Alexander Ross, Wanchai Shipyard owner, 1865
HF: “A number of men, mainly from the north of Britain and Scotland, laid the foundations for technology in Hong Kong by their enterprise in the shipbuilding and repairing business. One of the earlier men was Alexander Ross of Glasgow who worked as a foreman in Stephen Prentis Hall’s yard. Hall is said to be the father of Sin Tak Fan who in his turn fathered generations of Eurasians, many of whom now lie at rest in the [Hong Kong] Cemetery.
In 1865, Ross established a yard in Wan Chai together with a Mr Thompson and by 1867 he was in sole charge of it. [see brief mention of Ross and Thompson in 19th Century Wanchai Shipyards below]
His son, James Gordon Ross, died in 1864 and shares a monument with his sister, Jane, who died in 1865. Then in 1867 his wife, Mary Ross, joined her children in the family tomb aged thirty-two after a long and painful illness.” (1)
Source:
- Forgotten Souls: A Social History of Hong Kong Cemetery, P Lim, HKUP, 2011
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