Duro Paint Factory (2nd location, North Point) [????- ]
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The factory moved here from it's previous location in Quarry Bay.
It is mentioned in several wartime histories of Hong Kong, as after the civilians in the Repulse Bay Hotel were captured by the Japanese, they were marched across the island, ending up at this factory where they spent the night. The next day (Christmas Day, 1941) they were moved to the Kowloon Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Thanks to Brian Edgar for letting us know that Gwen Dew's 'Prisoner of the Japs' is now available to read online. It includes her experiences at the Repulse Bay Hotel, Duro Paint Factory, and Kowloon Hotel first hand. The first mention of the Duro Paint factory ('a near-by looted paint factory') is on page 117.
The North Point location is given on page 112 of the book "Building Bridges", by Vivienne Poy:
The perennial problem facing building developers in Hong Kong
was the lack of flat land. It was the same with the Lee family. If we
wanted to erect more buildings, we had to level the Lee Gardens hill
and obtain dumping rights from the government. Before the Second
World War, a small part of the Lee Gardens hill had been levelled and
the soil moved to North Point for landfill. We then purchased that
piece of land from the government and built two factories, a nail fac-
tory and a paint factory called Duro Paint. The nail factory was
subsequently sold to another Chinese manufacturer. Duro Paint was
sold to Swire in 1948, and Duro Paint Holding Co. was formed.
The Lee Hysan Estate Company was given shares in lieu of payment,
resulting in the family being one of the largest shareholders of Swire.
I've made a guess at the location on the map above, but please leave a comment below if you can locate it more accurately.
Regards, David
Photos that show this place
 1941 |
Comments
Photo of Duro Paint @ North Point
Thanks again to Tony, who sent the link to this photo:
The Duro Paint building on the left matches Gwen Dew's description:
Just as dusk was dropping, we were marched to a near-by
looted paint factory. The stairs were so covered with debris
they had to be shoveled out before we could ascend. The Chi-
nese men were ordered to file into the rooms on the second
floor. The rest of us were sent to the third and fourth floors,
so many into one room, so many into the next men, women,
and children dumped in unceremoniously.