Cotton Mills of the Hongkong Cotton-Spinning, Weaving, and Dyeing Company, Ltd. [1898-1914] | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Cotton Mills of the Hongkong Cotton-Spinning, Weaving, and Dyeing Company, Ltd. [1898-1914]

Current condition: 
Demolished / No longer exists
Date Place completed: 
1898-12-31
Date Place demolished: 
1914-05-20

Completion date of 1898 from the Public Works Department's Annual Report for that year:

http://gwulo.com/node/7100

Demolition date of 1914 from a notice on 20th May 1914 in the Government Gazette that the company was entering liquidation.

Photos that show this place

Comments

The location is St.Paul Convent Scjool & St. Paul's Hospital

Location given is correct. Thus the lane Cotton Path.

Hi there,

I believe the former cotton mills took up the whole block back then, which included the present day residential blocks along Haven Street and Caroline Hill Road.

Best Regards,

T

Thanks for the extra information, I've set the marker to the right location. Good to see that the dates match up with the dates for the next occupants of the site.

Regards, David

I think it is generally agreed that the name of Cotton Path was derived from the Cotton Mill. Recently a friend told me that the government did a cotton planting experiment there from 1904 to 1906, and she believes that it was the origin of the name of the path. 

Just gone through the HKU gro and found information aout the "cotton planting," but it didn't mention where the cotton had been planted. (And it was a failed experiement too.)

Does anyone has an idea for it?

It looks as though the name "Cotton Path" was introduced in 1931, see notice 436 in the Government Gazette for July 10, 1931:

http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkgro/view/g1931/619131.pdf

It seems more likely the name would refer to the Cotton Mills, a large local landmark, than to a cotton planting experiment that happened 20+ years earlier.

I'm happy to be proved wrong though - can your friend tell us more about why she thinks it is named after the cotton planting?

Regards, David

 

In August 1897, considerable excitement in business circles was caused by the announcement that a cotton mill was to be established in Hongkong. In the weekly Share List Mr. Erich Georg wrote: " A local company has been formed for the erection of a Cotton Spinning Factory in this Colony, under the auspices of Messrs. Jardine Matheson and Co as general managers. The shares have all been underwritten, but I hear that a portion is likely to be offered to the general public. The site of the factory will be at East Point near the Sugar Refinery, where a sufficient water supply is obtainable

 

The Cotton Spinning Factory at East Point was opened in 1899 and was operated until late in 1910 or early in 1911 when it was closed down. As a business proposition it was a failure, the lack of skilled labour proving the greatest obstacle to its successful operation. The building was subsequently purchased by the French Sisters and the French Sisters Hospital now stands on the site of the old mill. The machinery was sold to Ewes and shipped to Shanghai in 1913.

Source: Old Hong Kong by Colonial Vol 1