James Chan: Frank Bowden was born in Exeter, England on 30th January 1848. In the early 1870s he came to Hong Kong. By 1872, when only 24, he had made a fortune in the local stock market. It would be of interest to have further details about Bowden’s time here. In particular how he made his fortune at that time […]
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James Chan: I was reading about the Public Steelyard system which was used at Luen Wo market, Fanling, NT, Hong Kong. What was this system? What was the origin of the term? When was it used? Was it used all over the NT or the whole of HK? This Q+A was first posted on 18th February 2014
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James Chan: John L Sardy was connected to the Motor Car Works, 8 Saracen’s Chambers, Snow Hill, London which sold the products of the Steam Vehicle Company of America, Pennsylvania, USA, for which Sardy was the General Agent. In 1894 John’s life was about to dramatically change! “John L Sardy was engaged by the R.E. Dietz Company to circumnavigate the globe […]
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James Chan: The SCMP of 26th October 2015 contained an article which began: Hong Kong’s first locally designed electric bus will roll out onto the city’s roads next month in a test run its creators hope will boost the local electric vehicle industry. The 12.5-tonne single deck electric bus, designed by the Hong Kong Productivity Council and Hong Kong Automotive Parts […]
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James Chan: The following appears in the Hong Kong Museum of History. It would be very interesting to hear more about this traditional industry that has died out. “Traditional New Territories markets had speciality cotton padded quilt shops but many “mountain” goods” and firewood shops also had a sideline in the quilt business. Essentially a seasonal trade a quilt shop […]
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James Chan: I thought this map would be useful. Here is a snipped version of HK Island and Kowloon. The full version can be seen in the link below. This shows rather small maps of reclamation development: a) up to 1887 b) 1888-1924 c) 1925-1945 d) 1946-1967 e) 1968-1976 f) 1977-1996 This article was first posted on 21st March 2015. […]
» Read moreI heard that there was a serious plan to build the KCR around the coast because it was thought the Beacon Hill tunnel was too long to build. I suppose it would have taken the Western route through Tuen Mun and Yuen Long. Can anyone confirm this? And provide a map and details of where the railway would have gone? […]
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James Chan: I found this reference to Chu Lu Kok Island Granite Quarry while looking for something else. The documents here come from the Public Works Department, 1906. The documents say the island was “on the north of Lantao Island” though the Particulars of the Lot say “north of Chu Lu Kuk. A mistake? I can’t find where this island […]
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