Don Holmgren left the following query on 14th December 2017. ”What was the final disposition of the two Hall-Scott Motor coaches – the Taipo Belle and the Canton Belle, did they possibly survive the ravages of World War Two?” Martin Baumann left the following comment on the 6th March 2025. ”Tai Po Belle was found damaged by British forces in […]
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HF: Alfred Holt and Company, trading as Blue Funnel Line, was a UK shipping company that was founded in 1866 and operated merchant ships for 122 years. It was one of the UK’s larger shipowning and operating companies, and as such had a significant role in the country’s overseas trade and in the First and Second World Wars. Foundation and […]
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HF: Nam Jam Factory, a manufacturer of torches (not boiled fruit and sugar) was set up in Hong Kong in 1928 and subsequently opened a branch factory in Canton. First some background information about pre-WW2 industries extracted from the HK Memory Project – The Origins of the Hong Kong metal industry. “The metal industry of Hong Kong started budding in […]
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The following article has been extracted from the Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography. The publisher HK University Press, has given permission for it to be posted here. The article about Sir John Douglas Clague was written by Jason Wordie and first published in the Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography, edited by May Holdsworth and Christopher Munn. The publisher, HK University Press, has […]
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Hong Kong Water Supply – Shenzhen Reservoir Tymon Mellor: In the post war Hong Kong, the rapid growth in population and industrialisation brought with it an increase in the demand for water. With improving housing conditions, there was an ever-growing need for additional supply of piped water. Considerable effort had been made to maximise the local resource but continued shortages […]
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Hugh Farmer: These pages from a HK government publication of December 1959 describe changes in the the manufacture of umbrellas in Hong Kong. Pre WW2 almost all parts were imported, by the time of this report however, at least some were being produced here. The second page shows the value of exported umbrellas to many countries worldwide. It’s interesting for at least […]
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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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Tymon Mellor: In the early 1930s, a small mining operation was underway near Lok Ma Chau for wolframe, antimony, silver, gold and tin. The mine was unsuccessful in the commercial exploitation of minerals and the owners consequently lost their investments. The location of the mine has never been identified but the parties involved are well documented. This article describes the […]
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HF: China Sugar Refinery Co. Ltd. was established by Messrs. Jardine & Co., Ltd in 1878. The factory was built at East Point, Causeway Bay, where the factory had close proximity to the harbour for loading cargoes of raw sugar cane and packed products. The sugar cane was imported from Java, the Philippines, the Straits Settlements and various Chinese ports. […]
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HF: I took these photographs of the quarry at Lei Yue Mun on the 11th November 2014. The map shows that it is actually just east of Ma Pui Tsuen though this is an extension of the well-known Lei Yue Mun and I’ll stick with the latter until we have an “official ” name. I am especially interested in the […]
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