HF: 1962 saw the release of the first officially designed envelopes for first day covers, marked with ”Official First Day Cover”, for the 100th anniversary of the first postage stamp of Hong Kong. Prior to 1962 there were no official designs other than the postmarked date, and envelopes were designed instead by hobbyists such as the Hong Kong Philatelic Society […]
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HF: Desalination (or “Desalting” as it appeared to be called at that time) was a source of water in Hong Kong between 1975 and 1981. A large desalination plant was commissioned at Lok On Pai, near Tuen Mun, in 1975, but was decommissioned in 1981 because its operation was more expensive than importing water from Dongjiang in China. A Water Supplies […]
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HF: Thanks to SCT for proofreading the following retyped article. Post-war 1945-1997 Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945, and postal service under the British resumed on 25 August, initially for free. No stamps were available, so octagonal hand stamps inscribed with Hong Kong 1945 postage paid were later used in lieu of stamps. In early September, the government rediscovered the […]
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HF: Japanese Occupation 1941-1945 Hong Kong surrendered to Japan on 25 December 1941, marking the start of the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. Postal services resumed in early 1942, with 20 or 21 Japanese definitives introduced for use in Hong Kong. As a response to hyperinflation during the occupation, three stamp issues were surcharged with a higher value. These were […]
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HF: The following notes are an attempt to order chronologically events in AH Rennie’s life mentioned on data cards from the Carl Smith collection held at the HK Public Records Office. I have attempted below to include all references to Rennie in these cards, as recorded by Carl Smith, and which are hand written or typed. However, they are sometimes […]
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HF: The death of Queen Victoria in 1901 and the reign of King Edward V11 saw the release of a new series of definitives, commonly referred to as the ”bald man”’s definitives by local philatelists and stamp collectors. The first set (1903) of stamps featuring Edward V11 consisted of 15 stamps. A second set (1904) was printed on different paper, […]
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HF: This article was written by Stewart Clyde in the early 1960s. 1963 is mentioned at one point. On the title page is hand written “updated 30.4.64” though the article itself is undated. It comes courtesy of the Public Records Office, HK. I can find nothing further about Mr Clyde, why he wrote this article or where it originally appeared. […]
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HF: Stamps were not popularly used even after the appearance of the first stamps. At the time, customarily, the receiver rather the sender was responsible for the postage fee. Therefore, senders were apprehensive of paying the postage before mailing. Nonetheless, the use of local stamps became compulsory by law in 1864. Following the release of the first stamps, a large […]
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HF: The postal system in the British colony of Hong Kong began in 1841 when the Royal Mail established the first General Post Office in the region. Between 1841 and 1862 no stamps were issued, and postmarks were used to certify payment of the postage instead. The earliest postmarks were used by military field offices and read ”MILITARY POST OFFICE […]
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HF: Taikoo Sugar Refinery was located at Quarry Bay, at the eastern end of Hong Kong Island, an area hitherto largely undeveloped except for granite mining. Though isolated by land from the rest of the island, the harbour provided easy local access by boat as well as deep water berthing for ocean ships to discharge raw sugar and local processed […]
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