View from The Peak, Hong Kong

Both the above and below photos are from Andrew Robert Kinross's album.

View from The Peak, Hong Kong, by nnStel

I've put them together as they overlap. They were both taken from Mount Kellett, probably Mount Kellett Road, although not from exactly the same place. Whereas the top one has the triangular shaped peak of Mount Gough in the centre, it's on the left of the bottom photo. The bottom photo gives a good view of La Hacienda (Generation1, www.gwulo.com/node/4965). A similar view to the top photo is at www.gwulo.com/atom/19380 , and identifies many of the buildings. 

Now to estimate when the two photos were taken. In the top photo, three buildings can be seen on the horizontal ridgeline immediately below and to the right of the Mount Gough Peak. They're also in the bottom pic.From left to right they are Cheltondale (www.gwulo.com/node/5347 ), Slemish (www.gwulo.com/node/5348 ) and Mount Gough Police Station (now Peak Police Station, www.gwulo.com/node/4889 ). The Police Station was built way back in 1869 so doesn't help. I haven't been able to establish the exact years of construction of Cheltondale or Slemish, but as far as I know they are the most recently built of the buildings seen in these photos. The earliest mention of either that I can find is the 1903 Jurors List entry for Cheltondale. The pics could therefore have been taken as early as 1903 or earlier.

The only photo in this gallery that has a firm date so far is the "Opening of the Kowloon Bowling Green", dated to December 1905. That photo and this one might come from different rolls of film, so the date of the Bowling Green photo isn't a great help, but at least it confirms that early 1900s is a possible date for this photo.

My wonderful old home, 86 Peak Road (Cheltondale) above Stewart Terrace that I miss so much!

By focusing on the buildings that can be seen, and those that have yet to appear, on Mount Gough (the triangular peak in the middle of the top photo) the year the photo was taken can be dated more accurately.

Follow the ridge line from Mount Gough peak down to the left. The first house you come to is "Brockhurst" (https://gwulo.com/node/4903) which was built in the 1880's so doesn't help date the photo. However, immediately below it is "Kirkendoa" (https://gwulo.com/node/5184 which the PRO tells us was constructed in 1897/8, which gives us the earliest date the photo could have been taken.

Two neighbouring buildings were built shortly afterwards, namely "Red Hill" (https://gwulo.com/node/5185) and "Bicton/Burrington" (one building, https://gwulo.com/node/5775). I don't have their exact construction dates, but "Red Hill" is mentioned in both the Peak Directory and Jury List of 1898, and "Bicton/Burrington" is mentioned in both the 1899 Peak Directory and Ladies Directory, so they must have been completed by 1898 and 1899 respectively. As neither appears in the photo, it must have been taken before "Red Hill" was completed in 1898.

In conclusion, as "Kirkendoa" was constructed in 1897/8 and is seen in the photo, but "Red Hill" and "Bicton/Burrington" were completed by 1898 and 1899 respectively but are not seen, the photo must have been taken in 1897 or 1898 between when "Kirkendoa" was complete or nearly complete and construction of "Red Hill" had not started or was at such an early stage that it can't be seen.   

Thanks GW, I've added your date to the photo.