James Chan: Hong Kong United Dockyards often abbreviated to United Dockyards or HUD was formed from the merger of the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock (founded 1863) and Taikoo Dockyard (1902). The Whampoa Dock was located in Hung Hom, West Kowloon and Taikoo Dockyard in Quarry Bay, Hong Kong Island. In 1973 in part to meet the container revolution in […]
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James Chan: I found this while looking through the Public Records Office images. I don’t think we have anything about this company. A quick check finds that it was started in 1950 and is now (as HAECO) one of the world’s largest maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) service providers in terms of capacity. It is owned by Swire Pacific Ltd. […]
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Lawrence Tsui adds more to our growing information about the proposed Ping Shan airport. He has sent an extract from his father’s autobiography which highlights tensions regarding constructing the airport in this location. Lawrence writes:-There’s a slightly different perspective to the Ping Shan Airport in Paul Tsui’s unpublished memoire “My life & My Encounters’ Chapter XVI (para. 7) regarding his […]
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Tymon Mellor: Originally known as the Pat Heung Aerodrome, work on the Sek Kong airfield commenced in 1935 with the construction of a road to the planned airfield. However, very little work was undertaken until 1950 when the British Government established a new defence strategy for Hong Kong requiring the mobilisation of an expanded military support. However, for some the […]
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HF: Waterfront Air (海翔航空) was an airline which was set up in 2008, (or possibly 2007,) with the aim of reintroducing seaplane services from Hong Kong’s harbour, initially with HK to Macau flights. Seaplanes operated in Hong Kong from the 1920s to the mid-1960s. And I believe scheduled seaplane services operated between Hong Kong and Macau between the 1930s and 1950s. With […]
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James Chan: Dragages Hong Kong, is a very familiar company name on signs at major construction projects around Hong Kong. It’s parent company is Bouygues Construction The company was founded in Vietnam in 1902 as Société Française Industrielle D’Extreme-Orient. It undertook its first project, the dredging and maintenance of a 2,000 kilometre canal system in the Mekong Delta. In 1910 […]
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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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Tymon Mellor: With the end of the Second World War and the growing population of Hong Kong, it was clear that upgrading of the Kowloon – Canton Railway line would be required to accommodate the increase in passenger and freight traffic. The first priority was to provide a new terminus within Kowloon to accommodate the passenger and freight services. Following […]
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“… Macau Aerial Transport (MAT) was the first commercial airline company to be established in Macau or Hong Kong. [Founded by Charles de Ricou he] found it wise to set up MAT as a British company but public opinion in Macau was generally against having yet another ‘foreign’ enterprise in their midst. The Government of Macau, however, sensing the obvious […]
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HF: The Rhyl History Club, Wales, UK, has a report of Alfred Dickinson’s death and details about his career. He was a widely travelled man including to Hong Kong. His company Alfred Dickinson & Co was closely involved in the development of Hong Kong Tramways. For example, “In February 1902 The Hongkong Tramway Electric Company Ltd was formed in England […]
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