Good stonemason to repair Hong Kong gravestone

Submitted by Susann on Tue, 03/01/2016 - 04:49
When I visited Hong Kong at the end of 2014 and, with the help of Patricia Lim’s book „Forgotten Souls“, finally found the grave of my Great-Grandfather Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Petersen on Hong Kong Cemetery, the headstone had fallen down so that the inscription was no longer legible. At the beginning of last year my application to restore the grave was acknowledged. Unfortunately, the person I first commissioned has had staff problems and up to now I have not made any progress, the grave is still a mess. 
 
Unfortunately, the responsible department of Hong Kong administration cannot help me with a recommendation or suggest which contractor might speak English. This makes it almost impossible for me to find a mason out of the long list of registered masons (http://www.fehd.gov.hk/english/cc/lmp.pdf).  
 
I would like to ask if anybody could help me with finding two or three masons (which I could contact in English) and ask for a quote for the work to be done (lifting and fixing and, if necessary, cleaning of the headstone). As the list of masons does not include e-mail addresses but only telephone-numbers it may be necessary to make some phone calls. But perhaps someone has already made good experiences with a mason and can recommend one? 
 
Every help or suggestion would be very much appreciated.
 
Greetings from Germany and kind regards,
Susann

Hi Susann,

This is a slow solution, but I did a google search for the company name + "Hong Kong contact", thinking if there's a match then they should have an english-speaking contact. I started at the bottom of the list working up, and here's the first one that looks hopeful:

https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=…

Which led to:

https://plus.google.com/102031184017796004000/about

So if you don't get any recommendations you could check the other names in the list with this same approach.

Regards, David

The Colonial cemetary Office/Hong Kong Cemetary Office has a list of authorized masons. The clerk will happily point out the english speaking ones. If you still have a problem, please let me know and I shall put you in touch with the mason who did my grandparent's headstone.

take care

dennis

chinagate,

Thank you for your reply. I would be very happy if you could put me in touch with the mason who did your grandparent's headstone, it will make it much easier for me to get in contact.

Kind regards,

Susann

Hello

We got a lisat a names from the cemetary Office and then called around. The one we settlede on is:

The Stonemason's name is Anson

To Wing Stonemason
240M, Lin Shing Road, Chai Wan, Hong Kong
t. 25565983
m. 54483018
sixfeetunderhk@gmail.com
 
He did a very nice job for us. My brother Calvin Quong, dealt with him. If you need anything please do not hesitate to contact me.
take care
dennis

Hello Dennis,

Thank you very much for your mail and the information about To Wing Stonemason. I will contact them and ask for a quote.

Again many thanks for your help!

Kind regards,

Susann

Hello Dennis,
I am delighted to let you know that the restoration of my Great-Grandfather’s grave has been finalized some days ago. Anson from To Wing Stonemason has done a wonderful job. The headstone has been lifted, fixed and cleaned and the inscription is clearly legible again. While still preserving its patina, the 120 year old grave - my Great-Grandfather died in April 1896 - now is well prepared for the years to come. I am most grateful to you for your help, thank you again for sharing your experience with me.

Kind regards,

Susann

Hello Susann

so happy this all worked out for you. Anson has done more repair work for us. He has repaired our Paternal Grandfathers grave, this past year. He does nice work.

If you are ever in HK please drop me a note.

take care

dennis

Hi Susann,

I'm very glad to hear this has turned out well at last. I'll update the page's title from

Looking for help

to

Good stonemason to repair Hong Kong gravestone

so if anyone else is looking for a similar solution they can find this page.

Regards, David

Hello Phoenix;  Would really like to make contact regarding the cleaning, restoration and preservation of many of our Macanese ancestors who are buried in predominantly the Catholic cemeteries in HK.  Most of us that are working on preserving the history of our ancestors, live all over the world.  I am in California, USA.  We are unable to physically care for our family graves and are have a difficutl time finding people to clean and repair if necessary and do it on a regular basis.  Not only finding  people that are doing this work but estimates on costs which we need to know in order to organize and seek funding from descendants.  

Would love to hear from you.  And thank you to all who are working to preserve and conserve a big part of our history and legacy.

Best Regards,

Francesca 

floftis@gmail.com