Hugh Farmer with thanks to IDJ, Stephen Davies and Sue Evans, the youngest child of W.S.Bailey. Some initial notes on EO Murphy founder with WS Bailey of WS Bailey & Co or Bailey’s Shipyard. born ? died 1911 W.S. Bailey & Co This well-known firm of engineers and shipbuilders was founded in 1897 by Mr. W.S. Bailey, who began business […]
» Read more
HF: The Tai Lam Chung Reservoir was the first reservoir built in Hong Kong after the Second World War. Construction work commenced in 1952, was completed in 1957 and officially opened by the Governor, Sir Alexander Grantham on 7th December of that year. The reservoir, with a storage capacity of 20 million cubic metres, was formed by a main dam across the […]
» Read more
York Lo: The tale of two knitting factories with the same Chinese name (建成織造廠) Earlier on the website I wrote an article about two famous companies in the HK garment industry which shared the “Smart Shirts” name although one is the name of its famous product while the other is the firm’s name. As it turns out, two famous HK […]
» Read more
HF: Lai Afong 赖阿芳 aka Lai Ah Fong, Huafang, Fang Lai, Lihua Fang, Li Fang, A’Fong Lai, 赖華芳, 黎華芳, 芳華 c.1839 – 1890 was a Chinese photographer who established Afong Studio, one of the early photographic studios in Hong Kong. His studio was active from 1859 to around the 1940s. The business was probably taken over by his son in the 1890s. Subject matters […]
» Read more
York Lo: The Cheung brothers and Cheong Lee Construction (昌利建築) Left to right: Cheung Chan-hon, Kenneth Fung, director of Urban Services Ronald Holmes, Urbco councilor Philip Dalen Au, Governor Grantham, architect Eric Cumine looking at model of the Java Road Estate in North Point which Cheung’s Cheong Lee was building in April 1957. The massive population boom in Hong Kong in […]
» Read more
Mike T and Hugh Farmer: The Port of Hong Kong was published by the Marine Department in 1966. It covers a great deal to do with the administration of the port at that time and many aspects of shipping in Hong Kong including:- “Shipbreaking is an important industry in Hong Kong because the market for scrap is geared to the […]
» Read more
HSBC Main Building (香港滙豐總行大廈) is a headquarters building of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, which is today a wholly owned subsidiary of London-based HSBC Holdings. It is located on the southern side of Statue Square near the location of the old City Hall, Hong Kong. The previous HSBC building was built in 1935 and pulled down to make way for the current building. The current building is the […]
» Read more
York Lo: Yeung Fat & Co (發利建築) – leading HK building contractor in the early 20th century Left: Turfing ad for Yeung Fat & Co in 1927 (The China Mail, 1927-6-1); Right: Yeung Wing-hong as vice chairman of HK Building Contractors Association in 1954 (HKBCA Yearbook) From the late 19th century through the 1960s, Yeung Fat & Co was a […]
» Read more
HF: See added extract from a report at the end of this article regarding suggested reason for the final demise of the salt industry in Tai O which had probably been in existence (at least in HK) from about the 3rd century BC. 2013 marked the 50th anniversary of the opening of Shek Pik Reservoir on Lantau island. It was […]
» Read more
York Lo: Charles L. Corn (陳耀坤, 1898-1973) – operator of quarry in Shau Kei Wan and Chinese leader in Guam Left: Ad for Charles L. Corn & Co in 1950 (HKBCA yearbook); Right: Charles L. Corn (left) shaking hands with Vice President C.K. Yen in Taipei (National Cultural Database) In the 1950s, a colorful Chinese businessman in Guam and the Philippines […]
» Read more