Green Bank [????-1861] | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Green Bank [????-1861]

Current condition: 
Demolished / No longer exists
Date Place demolished: 
1861-01-01

The house and garden were offered for sale to the Hong Kong Government by its owner, Mr. C.J. Braine, as a Governor's residence and botanical garden. This plan is an enlarged print from a Public Record Office, London, microfilm copy of an enclosure in a letter of 26 June, 1850, from C.J. Braine to Earl Grey. Microfilm Ref. CO 129/035p145 PRO Reference Library Acc. No. 4879 (PRO, London Copyright)

Drawings (including elevations) of "Green Bank", residence of C.J. Braine and offered to Government as a possible Government House.

Map CO-129-035p145   

 
Drawings (including elevations) of "Green Bank", residence of C.J. Braine and offered to Government as a possible Government House.        1 Copy         
3            Map MM-0133     
FRONT EVEVATION AND SECOND FLOOR PLAN OF "GREEN-BANK", DWELLING HOUSE, 1850    ,  1850.     1 Copy         
4            Map MM-0134
    REAR ELEVATION AND PRINCIPAL FLOOR PLAN OF "GREEN-BANK", DWELLING HOUSE, 1850    ,  1850.     1 Copy         
5            Map MM-0135     GROUND FLOOR PLAN OF "GREEN-BANK", DWELLING HOUSE, 1850    ,  1850.     1 Copy         
6            Map MM-0136     PLAN OF THE HOUSE AND GARDEN OF GREEN BANK, THE RESIDENCE OF C.J. BRAINE, ESQ., 1850    ,  1850.

Search "Green Bank" at the HK Public Records Office

 

A Journey to the Tea Countries of China
by Robert Fortune

https://books.google.com/books?id=OKsaAAAAYAAJ&dq=hong%20kong%20%22green...

In order to give some idea of a Hong-kong garden I shall attempt to describe Messrs. Dent's, which was then in the possession and under the fostering care of Mr. Braine:— This garden is situated on the sloping sides of a valley near the bottom of one of the numerous ravines which are seen on the sides of the Hong-kong hills. It is near the centre of the new town of Victoria, and is one of its greatest ornaments. On one side nothing is seen but rugged mountains and barren hills, but here the eye rests upon a rich and luxuriant vegetation, the beauty of which is greatly enhanced by the contrast.

Every one interested in Chinese plants has heard of the garden of the late Mr. Beale at Macao, a friend of Mr. Reeves, and like him an ardent botanical collector. Nearly the whole of the English residents left Macao and went to Hong-kong when that island was ceded to England, and all the plants in Mr. Beale's garden which could be moved with safety were brought over in 1845 and planted in the garden at " Green Bank."

On entering the garden at its lower side there is a wide chunamed walk leading in a winding manner up the side of the hill, in the direction of the house. On each side of this walk are arranged the trees and shrubs indigenous to the country, as well as many of the fruits, all of which grow most luxuriantly. Ficus nitida, the Chinese banyan, grows on the right-hand side, and promises soon to form a beautiful tree. This is one of the most valuable trees for ornamental purposes met with in the south of China. It grows rapidly with but little care, its foliage is of a glossy green colour, and it soon affords an agreeable shade from the fierce rays of the sun, which renders it peculiarly valuable in a place like Hong-kong. The India-rubber tree (Ficus elastica) also succeeds well in the same part of the garden, but it grows much slower than the species just noticed. On the other side of the main walk I observed several specimens of the Indian "neem" tree (Melia Azedarach), which grows with great vigour, but is rather liable to have its branches broken by high winds, owing to the brittle nature of the wood. This defect renders it of less value than it otherwise would be, particularly in a place so liable to high winds and typhoons. This same Melia seems to be found all round the world in tropical and temperate latitudes; I believe it exists in South America, and I have seen it in Gibraltar, Malta, Egypt, Aden, Ceylon, the Straits, and in the south and north of China, at least as far north as the 31st degree of north latitude. Amongst other plants worthy of notice in this part of the garden are the Chinese cinnamon, the pretty Aglaia odorata, and Murraya exotica, both of which are very sweet scented and much cultivated by the Chinese. Two specimens of the cocoa-nut palm imported from the Straits are promising well. Other fruits—such as the loquat (Eriobotrya japonica), the Chinese gooseberry (Averrhoa Carambola), the wangpee (Cookia punctata), and the longan and leechee—are all succeeding as well as could be expected, considering the short time they have been planted. The Pinus sinensis, which is met with on the sides of every barren hill, both in the south and north of China, and which is generally badly used by the natives, who lop off its under branches for fuel, is here growing as it ought to do. The Chinese have been prevented, not without some difficulty, from cutting off the under branches, and the tree now shows itself in its natural beauty. It does not seem to grow large, but in a young state, with its fine green foliage reaching to the ground, it is not unhandsome.

 

As the main walk approaches the terrace on which the house stands it turns to the right, between two rows of beautiful yellow bamboos. This species of bamboo is a very striking one, and well worthy of some attention in England; the stems are straight, of a fine yellow colour, and beautifully striped with green, as if done by the hand of a first-rate artist. I sent a plant of it to the Horticultural Society in 1844.

At the bottom of the terrace on which the house stands there is a long narrow bamboo avenue, which is called the " Orchid Walk." This always affords a cool retreat, even at mid-day, as the rays of the sun can only partially reach it, and then they are cooled by the dense foliage. Here are cultivated many of the Chinese orchids and other plants which require shade. Amongst them I observed Phaius grandifolius, Cymbidium sinense and aloifolium, Aerides odoratum, Vanda multiflora and teretifolia, Renanthera coccinea, Fernandezia ensifolia, Arundina sinensis, Habenaria Susannce, a species of Cypripedium, and Spathoglottis Fortuni. There are also some other plants, such as Chirita sinensis, the "man-neenchung" (a dwarf species of Lycopodium, highly prized by the Chinese), and various other things which, taken all together, render this shaded "Orchid Walk " a spot of much interest.

Above the "Orchid Walk" is a green sloping bank, on which are growing some fine specimens of bamboos, Poinciana pulcherrima, myrtles, Gardenias, oleanders (which thrive admirably in China), Croton variegatum and pictum, Magnolia fuscata, Olea fragrans, Dracama ferrea, and Buddha Lindleyana. The latter was brought down from Chusan by me in 1844, and is now common in several gardens on the island, where it thrives well, and is almost always in bloom, although the flower-spikes are not so fine as they are in a colder climate. A large collection of plants in pots are arranged on each side of the broad terrace in front of the mansion. These consist of camellias, azaleas, roses, and such plants as are seen in the Fa-tee gardens at Canton; many of the pots are prettily painted in the Chinese style, and placed upon porcelain stands.

 

Photos that show this place

1845
1850

Comments

In 1861, two of the compradores of Dent and Company, the rival of Jardine's, provided capital for a significant real estate development. The large property where Dent had their stables and residences for their taipans was bought out by Chiu Wing-Cheun and Yeong Lan-Ko, ( both had been compradores with Dent's) with two European partners of the firm, with the intention of building Chinese houses of a better type to accommodate the wives and families of the growing class of well-to-do compradores. Previously, the compradores had not brought their families to Hong Kong. They remained in their home Village or in Canton. --- Chinese Christians - Elites, Middlemen, and the church in Hong Kong by Carl T Smith, page 121