HF: This article might be read together with our article, BAAG Report KWIZ#3, Naval Reports, linked below, which mentions that the Manshu Maru, was the first auxiliary sailing vessel built and equipped in Hong Kong, and given its first trial run on 13th April 1943. I had never come across auxiliary sailing ships before, and I asked Stephen Kentwell, who recently left […]
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Hugh Farmer with thanks to Carles Brasó for the images of YC Chen and the drawing of the mill. The SCMP, 19th Apr 2014, published an article ” End of an Era as Cotton Mill Closes”. The Tai Hing Cotton Mill, the last of its kind here was located in Tuen Mun. Carles has added the following: According to the […]
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A short 1984, Hong Kong Government Publication about Hong Kong’s Country Parks contains this intriguing and amusing information: The most recent development in Plover Cove Country Park is the construction of the Plover Cove Reservoir. The idea of enclosing a bay and a string of islands to form a reservoir was born in the mind of the late T.O.Morgan, then […]
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Elizabeth Ride has sent another part of the 1945 BAAG report on a variety of subjects in Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in WW2. This time the report covers Dairy Supplies and Facilities. Of particular interest are two companies which are still operating. Dairy Farm which began in 1886 and Kowloon Dairy, with rather unfortunate timing, […]
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HF: I have come across five feather product companies in Hong Kong. There were undoubtedly more, as the 1939 report shown below mentions five at that time alone. If you can supply any further information about these or other feather using companies please contact me. a) In the 1899 Jurors List http://gwulo.com/jurors-list-1899 “Leopold Schinz, Technical Manager, Feather Factory, Kennedy Town” b) […]
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HF: Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, 1st Baronet (15 July 1783 – 14 April 1859), also spelt Jejeebhoy or Jeejebhoy, was a Parsi India merchant and philanthropist. He had close connections over a lengthy period with Hong Kong, through his business association with William Jardine, his merchant fleet using its harbour and for having had the first Hong Kong built ocean-going ship constructed here. This extract it […]
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Hugh Farmer: Robert Gordon Shewan was born in London on 13th November 1859 (1860 according to 20th Century Impressions – see below) but achieved prominence in Hong Kong as a Scottish businessman. He was the son of Andrew Shewan, master mariner, and Jane Thomson. He arrived in Hong Kong in 1881, at the age of 2,1 in connection with the American […]
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Hugh Farmer: Shewan, Tomes & Co. was one of the leading trading companies in Hong Kong and China during the late 19th and early 20th century. When Russell & Co. then one of the largest mercantile firms in the Far East went out of business in 1891, former employees Scotsman, Robert Shewan and Englishman, Charles Alexander Tomes took over the remains of the operation and […]
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The following article was written by Peter E. Hamilton, 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. Forbes, Robert Bennet b. 18 September 1804, Jamaica Plain, Boston, USA; d. […]
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IDJ: For anyone looking towards the west from around 1966 onwards, the Tsing Yi Power Station site was an increasingly prominent feature of the harbor view. As the five tall concrete chimneys were built progressively from 1968 onwards, no one could fail to see them against the backdrop of the hills on the island. An illustrated brochure was handed out […]
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