House at 39 Stubbs Road - possibly called "Flowerburn" [c.1932-????] | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

House at 39 Stubbs Road - possibly called "Flowerburn" [c.1932-????]

Current condition: 
Demolished / No longer exists
Date Place completed: 
c.1932-01-01 (Year is approximate)

From at least 1932 to 1941, there was 1 or more houses on the uphill side of Stubbs Road at #39, an address which no longer exists.

It was a fairly grand house with a terraced garden with harbor view that could accommodate tennis games, two living rooms, and a separate servants' block that housed at least a dozen staff. The family of Han Liang Huang of Shanghai rented the house from a Jewish owner from approximately 1938 or 1939 to 1941. Juror records show 39 Stubbs Road as the address for Albert Raymond from 1936 to 1939 (he was a director of ED Sassoon who was eventually interred with his wife in the Jewish Cemetery), and prior to that, the address for 3 brothers surnamed Edgar from Bahrain. In 1932, 39 Stubbs Road was also referred to as "Flowerburn". 

Since the current Adventist Hospital is #40, and all buildings to the west of it (on the site of the former very large St. Albert's Priory, 1935-1962) are #41 and #41A-D, the marker has been PROVISIONALLY placed to the east where one would expect #39, but in fact Stubbs Road now ends there and becomes Wong Nai Chung Gap Road. The marker has therefore been placed in front of Woodland Heights, 2 Wong Nai Chung Gap Road (3 towers: #2AB, #2CD and #2EF), as a reasonable guess, but the actual location might have been different.

In this photo of the Happy Valley Racecourse from 1947: https://gwulo.com/atom/20984, St. Albert's Priory is clearly visible on the hillside. Slightly below and to the left are 2 or more structures, which could be candidates for #39.

Other racecourse photos show the Priory, but not other structures qualified to be #39.

It would be interesting to see photos of or know more about this or similar houses, even if not as grand as the surviving King Yin Lei on the downhill side of Stubbs Road at #45!

Photos that show this place

1935
1937

Comments

Photo showing similar view taken 1937

 Royal Ulster Regiment at Racecourse
Royal Ulster Regiment at Racecourse, by Herostratus

1937:

 

I can confirm that the house was either owned or rented by the Edgar family for a time. Flora Edgar and her three sons (Aubrey, Joseph and Sidney) arrived in HK in 1911 from Bahrain. She was part of the Ellis family who were long established in HK. The Ellis family tree is posted on the website of the Jewish Historical Society of Hong Kong at:

https://jhshkdotorg.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/ellis-family-tree3.jpg

Flora and Aubrey are buried in the Jewish cemetery in Happy Valley, as are Albert and Richie Raymond.

Many thanks! Good to have confirmation that family hearsay matters, to have a few more details, and to learn about the Historical Society.