William ANDERSON [????-????] | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

William ANDERSON [????-????]

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Submitted by jill on Mon, 2018-02-05 03:28
Names
Given: 
William
Family: 
Anderson
Sex: 
Male
Status: 
Deceased
Other
Other reference: 
Musical instruments

I'm interested to find out more about William Anderson who was the Managing Director of Anderson Music Company and who was one of the first residents of Broadwood Road and close neighbour of my grandfather, Charles Warren. The Rate Book of 1918-1919 has William Anderson at "Gilstead", 18 Broadwood Road, which I believe was one of the houses built by my grandfather's company.  (The Jury List recording Anderson at 19 Broadwood Road must be a typo). He moves out to the King Edward Hotel for some reason in 1920, but then moves back again until 1923, when the Jury List puts him at 4 Mountain View, The Peak.  Hugh Anderson (perhaps his son) is briefly listed as "Assistant for C.E. Warren & Co." in 1920.

I don't think that this William Anderson can possibly be either the William J. Anderson or the Bill Anderson who were in Stanley. I think he was probably my grandfather's vintage and perhaps a long term friend. One of the rooms in my grandfather's house at no. 20 was known as "The Organ Room" and apparently had wonderful acoustics. I know that he had a pianola, but I'm not aware that he played an instrument himself. I've seen ads for the Anderson Music Company in the newspapers, but can't make anything come up in a newspaper search, either for "William Anderson" or for "Anderson Music".

Any leads welcome.

Jill

Tags: 
Broadwood Road residents
C.E. Warren
C.E. Warren & Co. Ltd
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Comments

Submitted by David on Mon, 2018-02-05 18:39.

To find mentions of Anderson Music in the newspaper search:

  1. Start at https://mmis.hkpl.gov.hk/web/guest/advanced-search
  2. Edit the first line under Criteria so that it shows:
    1. Any     has all these words:    anderson music
  3. Click "search"
  4. There are lots of results, so on the results page change SORTED BY: to be Publishing year (oldest first) and click GO

That should give several results to investigate. The first couple are dated around Christmas time, with advertorial text about the company. That is only usually done for paying advertisers, so you'll likely find adverts for Anderson Music elsewhere in those issues.

A quick skim, and a mention on page 10, The Hong Kong Telegraph, 1932-05-24, caught my eye. It shows two brothers' names:

The brothers J. E. and Wm. Anderson, representing the Anderson Music Co., who supplied the large collection of musical records for the Fair, have on view ...

Submitted by jill on Tue, 2018-02-06 07:35.

Thanks for these instructions, David. I'll search not so much for the company ads, but for the personal information about William Anderson. I knew I was doing something wrong when the ads didn't come up. 

Jill

Submitted by jill on Thu, 2021-07-29 23:39.

I've been unable to find birth or death dates for William Anderson of The Anderson Music Company. I believe that he was from an established Hong Kong family and that the below record from the Diocesan Boys' School Register posted by annelise is a record of him and two of his brothers. William Anderson disappears from the Jurors Lists after 1935. There is a 1936 record of a John Anderson as "Director" of the Anderson Music Company. The company still existed in 1941 but with an Assistant Manager given on the Jurors List, who was not a member of the family.

1902

Anderson Henry.

1902

Anderson James.

1902

Anderson Wm..