posted: august 3rd 2026. HF: The postal system in the British colony of Hong Kong began in 1841 when the Royal Mail established the first General Post Office in the region. Between 1841 and 1862 no stamps were issued, and postmarks were used to certify payment of the postage instead. The earliest postmarks were used by military field offices and […]
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York Lo: Richard C.K. Chan (陳卓堅): timber baron, shipping tycoon and stamp collector Left: Richard C.K. Chan (standing) delivering a speech to the press as head of the Timber Guild in 1962. To his left were Wong Shui-leung of Kwong Chan Timber, Kan Chi-nam of Wing Tai Cheung and Leung Kam-tong of Hip Shing Timber (WKYP, 1962-12-18); right: cover of […]
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York Lo: William S.T. Lee & Co (曉莊貿易) – the firm which brought Montblanc pens, Rodenstock glasses, Seiko watches, Ricoh cameras and Kenwood stereos to HK Left: William ST Lee (second from right) with winners of the Montblanc coloring competition his firm sponsored in 1965 (KSDN, 1965-5-3); Right: Montblanc ad by William S.T. Lee Co From the 1960s to the […]
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Hugh Farmer: Elizabeth Ride has sent a British Army Aid Group (BAAG) report from 1st March 1945, An Outline of Conditions in Occupied Hong Kong. Here I am posting the section on Utilities :- Electricity supply including information about – both HK Electric Co and China Light & Power Co – restrictions imposed on supply – certain industries attempting to generate their […]
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IDJ: Kwanti racecourse and the nearby military San Wai camp were used by The Hong Kong Volunteers during their training exercises. The following image shows one of their borrowed aircraft simulating an attack on troops who have their rifles raised to the firing position at the bottom of the frame. The text attached comes from the Volunteers Year Book for 1935 […]
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HF: “Tsang Tai Uk (曾大屋, literally the Big Mansion of the Tsang Family) is also called Shan Ha Wai (山廈圍, literally, Walled Village at the Foothill). Its construction was started in 1847 and completed in 1867. Measuring 45 metres by 137 metres, it was built by Tsang Koon-man (曾貫萬, 1808-1894), nicknamed Tsang Sam-li (曾三利), who was a Hakka (客家) originated […]
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Elizabeth Ride has sent a further sample of British Army Aid Group reports sent during during the Japanese occupation of HK in WW2. HF: There are many industrial references including companies, factories, transport, utilties… I have given each file Elizabeth sent a new name, dates where known and a brief summary of contents. WIS = Waichow Intelligence Summary KWIZ […]
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Klaus Liphard recently left a comment on the history of ExxonMobil Socony and Standard Oil in Hong Kong. HF: I would like to thank Klaus and in this article use the material source he informed me about with the following milestones regarding these companies in Hong Kong. I have not included the most recent milestones included in this article as […]
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HF: Tymon Mellor and IDJ have both sent the article, A Look Back : Civil Engineering in Hong Kong 1841-1941 written by C Michael Guilford. The preface says this was written as a contribution to mark the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers which was from 1947 to 1975, The Engineering Society of Hong Kong. […]
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HF with thanks to IDJ for the two adverts. The cable used in the Aerial Ropeway constructed to link Takoo Sugar Refinery and its Sanitarium was made by Bullivant & Co. which began as a UK company. William Munton Bullivant was an early innovator in the stranded wire cordage field, invented in the mid-19th century by German mining engineers in the […]
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