From Hull to Hong Kong: A shaggy dog story

Primary tabs

Submitted by bob on Sat, 2022-04-02 20:46

Found this embossed bottle - Owbridge's Lung Tonic - on the side of a mountain on Hong Kong Island. Having not found this particular type of medicine bottle before, I took it home and went online to find out who Mr Owbridge was. I had no idea how serendipitous this chance discovery would turn out to be.

Mr Owbridge owned a apothecary at 76 Porter Street, Hull. In 1874 he concocted a cough mixture that had a closely guarded ingredient. Apparently, it was extremely popular with the fishermen of Hull. As a Hullenian and of fishermen stock, it took me back to a moment in time.

I left Hull as a 9 year old and came to the tropical paradise known as Hong Kong, never to return (any place other than Hull would have been a paradise in my eyes!)

I only met my paternal grandfather once and knew little about him except that he was a Hull fisherman by trade and divorced from my grandmother. I loved my grandmother dearly. Before leaving England, I would regularly visit her, rubbing her feet as she relaxed on her couch. During these times she would share snippets of her hard life (she was married three times, all of them seamen!) and she would never have anything nice to say about my grandfather. I recall her telling me once that when he went out fishing, he would be gone for weeks which was odd as he had only gone as far as Grimsby! As an adult, looking back, I suspect my suspicious grandmother thought he was doing something more than just fishing!

Back to Mr Owbridge and my research into his lung tonic, I now have an alternative theory to my grandfather’s long absences. The ‘secret’ ingredient of Owbridge’s Lung Tonic which ‘sold well to fishermen’ was OPIUM! No wonder he was away for so long, he was probably off his head trying to navigate his way back to port.

I wish my grandmother was still alive so I could give her an alternative reason for his long absence.