New on Gwulo: 2021, week 46
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A look at what's new on the Gwulo website...
General
- Klaus has documented the Prince of Wales' visit to Hong Kong 6 to 8 April 1922 with notes and photos.
- The previous post is an example of an Event page on Gwulo, used to gather information and photos connected with an event in Hong Kong's past. Here's a list of the Events that have been created so far, and the link if you'd like to create a new Event.
- The answers to last week's question, Was there ever a Tiger Balm factory in Hong Kong?, say there wasn't - the illustration titled 'Hong Kong' instead shows their Guangzhou factory building.
- The 1937 Jurors List is now online and available for use as a reference. The oldest of the lists we have online is from 1854, with just 119 jurors. The 1937 list has over 2,600!
- As the lists get longer, we need more help to type them up, and so make searchable copies of the jurors lists available to all. If you can help type up a page of the 1938 list, please click here for details.
During the week I called in to Wattis Fine Art to see their current exhibition. On the left as you walk in to their gallery, there's a 1946 poster of the Tiger Balm Gardens.
Two Chinese-style bridges at centre-left caught my eye:
They're outside the gardens, so my first reaction is that the bridges came from the artist's imagination, adding a bit of interest to an otherwise dull section of the poster. But recent conversations about the three pavilions on the hillside above the gardens reached the conclusion they were built as an extension to the gardens, even though they're outside the gardens' land. So, did these bridges actually exist too?
Another recent topic on Gwulo popped up at the end of the exhibition, in this map of the New Territories drawn by R C Hurley in 1925:
Here's a closer look at the area I was interested in. The Kowloon reservoirs are at bottom right, above them is the text 'TUNNELS', and a dashed line to the left shows the tunnels' route.
On a hike last year I passed this channel, with water flowing out from a large pipe and into a nearby tunnel:
Further investigation showed it was the entrance to the North Tunnel, part of the project to bring water from the Shing Mun Valley to the Kowloon reservoirs, and one of the tunnels shown on Hurley's map. It might seem an odd item to get such a prominent mention, but the tunnels were being built as the map was drawn (the North Tunnel was completed in 1926), and Hong Kong's frequent water shortages meant the project was big news.
Those are just two items from either end of the exhibition. In the middle there's lots more to see, with a selection of rare prints and photos of old Hong Kong to enjoy. If you'd like to visit, don't wait too long as the exhibition closes on December 3rd: exhibition highlights, address, and opening hours.
Places
- Kowloon
- Fairview, TST [c.1896-c.1928]
- Former Hung Hom Ferry Pier for Hung Hom / Central service [1965-????]
- KCR turntable (south) [c.1969-c.1993]
- Fairview, TST [c.1896-c.1928]
- Hong Kong
People
- Stanley Camp internees
- George Leslie ANDREW [1912-2000], banker
- Kenneth Farmer BODIE (aka Ken) [1916-1969], policeman
- Grace Rose / Grace Rosa SMITH (née BELCHER) [1863-1944]
- George Flight WATT [1917-2009], policeman
- George Leslie ANDREW [1912-2000], banker
- Other
- Thomas Naughton MACREYNOLDS [1883-1954], working for Asiatic Petroleum Co. Ltd.
- SOARES (aka Ginger) [????-????], lawyer
- Hannah Mabel WARREN (née OLSON) [1880-1966]
- Thomas Naughton MACREYNOLDS [1883-1954], working for Asiatic Petroleum Co. Ltd.
- If you went to the Peak School in the 1950s, how many of the girls in this birthday party photo do you recognise?
Photos
A couple of mystery photos to start with. If you recognise their location, please click on the photo to visit their page and leave a comment there to let us know.
Click to see all recently added photos.
