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: 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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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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HF: This 1934 obituary of Wong Kwong (1875-1934) was first published in the 1934 Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, UK. I have been unable to find an image of Wong Kwong and would be grateful if someone could point me in the direction of one and/or further general information about his time as an employee of Bailey’s shipyard. […]
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HF with thanks to IDJ for the image: “An industry only recently, started in Hongkong is that carried on — under the general management of Messrs. Barretto & Co. — by the Imperial Brewing Company, Ltd., which was formed in 1905, and commenced operations in December, 1907, as soon as the necessary plant had been erected. The premises are situated in the Wongneichung Road, and […]
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