Likely edited to add Lots & Buildings from subsequent land sales. There are some inconsistencies such as two different lots having the same number.
Jardine Matheson also bought Town Lot 42 in 1841 where Flagstaff House is today.
National Archive Reference: FO 925_2427_1842
Below is a list of the first land sale in 1841 and who purchased which lot and for how much
First Land Sales in Hong Kong 1841
34 Lots of Land were sold in Hong Kong on 14th June 1841- GBP3,238 per annum raised in rents
Record of sale:
Sale order Lot Number Successful Bidder Winning Bid - GBP Notes
Marine Lots 1-15 ran along the north side of Queens Road east to west from the present HSBC building to the Central Market
1 ML 15: R Webster 20.00
2 ML 14 H Leighton 21.20
3 ML 13 Gemmell & Co 32.10
4 ML 12 Holliday Wise & Co 38.10
5 ML 11 Heerjeebhoy Rustomjee 52.00
6 ML 10 Heerjeebhoy Rustomjee 52.00
ML 9 Reserved
7 ML 8 Dirom & Co 57.00
8 ML 7 A Parsee 50.00
9 ML 6 M/s Hooker & Lane 43.00
10 ML 5 D & M Rustomjee & Co 50.00
11 ML 4 Dent & Co 65.10
12 ML 3 Dent & Co 64.00
13 ML 2 Lindsay & Co 80.00
14 ML 1 Gribble Hughes & Co 80.00
Lots 20-26 were in Admiralty & ran along the north side of Queens Road east to west from Morgans Bazaar to below Flagstaff House. Starting with Jardine Matheson’s lots which became the Commissariat within a decade almost all the lots eventually became part of the Military cantonment
15 ML 20 D & M Rustomjee & Co 111.00
16 ML 21 Innes Fletcher & Co 150.00
17 ML 22 Gemmell & Co 140.00
18 ML 23/24 Heerjeebhoy Rustomjee 160.00
19 ML 26 Jardine Matheson & Co 150.00
20 ML 27 Jardine Matheson & Co 185.00
21 ML 28 Jardine Matheson & Co 230.00
These Lots ran west to east and were between Admiralty and Spring Gardens. - all but one had lapsed to the Government by the late 1840’s. I am unsure if the lot numbers are correct.
22 ML xx? R Gully 35.00
23 ML 30? M/s Jamieson & How 60.00
24 ML 32? John Smith 57.00
25 ML 36? John Smith 67.00
26 ML xx? Framjee Jamsetjee 25.00
27 ML 38? Captain Hart 57.00
Lots 40 to 47 ran west to east to roughly opposite today's Hopewell centre on the North Side of Queens Road East
ML 49 is possibly the other side of Morrison Hill just before Canal street. ML 51 is East point
28 ML 40 MacVicar & Co 75.00
29 ML 41 MacVicar & Co 95.00
30 ML 42 Turner & Co 100.00
31 ML 43 Turner & Co 115.00
ML 44 Reserved
ML 45 Reserved
32 ML 46 T Larkins 265.00
33 ML 47 Fox MacVicar & Turner 250.00
ML 49 Unsold
34 ML 51 Captain Morgan 205.00
Terms of sale were read to the assembled people and the lots immediately put up for sale. If this is A R Johnstone’s first official act (he is appointed Governor of Hong Kong by Charles Elliot a week after the auction) it is worrying. Aliens cannot own British imperial land without the sovereign’s permission but several appear to have won title at this auction.
Some other lots were sold to a total of 50 lots with additional terms apparently related to all lots, e.g:
the buyers will build to a minimum appraised value of £1,000 on each lot within 6 months of sale;
a £500 deposit as security is required with the first year’s quit rent in advance.
Each lot is a marine lot (between the proposed road and the sea) and has a frontage of approx 100 feet but overall sizes vary from 5,400 sq ft to 35,000 sq ft. Many of the purchaser’s names have now changed. It appears there was an immediate secondary market in the titles.
A reassuring indication of nascent co-operation amongst the community occurred. One English firm (believed to be Jardine's), which desperately needed warehouse space, had already built on Hong Kong before the lots were offered for sale. Friendliness amongst the bidders resulted in no competing bids being made for that part-developed lot.
Sources: Canton Register: Vol 14 No 25 – 22nd June 1841
