Kowloon Hotel (1st generation) - Garden Lot 55 - Robinson (later Nathan) Road [1888-1900] | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Kowloon Hotel (1st generation) - Garden Lot 55 - Robinson (later Nathan) Road [1888-1900]

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Submitted by annelisec on Tue, 2010-10-12 20:05
Current condition: 
Demolished / No longer exists
Date Place completed: 
1888-12-01
Date Place demolished: 
1900-01-01

Current marker location is not accurate - who can tell us where this lot was?  And how was he able to build a hotel on a Garden Lot ?

Tags: 
hotel
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Photos that show this place

1888

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Submitted by David on Wed, 2010-10-13 18:19.

An 1887 map of Kowloon (Plate 4-2, Mapping Hong Kong) shows Robinson Road (toda's Nathan Road) ran from it's junction with Middle Road on the sea shore, north as far as the junction with Austin Road. So, somewhere along there.

The map shows lot numbers, but unfortunately not clearly enough to make out any "GL 55".

Submitted by David on Thu, 2013-10-17 17:50.

An entry in the Government Gazette confirms this was a different site from the second-generation Kowloon Hotel on Elgin (later Haiphong) Road:

Special Sessions of Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace will be held in the Justices' Room, at the Magistracy, on Tuesday, the 19th day of December, A.D. 1893, at Eleven o'clock in the forenoon, for the purpose of considering an application from one L.M.Lobo for the transfer of the Publican's licence now held by him for the sale of intoxicating liquors in the premises known as the "Kowloon Hotel" situate in Robinson Road, Tsim-tsa-tsui, to the premises known as the "Kowloon Club" situated in Elgin Road, Inland Lots Numbers 409, 410 and 411, Tsim-tsa-tsui.

H. E. Woodhouse,

Police Magistrate.

Magistracy, Hong Kong, 8 December, 1893.

Submitted by Admin on Thu, 2013-10-17 17:52.

A couple of mentions of this 1st generation of this hotel from the newspapers. The first is another one from 1888 - though it may just have been a matshed at that time!

[A report on the Licensing Meeting notes a licence was given to J. O. Rouch for the Kowloon Hotel, and continues...]

Mr Wodehouse said with reference to the Kowloon Hotel that the license was granted for it the other day, when some question arose about the place being merely a matshed. The matter was fully gone into, and the Justices present thought there would be no difficulty about that, and the license was granted.

The China Mail, 1888-11-13, page 3

It kept going though:

A Boxing Tournament will be held to-morrow (Saturday) evening, at the Kowloon Hotel, to commence at 9pm.

The Hong Kong Telegraph, 1893-03-1, page 2

Submitted by David on Thu, 2013-10-17 17:58.

Demolition date is a guess, to note it has gone. If we can track down the location, we'll have a better chance to fix the demolition date.

Submitted by Klaus on Mon, 2020-04-13 21:59.

When looking on e.e the 1888 map on hkmaps.hk,  the area between (todays) Nathan, Haiphong, Canton, and Middle Roads was labeled "Gardens". 

This garden (probably not in the sense we would define a garden tody) existed for quite some time. In 1874, the government started land sales of garden lots for the term of 14 years with the possibility of extension for another 14 years unless the government needed the land for their purpose. 

Auctions started in 1874, and in 1875 the Hongkong Government Gazette issued the following notification:

Particulars and Conditions of the letting by Public Auction Sale, to be held on the 27th day of September, 1875, by Order of His Excellency the Administrator of Seven Lots of Crown Land in the Dependency of Kowloon for a Term of Fourteen Years.

Among others there was lot no. 55 at Tsim Sha Tsui with an area of 107,070 square foot.

Unfortunately, that doesn't give an exact location, but it is certainly in the area described above. Support comes from the fact that on the 1896 map two lots (3 and 5) near the junction of Haiphong and Hankow Roads probably kept their number when the lots were converted; the adjacent ones have numbers in the 400s.

Submitted by moddsey on Tue, 2020-04-14 11:32.

If it helps, I made a note of the location of Garden Lot No. 55. The lot is very substantial and commenced from the northern junction of Robinson (Nathan) Road and Carnarvon Road and extended eastwards to Cameron Road. The lot number later changed to Inland Lot No. 412.

As mentioned here , in 1889 the Kowloon Hotel was located on Robinson Road. Perhaps at the junction with Carnarvon Road but there appears to be a lack of houses on maps

Submitted by Klaus on Tue, 2020-04-14 18:08.

Hi moddsey, where did you find out when and how garden lots were converted into inland lots? I tried to find this in the government reports, but I wasn't successful. The size of K.I.L. 412 does fit with the size given in the auction for garden lot no. 55: a rough estimation from the map gives 110.000 sq.ft., this is close to the 107.000 sq.ft. given.

I'm wondering that the area east of Robinson (Nathan) Road also had garden lots. Obviously, the government quickly decided to convert the lot type as probably a 14 years lease term was too short. Regards, Klaus 

Submitted by moddsey on Tue, 2020-04-14 18:01.

It was from a rough sketch map of TST from the 1880s which I had seen but I do not have the original source. Except for the marine lots facing the harbour, the entire area east and west of Robinson Road were listed as garden lots. I guess Garden Road (later Hankow Road) derived its name from the numerous garden lots bordering it.