Category: Queries + Answers

HF: Carles Brasó Broggi’s, Shanghai Spinners: Pioneers of Hong Kong’s industrialization, 1947-1955, first published in the Indhhk email Newsletter 9 sent out on 9th November 2013 is one of the most visited website articles. The article mentions Wyler Textiles Limited (伟伦纺织有限公司) a couple of times. There is also a Wyler mage from a 1956 Trade Annual. I come across the company […]

IDJ asks if anyone can supply information about the Reiss & Bradley Group of Companies. IDJ says I came across the attached family tree, shown below,  in the Hong Kong Historical Aircraft Association (HKHAA) files recently. The tree shows that R&B was a founding element of Far East Aviation Ltd HF: There also appears to be a direct connection to the Far East […]

The SCMP of 2nd March 2018 has in its Remember A Day feature this extract: “The serene resort-like residential development Discovery Bay was only starting to take shape 40 years ago this week when the government began to explore the feasibility of building a fixed crossing to Lantau Island.” The Tsing Ma bridge and its neighbour the Kap Shui Mun […]

Joe Terry asks Have you any information on an enterprise called Tsing Yi Island Industries Ltd, a concrete products manufacturer for the construction industry in operation during the period of 1964 to 1968, production site managed by Raphael Chow, a Singapore national.? The image shown on the Home Page of this article is of HK-China-Concrete-Co-Ltd’s Yau Tong batching plant. This article […]

HF: I found this image purporting to be at Sung Hill Quarry, in Kowloon while reading about the history of quarrying in Hong Kong since WW2 on the  Lord Wilson Heritage Trust website. I have never come across this quarry before nor can I find any information about in my small colection of HK quarrying reference books. Can anyone provide […]

James Chan: Mitsui & Company Ltd. (三井物産 Mitsui Bussan) is one of the largest sogo shosha (general trading companies) in Japan, and also part of the Mitsui Group. Its business area covers energy, machinery, chemicals, food, textile, logistics, finance, and more. The company was first established in 1876 with 16 members including the founder, Takashi Masuda. As Japan’s international trading was dominated by foreigners […]

Elizabeth Ride sent this brief mention of Leather Works No.1 in Hong Kong in a BAAG Report from September 1944 during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in World War Two. There is very little to go on and I don’t think I have come across any leather works here before. Can anyone offer further information about this or any […]

Bonnie Manzon (aka Bonnie Ko) recently left a comment attached to our article,Hong Kong Clays and Kaolin Company (香港磁泥有限公司) – Kaolin Mine, Cha Kwo Ling. “As a very young mother of three, we were living in ” the Bungalow” on the mining site of Hk Clays and Kaolin Co. in Cha Kwo Ling Village from 1980 to 1983. I have […]

HF: J H Stewart Lockhart was Colonial Secretary in Hong Kong from 1895-1902. He wrote a report to the Colonial Office in London, reporting on “The New Territory” . This followed “The Convention between Great Britain and China respecting an Extension of the Colony of Hong Kong.” The report was published on the 8th Oct 1898. The report has an intriguing mention […]

Tymon Mellor: While researching mines in Hong Kong, I came across this newspaper article from the Hong Kong Daily Press, dated the 12th October, 1889, on the discovery of a new mineral find by Mr J Grant Smith. The mineral ore was exposed following a storm the previous May and considered to be “a payable mine”. The location is described as […]