Lower Castle Terrace (??) [????- ] | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Lower Castle Terrace (??) [????- ]

Primary tabs

Submitted by Special Autonomous on Thu, 2015-06-04 09:45
Current condition: 
Unknown

Guessing this was roughly the site of Lower Castle Terrace, assuming that it's somewhere near "The Castle" as previously mentioned on this forum.

Mariano Ponce, one of the main figures of the Philippines independence movement, lived at 2 Lower Castle Terrace around the turn of the century. The famous painter Juan Luna died at the address in 1899. A couple of other Filipino medical men were based there too, presumably as guests of Ponce.

A document from the 1930s lists a "Castle Terrace" on Caine Road, which may or may not be connected. Unfortunately the 1889 and 1901 maps do not seem to list the terrace, although some of the smaller streets are hard to decipher even on the copies in the Central Library's Map Room.

Taking other info from this forum on board, there was a good deal of redevelopment in that area around the time (e.g. Woodland Terrace), but it's unclear when Lower Castle Terrace ceased to be, or if it was simply renamed. Also, was the "terrace" a small road or just the name of a house? Would greatly appreciate any additional info on the location.

  • Log in or register to post comments

Photos that show this place

1908
1925

Comments

Submitted by David on Thu, 2015-06-04 17:47.

It seems likely it was around here. There's still a Castle Lane and a Castle Villa in this area, though I can't find any map showing exactly where it was.

The addresses I've seen are 2 / 4 / 8 Castle terrace, so I'd guess it was a terrace of connected houses.

Here's a view of the area:

1920s Caine Road
1920s Caine Road, by eternal1966e

 

Submitted by Special Autonomous on Thu, 2015-06-04 20:23.

Many thanks David. Great photo!

Submitted by annelisec on Sat, 2016-05-28 15:22.

IL 503 was owned by the (Spanish) Dominican Procuration, which was the business arm of the Dominican Mission.  As such, it owned many properties, and held mortgages on others. Sec A of IL 503 was sold by the Procuration to Miguel Angelo Antonio de Souza in Oct 1898.

Submitted by Special Autonomous on Sat, 2016-05-28 15:24.

Hi anneLisec,

Many thanks for the info - that's really interesting and quite unexpected. Could you tell me what IL 503 and Sec A mean? Also, is anything known about Miguel Angelo Antonio de Souza?

Thanks again!

Submitted by Herostratus on Wed, 2016-06-01 09:26.

IL 503 stands for Inland lot 503: it was how the government categorized the different parcels of land it sold off around Hong Kong. There are other abbreviations eg ML is Marine lot

Section A is when the lot was further sub divided into different parcels of land

  

Submitted by annelisec on Tue, 2016-05-31 22:45.
De Souza is on the jury lists. Terrace meant taking a hillside, creating level ground and putting a row of houses on it, usually with a common wall between the houses.