HF: Yates and Thom, (formerly W and J Yates), 9 Canal Ironworks, Blackburn, UK, were makers of engines for mills, collieries and waterworks. And the original engine for the Peak Tram which was opened for public service on 28 May 1888. Construction had begun іn September 1885. Initially a static steam engine was used to power the haulage cable “built […]
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HF: We have been sent information about a couple of employees of the Asiatic Petroleum Company in China and one in the UK. We have also received requests for information about two more employees. I thought it might be more useful if I gathered this information in one article, not least because it would hopefully be easier for anyone seeking […]
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HF: This article was updated on 14th August 2019 with information and cigarette packet images sent by Dheeraj Khiytani, see below. Nanyang Brothers Tobacco Company was founded in 1904. At least in Hong Kong. This undated postcard, sent by IDJ, would appear to show its Hong Kong factory shortly after. I am presuming the white building on the right is not […]
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IDJ: Imperial Airways (Far East) Ltd Many people in Hong Kong have no concept of how airlines developed in the territory despite air services being their primary means of transport overseas. Airline services arrived late in Hong Kong relative to the rest of the world. Not until 1936, when the UK based Imperial Airways was slowly extending its routes from […]
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James Hayes has kindly given permission to post his 1968 RASHKB article about the weaving of locally grown hemp thread into cloth during the annual visits of mostly male Hakka weavers. This was then used to make clothes, quilts, mosquito nets and other items of use in the New Territories in the 19th century. The practice appears to have ended […]
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Dheeraj Khiytani was recently in touch. He writes: I’m a native of Hong Kong, born and bred with an interest in tobacciana. Specifically I have been collecting early US or English cigarette packs for a number of years. A dealer of mine recently offered me a pristine catalogue of coloured lithographs of cigar products manufactured by the Orient Tobacco Company, Hong Kong. […]
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HF: Any further information about this company or others involved in producing alcohol in HK, especially Chinese ones, would be welcomed. (see links below) While walking down Clear Water Bay Road on 21st Feb 2015 I glanced down a rather rough side road, saw a small, industrial looking building and decided to investigate. At the start of the road was a […]
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Amelia Allsop, Manager – Collections and Research at the Hong Kong Heritage Project, has sent A Century of Light – CLP Centenary Souvenir Book linked below covering the period 1901-2001. Amelia was kindly responding to an enquiry as to whether the Project has any information about Tai O Power Company which had been known as Tai O Union Electric Company. […]
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HF: The following article about William Jardine was written by Alain Le Pichon and first published in the Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography, edited by May Holdsworth and Christopher Munn. The publisher, HK University Press, has kindly granted permission for it to be posted here, but retains copyright over this material from 2012. Thanks to SCT for proofreading the retyped article. Jardine, […]
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by Duncan G. Crewe and Richard A. Whittington This article was published by The Hong Kong Study Circle in its Journal 371/2 in October 2014. For more about this group see the information and link below. On 27 March 1936 the DH-86 aircraft RMA Dorado departed from Kai Tak with the first air mails by Imperial Airway’s direct service from […]
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