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Here you'll find over 50,000 pages about old Hong Kong to explore, including over 30,000 photos. The content is added by a friendly community of people who enjoy sharing what we know about Hong Kong's history, and you are very welcome to join us.

Kind regards, David

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Swire's Archives

Submitted by David on Wed, 07/21/2010 - 12:13

A few resources if you're looking for information about relatives who worked in one of the Swire companies (Taikoo, Butterfield & Swire, etc):

Pre-WW2

Rob Jennings, Manager of Archives and Public Affairs at John Swire & Sons Ltd. may be able to help. Here's an example he told recently on the Swire Mariners Association Visitors Book:

JJ Cowperthwaite and the Hong Kong Economic Miracle

Submitted by Andrew Craig-Bennett on Mon, 07/19/2010 - 15:10

With the border closed and the entrepot trade dying, the question was asked - what was Hong Kong to do to feed and house all its refugees?

The British Government's solution was to consider handing Hong Kong back to China, just at the moment when Uncle Sam had stopped telling them to do that.

There was another idea, though.

Time to introduce a hero of the Right throughout the world, the architect of the Hong Kong Economic Miracle, Sir John James Cowperthwaite: