Tymon Mellor: The former mine at, and which was to give its name to, Mui Wo or Silvermine Bay, was arguably one of the most important mines in Southern China at the end of the nineteenth century. It was developed using private money and was a showcase of modern technology. It was hoped this would be the start of a […]
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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 […]
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York Lo: Triangle Motors (合眾汽車) – from Shanghai to HK and from Opel to Isuzu Leon Zigal and the first Opel in Hong Kong (Eagles and Dragons) Founded in Shanghai in 1931 by Leon Zigal (1900-1962) and relocated to HK in the late 1940s, Triangle Motors has been an important player in the distribution of automobiles and trucks in HK and […]
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James Chan: While walking around the Tai Tam reservoirs on 11th January 2018 I came across a sign on the Tai Tam Waterworks Heritage Trail, see below, which began: “Before the 1860s, Hong Kong relied on primitive sources such as wells and streams for its water supply. Although the Pok Fu Lam Reservoir, the first rainwater facility, was enlarged in […]
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York Lo: Far East Flour Mills (遠東麵粉廠) Far East Flour Mill when it was first completed in 1967 (WKYP, 1967-7-11) Earlier on the website I covered three flour mills which emerged in HK in the 1950s and 1960s – namely Hong Kong, Kowloon and HK Food Products. The last one to cover is Far East Flour Mills, which was opened […]
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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: 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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HF: IDJ has recently sent the following newspaper article. This includes a rather poor image of Mr Leung Kai aka Ah Kai, and I would be grateful to be sent a better photo of the gentleman, further information about him and/or the company he worked for. I have added a couple of photographs. Thanks to SCT for proofreading my retyping […]
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York Lo: Shanghainese Builders in Hong Kong (Part One) – the Pre-War Pioneers (Yaik Sang, Sung Kee Zee and Dao Kee) Having contributed to the building of pre-war Shanghai into the leading metropolis in the Far East, Shanghainese builders and construction firms played a critical role in the post war construction boom in Hong Kong as the city emerged as […]
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IDJ has sent a series of articles about managers at Taikoo Dockyard: The first manager Philip Forster Nicholson, 1907-1910, “was succeeded by James Reid, who was born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire,[Scotland], and passed his early life at Troon, serving his apprenticeship with the Ailsa Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. He remained with this company to rise to Chief Ship Draughtsman and Assistant Yard Manager […]
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