Hugh Farmer: Kwik Djoen Eng was apparently also known as Chun Yang, the shortened form of Guo Chun Yang, and somewhat confusingly, for non-Chinese readers, Kwok Chun Yeung. Many thanks to Thomas Ngan for confirming that Kwik Djoen Eng and Kwok Chun Yeung are the same person. Thomas suggests this array of names is likely due to the romanisation of the same Chinese […]
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York Lo: Union Construction Co/Union Contractors (華聯建築) Left: Union Contractors founder Kew Chan (Geni); Right: Ad of Union Construction Co in 1950 (HKBCA Yearbook) Earlier in the group, I wrote a series of articles on Shanghainese builders and in Part 7 of the series, the firm Union Contractors was misclassified as a Shanghainese builder as its proprietor Chan Bing-quan(陳炳鈞, 1924-1988) was […]
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Our Group started in November 2012 with the website following in October 2013. We currently have over 1,500 articles posted all of which are shown in the Index. Contributions have come from an estimated 450 people ranging from a single line comment to a full length article. Plus those who help the group in other ways as shown in the […]
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To follow the history of the Kwan family is to trace a complete history of Hong Kong graphic design. In 1845 the ‘China Trade’ artist Kwan Chuk Lam, known to the West as ‘Lamqua’ settled in Hong Kong. He was the only known pupil of the English painter G. Chinnery, and had exhibited paintings at the Royal Academy in the […]
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Two versions of the wrecking of the SS Hong Moh which sailed from Hong Kong in March 1921 First version SS Hong Moh was a passenger ship that was wrecked on the White Rocks off Lamock Island, Swatow, on 3 March 1921 with the loss of about 900 lives. City of Calcutta The ship was built by Charles Connell & Company of Scotstoun, and was launched on […]
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York Lo: The King of Watchbands: Poon Yuen-sang (潘遠生) and Yuen Sang Hardware (遠生金屬) Poon Yuen-sang delivering a speech as chairman of the HK & Kowloon Watch and Clock Merchants Association in 1961. Left to right: Mrs. Gertrude Kwok (郭贊夫人), Poon Yuen-sang, Lau Kam-fat (劉錦發), Lun Tin-lok (倫天樂), Chan Peng-fei (陳鵬飛) (WKYP, 1961-9-10) In the 1950s and 1960s, the HK […]
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Brook Antony Bernacchi (貝納褀) b. 22nd January 1922 d. 22nd September 1996, was born in London and arrived in Hong Kong in 1945 as advisor to Major General FW Festing. “One of Hong Kong’s early democrats, he was an important moderate political voice in the colony from the 1950s to the 1970s” . (1) “In 1947 Bernacchi bought 200 acres […]
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Elizabeth Ride has sent part of BAAG Report KWIZ#4, dated 27th June 1943. If you haven’t come across the British Army Aid Group before I have linked a gwulo.com summary of its activities below. Elizabeth explains KWIZ was short for Kweillin Weekly Intelligence Summary, with a ‘Z’ substituted for an ‘S’. She has sent extracts from the Report, namely the […]
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York Lo: Yu Yat Kee Watch Co (余日記) Yu Yat Kee Watch’s main store on Johnston Road in Wanchai in 1960 (Paul Almasy, Artnet) Yu Yat Kee Watch Co was one of the leading watch retailers in HK from the 1920s through the 1970s alongside firms, such as Lam Yuen Fong and Budson, which were covered in earlier articles, with […]
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HF: W C Gomersall was born in London, UK in 1895 and died in Hong Kong in 1960. In 1928 he founded China Engineers Ltd in Shanghai. Post WW2 Gomersall and the company moved to Hong Kong. This obituary is extracted from the journal of the Institution of Electrical Engineers a British professional organisation. This article was first posted on 23rd July […]
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