IDJ has sent in more information about the Lam Tei Quarry and its connection to the proposed Ping Shan Airport. This time a Technical Bulletin from the Airfield Construction Service (RAF) from May 1946. Click the images to enlarge. RECORD BLASTING AT PING SHAN A.C.S Technical Magazine Vol. 2. No. 2 May 1946 Several times a week the echoes […]
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HF: Additional information about Fish Farming in HK courtesy of the Public Records Office. These photos were taken near Yuen Long 1961. I don’t know whether the fish market was at Yuen Long though all the photos seem to be from the same collection. See: Call for stand-alone body to enforce protection and management of Hong Kong’s wetlands SCMP […]
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York Lo: Joy Fat Construction (再發建築) – Factory Building Pioneer Left: Ad for Joy Fat Mansion in 1958 (WKYP, 1958-9-19); Right: entrance of Joy Fat Mansion today In the 1950s, Joy Fat Construction was a leading property developer and allegedly was the pioneer in developing high-rise industrial buildings with elevators that are sold/leased to multiple factories. Prior to that, most factories […]
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HF and IDJ: The latter says this extract comes from a booklet titled ‘History of RAF Kai Tak’ produced by RAF Kai Tak in the 1970s. So much for the Kai Tak Bund area being the high class residential area the original promoters (Kai & Tak) hoped for! If you come across information about other lard factories in Hong Kong please send it in. In […]
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Hugh Farmer with thanks to IDJ and Stephen Davies. 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 as a consulting engineer and importer of […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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Douglas Lapraik arrived in Hong Kong in 1842 in apparently somewhat straitened circumstances from Macau. Things changed for the colourful Mr Lapraik. In 1863, together with Thomas Sutherland and Jardine, Matheson & Co,. he co-founded the Hongkong and Whampoa Dock Company (Kowloon Docks) which at its peak was the largest shipyard in Asia. The following article has been extracted from […]
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Nicholas Kitto has sent in a PDF file of the book: Corporate Behaviour and Political Risk: Dutch Companies in China 1903-1941 by Frans-Paul van der Putten. This was freely downloadable from the Leiden University website. Unfortunately the images are absent. HF: The book covers in some detail a variety of Dutch concerns in China. Namely:- Chapter 2 Banking: Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (NHM) […]
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