HF: I am very happy to offer a little publicity to Lindsay Varty and the recent publication of her book, Sunset Survivors: Meet the people keeping Hong Kong’s traditional industries alive. This has been receiving excellent reviews and I understand from Lindsay that the first print has already sold out. Lindsay first contacted me in March wondering if she could […]
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York Lo: Kwong Fat Yuen Hong (廣發源行) – the 150 year old King of Leather Leather trademarks registered by Kwong Fat Yuen Hong in the 1930s with the HK colonial government – “Lion” brand in 1936 on the left and”Unicorn” and “Tank” brands in 1937 on the right (HK Government Report) Founded in 1867, Kwong Fat Yuen Hong is one […]
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York Lo: Three Generations and Three Industries: From Budson Watch to Casey Diamonds to Ingrid Millet The Liu family in 1949. Budson Liu (second row, second from right), his sons Pak-fei, Wan-fei, Casey and Ping-cheong (back row left to right) and their spouses and children. For close to a century, three generations of the Budson Liu family have been at […]
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York Lo: Chan Ching-pow (陳清雹) and Po Wah Land Investment (寶華置業) – Real Estate Developer from the 1960s Po Wah ad in 1964 advertising four of its properties in Kowloon – Po Kwong, Po On, Po Fung and Po Tai (WKYP, 1964-10-9) During the property boom in the early 1960s, one of the most active developers in Hong Kong was […]
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York Lo: Chan Chak-man(陳澤民) – Forgotten Knitwear Tycoon from the 1960s Chan Chak-man (second from left) greeted by his family after returning from the opening of his factory in Portugal in 1964 (WKYP, 1964-6-17) In the early 1960s, Chan Chak-man was a major figure in the HK knitwear industry who was a founding director of Hong Kong Woollen Knitting Manufacturers’ Association (香港毛織業廠商會, […]
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York Lo: Goodyear(嘉年): The Rise and Fall of a Real Estate Giant Pang Kwok-chan’s lecture for the HKU Department of Extramural Studies (precursor of SPACE) in 1966 about the 5 stages of post-War development of the HK real estate industry with the only picture of him available in the public domain (香港工商日報, 1966-10-26) Goodyear was a major Hong Kong real […]
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HF: Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, 1st Baronet (15 July 1783 – 14 April 1859), also spelt Jejeebhoy or Jeejebhoy, was a Parsi India merchant and philanthropist. He had close connections over a lengthy period with Hong Kong, through his business association with William Jardine, his merchant fleet using its harbour and for having had the first Hong Kong built ocean-going ship constructed here. This extract it […]
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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 […]
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The following article was written by Peter E. Hamilton, and first published in the Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography, edited by May Holdsworth and Christopher Munn. The publisher, HK University Press, has kindly granted permission for it to be posted here, but retains copyright over this material from 2012. Forbes, Robert Bennet b. 18 September 1804, Jamaica Plain, Boston, USA; d. […]
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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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