Hong Kong Water Supply – Shenzhen Reservoir Tymon Mellor: In the post war Hong Kong, the rapid growth in population and industrialisation brought with it an increase in the demand for water. With improving housing conditions, there was an ever-growing need for additional supply of piped water. Considerable effort had been made to maximise the local resource but continued shortages […]
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HF: Tymon Mellor wrote the article, Shatin – first powered flight in Hong Kong 1911, linked below, about the first powered flight which took place at Shatin on 18th March 1911. Charles “Chic’ Eather’s website mentions Charles Van den Born and this momentous event. Charles Van den Born, the Henry Farman Company’s test pilot and instructor, had arrived on the steamer Donai. […]
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York Lo: Corney & Co – Glass Merchant and Mirror Manufacturer Established in 1902 (although not formally incorporated til 1921), R. Corney & Co Ltd (明新有限公司) was a leading glass merchant and mirror manufacturer in Hong Kong which produced glassware, mirrors, light fixtures and other glass-related products. Despite its long history, limited information is available about the firm. A R.Corney […]
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Tymon Mellor: Immediately after the end of the Pacific War, the price of graphite, a form of carbon, peaked before declining as the world demand for steel dropped. Following the successful exploitation of graphite on West Brother Island, a number of licences were issued to allow the prospecting for Graphite throughout the New Territories during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Prospecting […]
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HF: One of several ginger factories in Hong Hong in the early part of the 20th Century. This ginger factory was located at 8 Sai On Lane, West Point, which is in Sai Ying Pun. Click the photo and article to magnify. Mr Yip Yung Soon needs his own article. This article was first posted on 17th December 2013. Related […]
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York Lo: Hop Sing Lung Oyster Sauce (合勝隆) When it comes to oyster sauce, most consumers automatically think of Lee Kum Kee (李錦記) given its dominant market share and in fact Lee Kum Kee’s founder Lee Kum-sheung is often credited as the one who “accidentally” invented oyster sauce in 1888 in Nansui (南水), Zhuhai when he left his oyster soup simmering […]
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Our article, Charles Weiss, Hong Kong chronometer and watchmaker, c1844-1856, ends: Charles left Hong Kong permanently in 1856 and transferred his business to Henry Vaucher, formerly of Canton (Friend of China 2 June 1856). Thanks to Richard McGeough for re-typing the extract from Carl Smith’s RASHKB article linked below. The article continues: Henry Vaucher was either French or Swiss, he had been […]
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Elizabeth Ride has sent a British Army Aid Group (BAAG) report from 1st March 1945, An Outline of Conditions in Occupied Hong Kong which was compiled in early 1945 for use by the Civil Affairs Committee which was to take on the rehabilitation of HK after the planned allied invasion. HF: The report is lengthy so I am going to divide it […]
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HF: The Garden Company Limited (嘉頓有限公司) is a bakery and confectionery manufacturer in Hong Kong. The company was founded in 1926 by cousins Tse Fong Cheung and Wah O Wong in Kowloon with a single bakery. The name “Garden” was established when the cousins passed their time during night breaks in the Hong Kong Botanical Garden in Central, where they discussed their plan to open a bakery […]
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York Lo: The Hong Kong Rattan Industry and some of its key historical players Rattan is one of the oldest industries in Hong Kong and astute merchants and skilled craftsmen in southern China had long profited from importing rattan cane from Southeast Asia (the majority from Indonesia with the remainder from Malaysia, Burma and the Philippines), weaving them into beautiful […]
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