York Lo: Yan Kow (甄球) and Hip Hing Construction (協興建築) Left: Yan Kow (right) and Cheng Yu-tung (centre) and David Sin (left) at Hip Hing’s 10th anniversary celebration in 1971 (WKYP, 1971-5-3); Right: ad for Hip Hing and its 3 construction affiliates in the 1970s In the 1960s and 1970s, Yan Kow was a major figure in the construction industry […]
» Read more
Hugh Farmer: Robert Gordon Shewan was born in London on 13th November 1859 (1860 according to 20th Century Impressions – see below) but achieved prominence in Hong Kong as a Scottish businessman. He was the son of Andrew Shewan, master mariner, and Jane Thomson. He arrived in Hong Kong in 1881, at the age of 2,1 in connection with the American […]
» Read more
According to Claire Grey’s excellent family history website, linked below, W R Loxley and Company (China) Ltd was established in Hong Kong in 1872 and… ‘…J. M. Beattie bought it possibly in 1900. Later two brothers: A. Beattie and M. P. Beattie joined the firm. The business was sold to J. A. Russell and D. O. Russell in 1919 and under the agreement A. Beattie […]
» Read more
Cecilia Young: My brothers and I are trying to gather information about my father’s company Yuen Hing Hong & Co. Ltd which he and my mother established in Hong Kong. My father was Norman Young Sze-kuen (born 26th September 1917) and mention is made of him in York Lo’s article, linked below, Chieng Han-chow – Father of the Hong Kong Plastic Industry, […]
» Read more
Yolande van Daatselaar from Delft in the Netherlands has recently been in touch. She says she is the proud owner of a beautiful camphorwood chest, with pearl inlay, bought by her grandfather in Hong Kong during one of his trips as a sailor on the Holland Amerika Line some time between 1946 and 1960. She doesn’t know exactly when. Yolande wonders […]
» Read more
HF: The SCMP of 26th July 2015 carried a report about the death of Ho Hung Yee who ran an umbrella stand on at the top end of Peel Street for decades. The article begins…”A fixture of the Central street scene dubbed the “Umbrella Man” for the decades he spent helping Hongkongers stay dry has died at the age of […]
» Read more
The Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography has an article about José Pedro Braga b.3rd August 1871, Hong Kong; d.12th February 1944, Macau written by Gavin Ure. “José Pedro Braga’s father, Vicente Emilio Braga left Hong Kong to work in Japan shortly after José Pedro’s birth but never returned. José Pedro Braga was brought up in a household of his maternal grandfather, Delfino Noronha, the […]
» Read more
This article is the result of several people’s research into the life of Carl Ingenohl and in particular the Hong Kong company, Orient Tobacco Manufactory, which he owned. This company operated during the early part of the 20th century and at least until WW2. The information we have about Ingenohl’s and Orient Tobacco is sometimes confusing or contradictory. Correction, clarification […]
» Read more
HF: Tse Tsan Tai, 謝纘泰, 16th May 1872 – 4th April 1938), was one of the earliest Chinese revolutionaries of the late Qing Dynasty and co-founded the South China Morning Post. A man with a wide range of interests. Tse Tsan Tai was born in Sydney, Australia on 16th May 1872 the son of Tse Yat Chong, a native of Kaiping County Guandong […]
» Read more
HF: “Camel” Paints and Lacquers are manufactured by The National Lacquer & Paint Products Co. Ltd, founded by two Chinese returning from the US Zhen Bing Jun and Huang Wei Xian in 1932. The company used “Camel Paint” as its trademark and in the beginning manufactured only enamel paint, lacquer, paste paint and spray paint. Later in 1937, The National Lacquer […]
» Read more