Hf: John McLean contacted me about An Iodhlann the history centre on the island of Tiree the outermost of the Inner Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland, UK. John was interested in any Tiree mariners with a Hong Kong conection and wondered if I could help having seen my article on the Celestial, see article linked below. An Iodhlann publishes […]
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The Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography has an article about Jehangir Hormusjee Ruttonjee b.1880, Balsar, India d.10th February 1960 in Hong Kong, written by Sooni Shroff-Gander. The following are extracts from this: Summoned by his father Hormusjee Rottonjee, a trader in wines, spirits and provisions in Hong Kong since 1884, Jehangir Hormusjee Ruttonjee arrived in the colony at the age of 12 […]
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York Lo: From Saigon to HK and Rice to Corduroys: the Wong family of Wong Cheong Fung, King’s Dyeing, Corona Textile, and Perfecta Wong Min-ching (third from left) with his sons and grandchildren in the mid-1960s. (Courtesy of John Huynh) Natives of Chiuchow, the Wong family immigrated to Vietnam where they built one of the first and largest textile mills […]
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On August 4, 1947, the 10,471 ton Tien Loong was the first steamship owned, managed, financed and crewed by Chinese, to sail from Shanghai to France. And was thus the first such vessel to sail in the Atlantic Ocean. She arrived in Le Havre, France on October 28. Chinese Maritime Trust (a sister company of Island Navigation Corp.) had signed […]
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York Lo: Sang Hop Construction Co. (生合建築) Left: Sang Hop founder Kwan Mui (HKBCA yearbook, 1958); Right: Ad for Sang Hop Construction in 1950 (HKBCA yearbook) Founded by Kwan Mui (關梅), Sang Hop Construction was one of the leading building contractors in Hong Kong from the 1940s to the 1960s responsible for many public and private projects. Based on Kwan […]
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IDJ has kindly sent the following article extracted from the Hong Kong Sunday Herald of 31st July 1949. This adds a new aspect to the history of water supply in Hong Kong on the website which has been to date mainly articles about reservoirs, see below. Thanks to SCT for proofreading the retyped article. Modern Filter Beds Under Construction Modern […]
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Tymon Mellor: This article has been extracted from The Kowloon Canton Railway (British Section) Part 4 – The Early Years (1910 to 1940). Major Railway Incidents Each year there were a number of incidents on the railway. Typically there would be a few derailments resulting in some damage, but no major injuries. There were also regular fatalities, normally three or four […]
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York Lo: Eastern Associated Investment (東聯置業) Advertorial of Tung Hing Building developed by Eastern Associated Investment in 1957 (WKYP, 1957-12-3) Earlier on the website, we covered Tung Kin Land, which was formed by several directors of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals in the 1950s to engage in property development. As it turned out, two of these directors, Cheung Chan-hon […]
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IDJ remembers seeing log sawing by hand particularly in shipyards building wooden junks and sampans but also on construction sites. Many had two or four men pushing and pulling from above and below. They could tear through a log surprisingly accurately and quickly. The frame’s sidebars were used to guide the saw blade in a straight line and achieve the right […]
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York Lo: Tom Construction Co. (順興隆建築) Left: Tom Construction founder K.S. Tom; Right: Ad for Tom Construction in 1950, both pictures highlighted residential projects (HKBCA yearbook) Tom Construction Co was one of the leading building contractors in Hong Kong in the 1950s founded by Tom Man-loong (譚文龍), better known as K.S. Tom. A native of Sunwui prefecture in Guangdong, K.S. […]
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