A "family map"? | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

A "family map"?

David

It’s a long shot, but I’m wondering whether, with your magic mapping, it would be possible to compose a “family map” pinpointing on one map the addresses where the various members of my family lived, within a period of 5 years.

I’m thinking of my grandmother, Hannah Warren, her stepmother, Ellen Olson and her half-brother and sister, John Olson and Elizabeth Warnes. Before the Warrens and  Olsons moved to Broadwood Road, there was a period in which they seemed to be constantly moving.  I’ve already asked about Observatory Villas, Kowloon, where my uncle Arthur Warren was born in 1906 and 4 Fairview, Kowloon, where my father, Reggie Warren was born in 1909. It would be interesting to plot the distances between their addresses and those at which the other close members of the family were living. So Hannah’s half-sister, Elizabeth Warnes was apparently living at 6 Ashley Road, Kowloon in 1907, but moved to 43 Wong Nei-Chong Road in 1908. Their brother, John Olson was apparently living at 22 Morrison Hill Road in 1908, but moved to 8 Humphreys Terrace, Kowloon in 1909. The senior Olsons, John and Ellen, whose address was given as 33 Caine Road in 1904, seem to have stayed in Victoria, but moved to 52 Caine Road in 1908 with their youngest daughter, Nellie. So the addresses in question are 33 and 52 Caine Road, 2 Observatory Villas, 22 Morrison Hill Road, 6 Ashley Road, 43 Wong Nei-Chong Road and 8 Humphreys Terrace for the period 1904-1909. I expect I shall have to query them separately, will I?

Jill

Forum: 

Hi Jill,

Have a look at these maps of:

If they look like what you're thinking of, let me know and I'll write out the steps for how to make them.

Regards, David

Yes indeed! If I could also create markers in different colours, I could map the addresses where my family lived on either side of the 5-year period that I chose and even distinguish between the two sides of the family, perhaps. Likewise I could distinguish office addresses (perhaps in black) from residential addresses. Whether my technical ability is up to this is another matter. How many colours are available?

Is it possible to include a scale in yards or miles? This sounds quite exciting if I can get it right.

Best wishes,

Jill

The maps don't support custom colours for markers, so they'll be the standard colours depending on the current condition of the Place.

I've added a scale to the map, try the links above again (it's a metric scale).

Here are the steps to follow, with an example given:

1. What's the map going to show? Police Stations in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the new Territories.
2. Choose a tag that describes the common feature that links all the Places on the map. The shorter the better. Police Stations
3. Make a list of all the Places that you want to add to the map. No. 8 Police Station, No. 9 Police Station, etc
4. Then for each Place, do we already have a Place page for it?  
4.1 Yes. Leave a comment on that page, asking to add your tag to it.  
4.2 No. Create a Place page (http://gwulo.com/node/add/place), and remember to add your tag to it.  
5 Go to the page for one of your places eg http://gwulo.com/node/9098
6 Click on your tag http://gwulo.com/taxonomy/term/510
7 Click on the "Places (map)" at the top of the page. http://gwulo.com/taxonomy/term/510/places-map

And there's your map!

Regards, David

Thank you for setting out the steps for map-making so clearly, David.  I hope to sit down to it at the week-end. Will it be possible to add new addresses, if necessary, to a multiple-place map once it has been saved?

Best regards

Jill

 

 

"Will it be possible to add new addresses, if necessary, to a multiple-place map once it has been saved?"

Absolutely. Whenever you click the link you've saved in step 7, we build you a fresh copy of the map showing all the Places that have your tag. So it is always up to date.

Regards, David