191 The Peak, "Erewhon" [????-????]

Submitted by David on Tue, 11/09/2010 - 18:53
Current condition
Demolished / No longer exists

The name is hard to read, so please correct me if I've got it wrong. It appears on a map dated 1938.

Later place(s) at this location
Mountain Lodge - 44 Mt Kellet Road - RBL 199 [1972- ]

Photos that show this Place

1930s Buildings on the Peak
1929
1935
Ho Tung Garden
1948
See more photos of this place

Comments

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Submitted by
Michael Judd (not verified)
on
Tue, 11/09/2010 - 20:58

I am trying to track down any pictures and maps of what was at 191 “The Peak” in 1933 --- apparently my father was actually born there. If anyone thinks they may have a shot or two, or know any history of the area in that era, please send. Most all history on my fathers side of the family has been lost, other then his birth certificate, and it would be great to get some of the information back.

Eredine perhaps ?

It is about the right location per the 1924 map - near Matilda Hospital and Bangour.   The latest incarnation has the same name. 

If you can give us his father's surname - and we may be able to find him on the jurors list.

On the 1938 map, Eredine is marked as #184, and is a little further south around Mt Kellett.

I think #191 is the pale-coloured building roughly in the centre of this picture:

Ho Tung Garden

Michael, any history you can share about why your grand-parents were living up the Peak? It was / is an expensive area to live, so I guess your grand-father worked for a big company.

All I can find at this point is: My grandfather was Edwin Leeb Judd, a career soldier, later an executive with ICI. He was born in Johannesburg South Africa. My grandmother was Violet Mable Judd/Michael Sale ---- hence My fathers full name was Peter Michael Sale Judd. She was born in Yokohama Japan. Unfortunately that is about all I know. Would love to know more about what they did and where they came from ---- but mostly I would love a good pic etc…. of where my dad was born. Thanks Michael

Hi David and Micheal,

The correct spelling for the name of the house at 191 The Peak was “Erewhon”. It’s an interesting name, being a phonetic anagram of the word “nowhere”, and that word spelt backwards except for the letters “wh”. It was first coined by the writer Samuel Butler in his 1872 satirical novel “Erewhon : or Over The Range”, in which the fictional country of Erewhon appears to be a utopia on first impressions, but reveals a darker side upon deeper analyses (1). Picking “Erewhon” as the name for a residence in Hong Kong’s most exclusive suburb suggests a wry sense of humour on the part of the person who chose it.

“Erewhon” was built on Rural Building Lot (RBL) 199 which was sold at auction on 9 Jan 1922 (2) to the “International Banking Corporation as a site of staff residences” (3). Only the RBL number and Peak number of the site, not the name, were mentioned in the 1924 Peak Renumbering Exercise (4) and 1924 Peak map (5). The earliest mention of the building named “Erewhon” that I’ve found is in the 1927 Peak Directory (6).

From the above it can be concluded that construction of “Erewhon” started sometime after 9 Jan 1922, was underway in 1924, and had been completed by 1927. As mentioned above, the International Banking Corporation was reported as intending to erect a staff-quarters upon the site. However, given the background of the name “Erewhon”, it seems unlikely that they would have considered it to be appropriate for their staff quarters. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d sold it prior to the name being adopted.

David has correctly identified “Erewhon” in the pic in the above string. Anther view of the house is at;

https://gwulo.com/media/28197, “1930s Mount Kellett” – Erewhon is House ‘B’.

Michael, as I understand it, your fathers birth certificate states that he was born at 191 The Peak, Hong Kong in 1933. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Your grandfather, Edwin Leeb JUDD is named as a juror in the Hong Kong Jury Lists from 1924 to 1928 with his employment said to be Manager or Assistant of Brunner, Mond & Co. Ltd, and his residential address given as the Hong Kong Club, Hong Kong (7). By 1929 he was an Assistant with Imperial Chemical Industries (China) Ld. (ICI), in Shanghai. I can’t find any mention of him in 1930, but from 1931 to 1934 (the last year I checked) he was still with ICI, but at Dairen, known as Dalian today, northern China (8). Although these records suggest that Edwin was living in northern China at the time of your father’s birth, it certainly doesn’t exclude the possibility of your grandmother giving birth to your father in Hong Kong.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find out who was living at 191 The Peak in 1933. From 1927 to 1932 it had been home to Mr. Edgar DAVIDSON, a solicitor of Hastings, Dennys & Bowley, later Hastings & Co. He may still have been there after 1932, but gave his work address rather than his residential address in the Foreign Residents lists in 1933 and 1934 (9).     

(1). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erewhon

(2). Government Notification S.455/1922, gives the auction date and describes RBL 199 as “Opposite RBL 21 at Mount Kellett Road”. RBL 21 was the site of “La Hacienda”.

(3). HK Daily Press, Page 4, 10 Jan 1922.

(4). Peak Renumbering Exercise of 1st Jan 1924 at https://gwulo.com/node/34922.

(5). 1924 Peak map at https://gwulo.com/media/13017

(6). The Peak Directories and lists of Foreign Residents, appear in the Directory & Chronicle of China et al, from 1929 to 1934 at Asian directories and chronicles - National Library of Scotland (nls.uk)

(7). 1924 -28 Jury Lists on Gwulo.

(8). See (6).

(9). See (6).