Author: Hugh Farmer

Hugh Farmer has lived in Hong Kong since 1989. He founded the Industrial History of Hong Kong Group in November 2012 to preserve and share information about the city's fast disappearing industrial heritage. This website was started in October 2013.

John Bell-Irving, Jardines’ Hong Kong taipan 1886 and business partner of Sir Paul Chater

Articles, Hong Kong Companies, People, Shipyards + Shipping
John Bell Irving Image B Racing Memories

The following article has been extracted from the Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography. The publisher HK University Press, has given permission for it to be posted here. The following article about John Bell-Irving was written by Libby Halliday Palin and first  published in the Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography, edited by May Holdsworth and Christopher Munn. The publisher, HK University Press, has […]

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Hong Kong Industry during World War Two

Articles, Food and Beverages, Hong Kong Companies, Industrial Buildings + Demolitions, Manufacturing, Shipyards + Shipping, Utilities

HF: This is an article where we can gradually add information about what happened to HK’s industry, manufacturing, mining , transport and other related areas such as shops and the retail trade during World War Two. As bits and pieces come in I’ll update the article and re-post it with the current date. Linked articles have been posted on the […]

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Proposed revival of Walla-Walla water taxis in Hong Kong

Articles, Transport
Walla Walla Image B Blake Pier 1956 IDJ

“If you missed the last Star Ferry at 1:30am, [back in the 1960s] you could hire a walla-walla (jip6 laa1 jip6 laa1 嘩啦嘩啦), a kind of small motorised water taxi that plied the waters between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. “The name came from the sound of the boats when they were cruising,” says retired journalist Li Ping-sum,who grew up in Yau Ma Tei. […]

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Hong Kong & Whampoa Dock – WW2 bombing – the aftermath

Articles, Hong Kong Companies, Manufacturing, Shipyards + Shipping

Elizabeth Ride has sent BAAG reports included in the article World War Two – 1945 BAAG report on Dockyards in occupied Hong Kong. These included this extract regarding the Hong Kong & Whampoa Dock company, also and commonly known as the Kowloon Dock. It illustrates the extensive damage caused to the docks by allied bombing towards the end of WW2. IDJ […]

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Felling of Five Chimneys at Tsing Yi Power Station – 1998

Articles, Hong Kong Companies, Industrial Buildings + Demolitions, Utilities

IDJ: The felling of the concrete chimneys at the decommissioned Tsing Yi Power Station On 15 November 1998 the five chimneys were demolished at the same time by controlled explosives weakening the structures so they fell safely to the ground in a prearranged pattern. These images were taken from a video of the event.   See: The Demolition of Tsing Yi […]

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The Rubber Industry in Hong Kong – several manufacturing companies – adverts and factory image

Articles, Hong Kong Companies, Manufacturing

HF: The manufacturing of rubber products was one of Hong Kong’s six leading industries in the late 1950s. However, the industry emerged well before the World War II. This an initial article about the industry and rubber companies in Hong Kong. As further information comes in about the individual companies or products, eg rubber footware, torches, swimming/diving equipment, rubber bands, separate […]

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Kowloon Trams – the when, the where but not the why not…and proposed cross harbour tram bridge!

Articles, Hong Kong Companies, Transport

IDJ has sent the PF Leeds 1984 extract below concerning Trams in Kowloon. HF Presumably “the company” means Hong Kong Tramways. (Note: In 1902 Hong Kong Tramway Electric Company Limited was founded. In the same year the company changed its name to Electric Traction Company of Hong Kong Limited. And in 1910 the name changed again to The Hong Kong […]

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