Hugh Farmer: Elizabeth Ride has sent a British Army Aid Group (BAAG) report from 1st March 1945, An Outline of Conditions in Occupied Hong Kong. One of the BAAG’s aims during WW2 was to gather military intelligence in Japanese occupied Hong Kong which included a great deal of what can loosely be called industrial information. Thus this report covers many […]
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Fung Chi Ming and Hugh Farmer: We have several articles and images about the production of incense in Hong Kong, and in what became the New Territories in pre-colonial times. It is often supposed that it was this industry that led to the name Hong Kong being used to indicate the whole of the colonial territory. I asked Fung Chi […]
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Hugh Farmer: The measurement of weight – picul, occurs in the Indhhk article, the Choy Fung Ginger Factory. I thought it would be worthwhile looking into the meaning of this term, its equivalent in more familiar weights and the origin of the word. A picul or tam is a traditional Asian unit of weight defined as a “shoulder-load” ie as much as […]
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Hugh Farmer: A 1908 Government report on Manufactures, Mines & Fisheries includes this detail: Un In was a big village of 250 people at the end of the 19th century. The map above (full background details of the map are provided in Tymon Mellor’s first article below) shows the locations of both the lead mine and Un-in village. The latter is […]
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Hugh Farmer: Researching my recent Quarrying in Hong Hong article brought up lots of place names with quarrying associations. And even more questions. Can you help answer any? A Kung Ngam Quarry: “A Kung literally means maternal grandfather or old man in Cantonese while Ngam means rock, but in the case of this place name, “A Kung” refers to Tam Kung, sea god, who the […]
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Hugh Farmer: This article is a joint effort of Thomas Ngan, IDJ, Neil Morris and myself. Thomas has done a fantastic job in first translating the Chinese company names and products. And secondly by inserting arrows into the two photos below to link the advertising signs to the index. A lot of work Thomas, thanks very much. * The first […]
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IDJ: These photographs are of a Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong exhibition in Hung Hom in 1968. This aerial photo of the site shows a building that still exists. The KCR/MTR diesel locomotive depot. The low long white building near the waterfront. See: 1957 Trade Fair TST
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This post follows from Queries & Answers 12 “The term Compradore.” James Chan has read that the comprador system originally came to prominence after the Canton system, in the late Ming dynasty, was abolished in 1842 and the compradores replaced the “hong” merchants as the main intermediaries between Chinese and Western traders. He is mystified. James wonders if anyone can explain the terms, Canton system, and hong merchant. And […]
» Read moreHugh Farmer: Last updated 20th Feb 2014 I’ve added new places to go to research HK’s industrial past. Thanks to those of you who have added to the list. The latest is Andrew Wood who provides an Australian website http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/and laments that there are far more HK historic maps there than in HK official sources. If you’re British, and forgetting industrial […]
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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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