Tymon Mellor: At the end of the nineteenth century, the great world powers were all trying to expand their spheres of influence within China. The approach of the British was to use Hong Kong as a marine trading hub, enhanced with the provision of a railway network thus extending the Colony’s commercial reach into the Chinese hinterland and connecting with […]
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“Ingham Sutcliffe who had only recently set up in business as a consulting engineer in Siam, was previously engaged as assistant chief mechanical engineer and superintendent of workshops on the Royal State Railways of Siam. He had held this appointment since 1919 and resigned from government service in 1930. He was born at Bradford in 1880, and after serving as […]
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IDJ: During 1948 and 1949 there was immense turmoil in China as the Nationalist and Communist factions battled for control of the country. Events were moving towards a climax. As a result, the Chinese airlines CNAC (China National Aviation Corporation), CAT (Civil Air Transport) both with Sino-American interests and flight crews, and Central Air Transport (nationalist government owned) all based […]
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IDJ has sent an extract from a book by Martin Barnett published in 1984 about the history of tramways in Hong Kong. HF: Chevalier R Pescio was an Italian with an exotic name and an alluring proposal. Namely to build a tramway between Victoria and Aberdeen. He repeatedly tried to obtain government interest in this scheme between 1906 and 1910 […]
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The Hong Kong Flying Club was formed in the late 1920s when the Governor, Sir Cecil Clementi, presided over the inaugural meeting on 20 December 1929. The Hong Kong Aviation Club was established in 1982 upon the amalgamation of the Hong Kong Flying Club, the Aero Club of Hong Kong and the Far East Flying & Technical School. This article about […]
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York Lo: China International Motors (鎧興汽車) – Distributor of Bedford, Vauxhall and Buick automobiles Left: China International Motors ad from the 1950s; Right: Vauxhall ad in the HK Police Magazine in 1956 The American auto giant General Motors (GM) once had a significant presence in the HK automobile market from the late 1940s to the 1960s with its Chevrolet and […]
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Tymon Mellor: In the early days of flying, there were no paved runways, just large flat areas allowing take-off and landing to suit the prevailing wind conditions. Initially there was little interest from the Hong Kong Government to identify a suitable site within the territory for an aerodrome as flying was seen as a niche interest with little practical use. […]
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“Kenneth Alfred Wolfe Barry (c1879-1936) Second son of John Wolfe Barry Partner in business with his father, along with A.G. Lyster, Past President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and G. E. W Crutwell, M. Inst. C.E. J. S. 1936 Obituary: Kenneth Alfred Wolfe Barry , O.B.E., was the senior partner in the firm of Sir John Wolfe Barry and Partners. […]
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IDJ: When Hong Kong was liberated in September 1945, one of the military groups diverted to assist restoring the city’s electricity, gas and water utilities and railway was the Royal Air Force’s No. 5358 Airfield Construction Wing that was part of Shield Force. This fleet of Royal Navy Cruisers and Aircraft Carriers plus their support ships were transporting 3000 airman […]
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A little more information on the history of taxis in Hong Kong to add to our other articles, on the subject, linked below. Many thanks to SCT for proofreading the retyped version. Taxis cars can be further classified into those that charged according to the meters and cars for hire which did not charge by mileage. 1922 From the 17th […]
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