Hugh Farmer with thanks to Carles Brasó for the images of YC Chen and the drawing of the mill. The SCMP, 19th Apr 2014, published an article ” End of an Era as Cotton Mill Closes”. The Tai Hing Cotton Mill, the last of its kind here was located in Tuen Mun. Carles has added the following: According to the […]
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HF: I have come across five feather product companies in Hong Kong. There were undoubtedly more, as the 1939 report shown below mentions five at that time alone. If you can supply any further information about these or other feather using companies please contact me. a) In the 1899 Jurors List http://gwulo.com/jurors-list-1899 “Leopold Schinz, Technical Manager, Feather Factory, Kennedy Town” b) […]
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York Lo: Faithful Trading and Polytek Engineering Industrial trading and engineering firms such as China Engineers, Reiss Bradley and Andersen Meyer covered earlier in other articles played an important role in the industrial development of Hong Kong and the broader region as they facilitated the necessary technology transfer from the West by acting as importers and installers of state of the […]
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James Chan: Frank Bowden was born in Exeter, England on 30th January 1848. In the early 1870s he came to Hong Kong. By 1872, when only 24, he had made a fortune in the local stock market. It would be of interest to have further details about Bowden’s time here. In particular how he made his fortune at that time […]
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York Lo: Alexander Kwang (鄭光) and Chu Shek-lun(朱石麟) Left: Chu Shek-lun as CMA chairman casting his ballot for Miss HK Products Expo in December 1960 (TKP, 1960-12-27); Right: Alexander Kwang (right) presenting the silver trophy to the winner of the portrait competition at the CMA HK Products Expo in January 1961 (Kung Sheung Evening News, 1961-1-8) Alexander Kwang (1908-1964), and Chu […]
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York Lo: R.P. de La Sala – the Global Shipping and Industrial Magnate from HK Left: R.P. de La Sala (Brazilian immigration record, 1958); Right: Manners’ “West Breeze” as the first British vessel passing through the Suez in 1957 (British Pathe) Robert Perez de La Sala (1908-1967, hereafter referred to as R.P.), the employee turned owner of Hong Kong-based Manners built […]
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York Lo: United Rubber Works (聯合膠廠) United Rubber Works ad in 1949 (HK Scouting Gazette, 1949) United Rubber Works was one of the five biggest rubber product manufacturers in HK in the late 1940s with ties to several figures discussed earlier in different articles. Formed in 1946 (although the firm was not incorporated until March 1947) with HK$1 million in […]
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York Lo: More on Continental Rubber Manufactory (大陸樹膠廠) Left: Pang Kam-wing as vice chairman of the HK Rubber Manufacturers Association (WKYP, 1959-2-11) Right: Continental Rubber booth at the HK Products Expo in 1949 (HK Memory) Earlier in the website a short article on Continental Rubber Manufactory (大陸樹膠廠) was posted. This article will provide more information about the firm, which was […]
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York Lo: “The Poetic Industrialist”: Yan Man-leung (甄文亮1898-1983) of Camelpaint and United Weaving Factory (民衆布廠) Article about Yan Man-leung the “Poetic Industrialist” in 1955 (Ta Kung Pao, 1955-12-11) In the 1950s and 1960s, Yan Man-leung was a prominent industrialist in HK who earned the nickname of “Poetic Industrialist” for his love of composing Chinese poetry and his role as the founder […]
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York Lo: Red Capitalist: the life and ventures of K.C. Wong (王寬誠,1907-1986) Left: Portrait of K.C. Wong from the 1950s; Right: K.C. Wong meeting with Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in the early 1980s When it comes to Hongkong’s “Red Capitalists”, Henry Fok (whose biographical entry I wrote for the Dictionary of HK Biography) is probably the first name that came […]
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