “I’ve not heard of the Tai O Power Company […]
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Hugh Farmer with thanks to IDJ for notifying me about the initial account: The idea of connecting Hong Kong and China with a railway was first proposed to prominent Hong Kong businessmen in March 1864 by a British railway engineer, Sir Rowland MacDonald Stephenson (1808-1895), who had considerable experience of developing railways in India. The minutes of the committee of […]
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Hugh Farmer: Robert Gordon Shewan was born in London on 13th November 1859 (1860 according to 20th Century Impressions – see below) but achieved prominence in Hong Kong as a Scottish businessman. He was the son of Andrew Shewan, master mariner, and Jane Thomson. He arrived in Hong Kong in 1881, at the age of 2,1 in connection with the American […]
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Russell & Company ( 旗昌洋行) was the largest and most important American trading house in Qing dynasty China from 1842 to its closing in 1891. Samuel Russell founded Russell & Company in Canton, China, in 1824. Dealing mostly in silks, teas and opium, Russell & Company prospered, and by 1842, it had become the largest American trading house in China. Russell withdrew from the company in 1836 and returned to […]
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