HF: The Old Dairy Farm in Pokfulam, Hong Kong, was once an extensive complex of farm buildings erected by the Dairy Farm Company. The Dairy Farm was founded in 1886 when Dr Patrick Manson (a Scottish surgeon and a pioneer in the fields of hygiene and tropical medicine) persuaded five influential businessmen in the city, including Paul Chater, to invest […]
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‘Leung Kit-lam’s eponymous steelware store is…probably the last of its kind in Hong Kong. For decades, he has operated the business alone. Tucked away in an alley, with a barely visible storefront, Leung works seven days a week making strainers, rat traps and crab pots. “Some neighbouring hotels have bought a few of my rat traps,” he says. The years […]
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Fung Chi Ming has sent a 1959 essay “Ping Chau”, an alternative name for Peng Chau, by Wei Kit Ling, Minnie, 1959, deposited at HKU Main Library. Wei Kit Ling writes about the Lime Industry, the Match Industry ie the Great China Match Factory, Porcelain Decoration, Rattan Ware, the Tanning Industry, and the making of Shrimp Sauce. All of these are […]
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Tymon Mellor: In the early days of flying, there were no paved runways, just large flat areas allowing take-off and landing to suit the prevailing wind conditions. Initially there was little interest from the Hong Kong Government to identify a suitable site within the territory for an aerodrome as flying was seen as a niche interest with little practical use. […]
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1930 Additional information and an image sent by Peter Crush in July 2020, highlighted in blue. Unless otherwise stated all the information below comes from an in-house company publication, The Hongkong & Yaumati Ferry Co Ltd: Golden Jubilee 1923-1973, published in 1973. 1923 The company was incorporated on the 5th November. The Promoters of the company were Messrs. Lau Tak Po, […]
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HF: The Douglas Steamship Company was a British merchant company and maritime trading company founded in 1833 in the Crown Colony of Hong Kong by John Steward Lapraik and dissolved in 1987. After arriving in Hong Kong in 1858 to join his uncle, Douglas Lapraik’s shipping empire at Douglas Lapraik & Company, John Steward Lapraik quickly became one of the […]
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Tymon Mellor: Directly after the Pacific War, like many other places, Hong Kong was struggling to recuperate. There was limited capital available and the Government had few resources. Mining was seen by many as a low cost investment, creating employment, generating hard currency and providing revenue to the Government. Unfortunately, this vision was not shared by the Government’s Interim Mining […]
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James Chan: This advert from the Hongkong Government Gazette of 9th January 1886 caught my eye. Further investigation brought up the announcement shown below the advert, published in Australia and New Zealand, warning readers that Norman Electric was an “unmitigated fraud and swindle” and exposing one Emil Bassett of New York who was operating under the alias Marsh Bassett. I […]
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Tymon Mellor: The supply of fresh drinking water to the residents of Hong Kong has always been a challenge, not because the territory is particularly short of water, but because the continuously fast-growing demand has always out stripped supply. The first attempts to address this conundrum were taken in the 1860’s with the construction of the first water supply reservoir […]
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HF: First some information about these companies extracted from the excellent HK Memory Project: In 1937, after buying the assets of Keung Hwa Aluminium and Enamelling Company, Mr. Dung Ji-fu founded I-Feng Enamelling Company in Hong Kong to sell aluminium and enamel ware. In 1940, Freezinhot Bottle Co., Ltd. was founded in Hong Kong also with Mr. Dung as the general […]
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