HF: John Laird Wright worked for MacDonald and Company’s shipyard in Hong Kong from 1907 to 1908. He then worked for Green Island Cement Company in Macau which he left in 1910. This obituary comes from an Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Obituary in 1934: John Laird Wright was for seventeen years a member of the Anglo- Persian Oil Company’s staff in various […]
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HF: Shewan, Tomes & Co. was one of the leading trading companies in Hong Kong and China during the late 19th and early 20th century. When Russell & Co., then one of the largest mercantile firms in the Far East, went out of business in 1891, former employees Scotsman Robert Shewan and Englishman Charles Alexander Tomes took over the remains of the operation and changed […]
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Joe MacDonald was Ian Brown’s father’s cousin. Ian has sent both information about and photos of Mr MacDonald who worked for Asiatic Petroleum in China and in all probability Hong Kong during the late 1930s. He appears to have travelled quite a bit during his time in the former and may well have lived and worked in Shanghai. This undated photo […]
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HF: Chak Wai Leung was born in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, in 1942. In 1959 he became a civil servant in the Hong Kong Government where he worked for over thirty three years. “Chak Wai Leung was born in a scholarly family. He was well versed in photography and darkroom operations even as a teenager. While persuing the art of photography, […]
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HF: Harry Kin Hong Long divided his life between New Zealand and Hong Kong. In the latter he worked for two companies, Kung Lee Steam Ship Co. and HK and Yaumati Ferry Co. Harry’ s daughter, Judy Chan, has kindly sent a considerable amount of biographical detail about him. In this article I have extracted that which relates directly to […]
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Can you provide more information about Bosco Radio Corp., the Gardner brothers or “Kyoei” company, the latter particularly pre-WW2 and during? Elizabeth Ride has sent this BAAG report. She notes: the page you originally posted [ie up to Post War Activities] was one of two of a document of which the second page was ‘restricted’ (withheld) in the BAAG papers by […]
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HF and IDJ: Up until 1926 steam power was used to drive the Peak Tram. In that year an electricity-powered haulage gear Ward Leonard system was installed incorporated within the double reversible funicular railway. Details of this system are provided below under the basic concept first link. I don’t fully understand this and wonder if anyone can provide an even simpler […]
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New Information HF: The Hong Kong Printing Press seems to have operated from 1888 to 1980 according to the website linked below dedicated to the company. The site appears to have been researched by descendants of family members who were involved in the company for several generations. I would like to hear from anyone contributing to the website linked below. […]
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HF: Richard Charles Lee (b. 7th March 1905, d. 6th July 1983) was the son of Lee Hysan (1881-1928). The story of his life can be found in the book written by his daughter Vivienne Poy, Building Bridges: The Life & Times of Richard Charles Lee, linked below which as you will see can be read online. Lee had extensive […]
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HF: Our article, 1924 Report on the Commerial Development of the Port of Hong Kong, begins by mentioning the visit of Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice to Hong Kong in 1920. Fitzmaurice, as a partner in a firm of Consulting Engineers, had been invited to offer advice as follows:- Fitzmaurice’s suggestions had not been taken up by the end of 1923. The […]
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