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. […]
» Read moreHF: I have updated the images shown so that, hopefully, details can be seen more clearly. Click on the link for the improved version, the miniature below gives a very rough idea of what you will see, Elizabeth Ride has sent a number of plans, maps and sketches compiled by agents of the British Army Aid Group. These all show […]
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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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HF: IDJ has kindly sent the following newspaper article. Any images have been added by myself and were not included in the article. MARSMANS LOOK TO BRIGHTER FUTURE This photograph is of Jan Hendrik Marsman who was born in 1892 in the Netherlands and died in 1956, I think in the Philippines. Marsman is of interest to us because he […]
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Rob Weir: The following information comes from War Office (WO) and Foreign Office (FO) documents held at The National Archives at Kew, London, UK. These notes were basically made “in passing” as a diversion to my main interests and so are fairly rough. I’ve put them in ascending date order from the first reference I found until the last. This doesn’t mean there […]
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HF: The Ma On Shan Iron Mine operated for 70 years between 1906-1976. Small-scale open cast mining was carried out between 1906-1949, with underground mining beginning in 1953. Mining had moved entirely underground by 1959. Major development work occurred in the 1960s, after all the reserves in the upper levels had been exhausted. In 1963, 5,458 metres of main tunnels […]
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HF: Elizabeth Ride has sent information about four Shipyards from BAAG reports made during the Japanese occupation. This information is of interest with regard to what was (or wasn’t ) happening in them in 1944. The first Taikoo Docks is well known. The other three much less so. Kwong Hip Lung Shipyard, Wing On Shing Shipyard and Tai Kok Tsui […]
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HF: Chao Kuang Piu (24th November 1920 – 12 March 2021) was a Hong Kong based Chinese industrialist, sometimes referred to as Hong Kong’s ”Wool Magnate” given his involvement in Hong Kong’s garment industry. He was one of the co-founders of Dragonair, Hong Kong’s first Chinese owned airline, which was subsequently acquired by Cathay Pacific. Chao was born on 24th […]
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