Beach for Europeans/Bungalow by the sea | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Beach for Europeans/Bungalow by the sea

Beach for Europeans/Bungalow by the sea
Submitted by anonymous-01
Tags: 
John Olson
swimming

Here are four pictures. I am posting them because David recently speculated that the Bungalow By The Sea posting of some time back might in fact have been at Cheung Chau island. 

Moddsey identified the Beach for Europeans picture I posted some time back and I have had another search and found the three pictures posted here. They show the beach, my great uncle Charles swimming and the headland in the background, he and his wife Ethel on the beach and Ethel posing with a sunshade on what may be a path above the beach.

Quick way to find the other postings is to do a search for John Olson

Anybody think David may be right?

 

Date picture taken (may be approximate): 
Thursday, January 1, 1920
Gallery: 
1920s Hong Kong
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Comments

Submitted by moddsey on Sat, 2010-10-23 08:13.

Nice photos of the family

The bottom left photo of your great uncle Charles matches the Cheung Chau beach photo which you posted some time ago.

It is possible that the photo with Ethel with her brolly was taken at Cheung Chau. It looks like the other side of the headland.

The bottom right pic, if it was Cheung Chau, I am surprised to see beach huts available for swimmers. The only othe photos that I have seen of beach huts (matsheds) in public beaches in the 1920s was Repulse Bay on the southern side of Hong Kong Island.

 

Submitted by annelisec on Sat, 2010-10-23 10:15.

The guy in the right bottom photo looks a lot like the "Chinese" guy in this one:

Identification?

Submitted by anonymous-01 on Sat, 2010-10-23 18:19.

Can't agree there. The guy on the right, as you describe him, is Charles Olson my great uncle. He was never bald or had a goatee beard. If you look at the other posting I made at the same time you will see him appearing in what might be a family group.

 

 

Submitted by anonymous-01 on Sat, 2010-10-23 18:22.

Moddsey you may well be right about the beach hut. I included the picture because it was with the group of pictures where I discovered the one of the island. David postulates that an earlier posting of a bungalow being built might also be on Cheung Chau. Hence my return to the subject.

Submitted by moddsey on Sun, 2010-10-24 07:32.

I compared the beach hut photo that you posted with other beach huts at Repilse Bay and it was not taken at the latter.

1930s European Reservation Area of Cheung Chau with the bunglows on the hills. Looking east towards Hong Kong Island.

1930s Cheung Chau

Submitted by David on Sun, 2010-10-24 13:22.

Quick summary:

  • The two photos on the left both show the same rocks in the background, which locates tham at Afternoon Beach.
  • Top right shows same clothes & parasol as this photo:
    Bungalow by the sea?

    Which in turn shows this building:
    Bungalow by the sea

    Which certainly looks similar to Moddsey's view of the Cheung Chau at that time.
  • Even if the bottom right photo doesn't show the same person that appears in the photo of the Chinese man, there does look to be a similarity. A relative perhaps?

Sean, thanks for posting the latest photos. Trying to link them all together is an interesting challenge.

Regards, David

Submitted by anonymous-01 on Sun, 2010-10-24 19:06.

Thanks David.

For the time being unless somebody come along to dispute it I will assume that you and moddsey have solved the puzzle and that the building of the bungalow was on Cheung Chau and that the beach hut picture is there as well. No doubt about Charles going for a swim there.

As far as the Chinese man is concerned if you look at the posting you will see that he has a goatee as well as bald or shaven head. In another posting called "Family gathering?" he also appears. He is definitely not Charles as he is also too tall apart from the fact that there are no pictures - and I have many  - of Charles with head shaved or beard grown.

I suspect that he was a family relation through my great grandmother Chin Ah Fung.

Thanks again for in all probability putting another piece of the jigsaw together.

Sean

Submitted by moddsey on Sun, 2010-10-31 12:10.

Kwun Yam Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kwun Yam Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The photo of the headland and Caritas Field Centre Buidling above the beach. Perhaps the location of the bungalow by the sea.

Kwun Yam Beach and Headland

 

 

 

 

 

Submitted by anonymous-01 on Sun, 2010-10-31 21:16.

Thanks moddsey.

Whether it's the site of the bungalow or not it is a beautiful place and I'm delighted to see the pictures. Makes a change from murky black and whites nearly 100 years old!

Sean