Robin Selby has sent the following information about his great-uncle Thomas Selby (1866-1937) during his time working for The Indo-China Steam Navigation Company Ltd (ICSNC) which had been established in 1873 as a subsidiary of Hong Kong based Jardine, Matheson & Co. Thomas worked for ICSNC from 1895 to 1908 when he was granted 12 months home leave and appears not to have […]
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Tymon Mellor: When you look at aerial images of Hong Kong, there are always interesting features to note. The 1963 aerial image of Tolo Harbour reveals a number of grounded vessels – what is their story? On the 1st September, 1962 Typhoon Wanda, one of the most severe storms to hit the territory, made landfall. With maximum wind speeds of […]
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1930 Additional information and an image sent by Peter Crush in July 2020, highlighted in blue. Unless otherwise stated all the information below comes from an in-house company publication, The Hongkong & Yaumati Ferry Co Ltd: Golden Jubilee 1923-1973, published in 1973. 1923 The company was incorporated on the 5th November. The Promoters of the company were Messrs. Lau Tak Po, […]
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HF: I learnt about this company through the personal effects of Harry Kin Hong Long who briefly worked for Kung Lee from March to July 1923. Harry worked on two ships, the Kwong Mo and the Tin Ming as can be seen in his appointment letter below. Julia Bradshaw has kindly given permission to quote from her book, Golden Prospects…which finds […]
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Stephen Davies and Hugh Farmer have collaborated in researching the life of George U Sands (1824-1881). In particular his time as the captain of a steamship in China and his later involvement in three Hong Kong companies. Stephen’s contributions are indicated, all others are from HF. Any information about Mr Sands during his time in both China and Hong Kong and […]
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HF: An unnamed typhoon hit Hong Kong during the night of the 22nd and morning of the 23rd September 1874 causing extensive casualties and over 5,000 deaths in Macau. Aberdeen caught the full force as can be seen by the damage caused to Aberdeen Docks. This article was first posted on 18th May 2015. See: Gwulo.com – further information about […]
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Elizabeth Ride has sent the Naval section of a British Army Aid Group (BAAG) Waichow Intelligence Summary (WIS 27) dated 4th April 1943. This covers shipping movements in and out of Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation in World War Two during late February to mid-March 1943. There are a number of Naval Section Intelligence Summaries covering these months which tend […]
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HF: “The light is situated at Lam Tong Mei, a small rocky peninsula at the extreme southern tip of Tung Lung Island. It was constructed by the Japanese during their occupation of Hong Kong, from 1941 to 1945. It was originally used as a gun emplacement to protect the south-eastern approaches to Victoria Harbour. It is built of concrete and […]
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HF: Twelve Shell Oil tankers were built by the Hong Kong & Whampoa Dockyard according to the detailed records maintained by the website Helderline linked below. Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company was responsible for the ships of Shell Transport and Trading from about 1898 to 1955 when Shell acquired the assets of ASPC essentially bringing its fleet of ships in-house. The information below regarding […]
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IDJ has sent an article, The Development of Rail Transport in the Logging Industry, which is about Borneo. This briefly mentions a Taikoo dockyard steam locomotive being used by the British Borneo Timber Company around the 1920s. “It is also believed that the BBTC later added a second steam locomotive of unidentified manufacture Taikoo No. 1, purchased second hand from Hong […]
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