New on Gwulo: 2019, week 34

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Submitted by David on Wed, 2019-08-21 13:00

A look at what's been added / updated at Gwulo.com over the summer. Please click on the photos or the blue links for more information - and please leave a comment if you can add any new details.

General

Congratulations to Philip Cracknell on the publication of his book, Battle for Hong Kong December 1941.
Can you help add new wartime diaries to the Gwulo website?
- The wartime diaries kept by George Gerrard and William Carrie in Hong Kong in WW2 have been typed up, and now need to be posted online at Gwulo. If you can help, please send me an email (david@gwulo.com). I'll reply with instructions and the text of ten days' diary entries - it should take around 30-60 minutes of your time to post them online.
The 100th anniversary of the celebrations of the end of the First World War was in the middle of July. Patricia has written about those 1919 celebrations, and Moddsey has added photos, eg:
- 1919 Peace Celebrations - Motor Car Procession, by Moddsey
Andrew asks an interesting question about the damage to the bronze lions outside HSBC's headquarters building in Hong Kong. It is usually described as shrapnel damage received during the fighting in WW2, but it is on the inside / protected side of the lions, so is that really the explanation?
If anyone is an expert on research sea voyages, Jill asks for help identifying several sea trips her ancestors made from the 1890s til the 1920s.
Stephen is looking for photos of Hong Kong's harbour taken between c.30 Aug 1945 and 14 Mar 1946. He has a hunch they may show a flag flying from the mast of the wreck of HMS Tamar (though the ship was sunk and resting on the seabed, its masts still stood up above sea level).

Places

Was this Hong Kong's first roundabout?
Herostratus has annotated this 1857 painting, giving a useful reference of Hong Kong buildings at the time.
- View over Central by Marciano A. Baptista, by Herostratus
Block 33, "Milton Block" Lei Yue Mun Barracks [1938- ]
Brick Works, Deep Water Bay [c.1895-c.1927] - I've given estimated dates for when it was built and demolished, but corrections and extra information are very welcome.
Cheong Hing Store [????-????] on Nathan Road
Gas Works, Shek Tong Tsui [1864-c.1960]
Holiday Inn Kowloon [1967- ]
Kingsclere Hotel, Kowloon [????-????], opened on Carnarvon Road in the 1920s, replacing the previous Kingsclere Hotel that was on Kennedy Road on the island.
Pillbox 418a/b, Sheung Kwai Chung [1937- ]
Police Station at Quarry Bay [1891-c.1960]
Royal Interocean Lines' Interocean House, North Point [1957-????], and Interocean Court [c.1950-c.2001]
Tea Garden and restaurant, Lantau [????-c.1984]
The Metropole Hotel / Belle View Hotel / North Point Hotel, North Point [1898-????]
Yau Ma Tei Government School [1905-c.1974]
Origin of the Peak buildings' names Dunnottar and Abergeldie
Newly added streets:
- Fenwick Street [c.1928- ]
- Gascoigne Road [1904- ]
- Jordan Road [c.1895- ]
- Mody Road [c.1887- ]
- Peking Road (was Chater Road / Street) [c.1890- ]
- And a useful Gazette entry from 1909. It lists streets that had had duplicate names, and the new names they were given.
Thanks to Klaus for OCR'ing and uploading the text of the Public Works Department Annual Reports for 1890 and 1891. They are great sources of information about buildings, roads, and other construction projects in Hong Kong.

People

Alexandra PIO-ULSKI (aka Lindy PARKS) [1939- ]
Looking for photos of "Revd Edgar Dewstoe (1873-1951) who laid the foundation stone at the building of the [Wanchai Chinese Methodist] church in 1936".
Edgar Martin LAUFER [1915-2010] arrived in Hong Kong as a Jewish refugee in the 1930s, and ended up working at China Light & Power for over 40 years.
Ethel OLSON [c.1899-????], originally from Wales, lived in Hong Kong in the 1920s, naturalised in the USA in 1943.
Florence Osborne HERON (née LAMBERT) [????-1924]
Gerald George WOOD [1881-1958], worked for Leigh & Orange, HKVDC & POW in WW2
Herbert Howell BEDDOW [1898-1941], school teacher, killed in the fighting in Dec 1941.
Hugh GOLDIE [c.1912-1969], policeman interned in Stanley in WW2
Kathryn M DORRER, an American who chose to stay in Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation to be with her Swiss fiancee, Emile Ott.
Laurence KILBEE [1914-????] "was in the HKRNVR and was in command of motor torpedo boat 8 during the war. he was a POW at Argyle St camp."
Mordaunt Francis Bannerman [1907-1973], ", head of car manufacturer Rootes Group in Hong Kong in the late 1960s."
Japanese War Criminals:
- Isao / Esao TOKUNAGA (aka Fat Pig) [????-????]
- Shunkishi SAITO / SATO [????- ]
Can you recognise any of these Stanley Internees, photographed shortly after liberation:
- newspaper buyers 1945, by Imperial War Museum
- Internees at Stanley after liberation, by Imperial War Museum
1st Royal Tank Regiment, in Hong Kong in the late 1950s
Tips on accessing Hong Kong wills from the 19th century
More information about the Netherlands Harbour Works, Ltd [c.1924-1957]