See the original photo (with higher resolution) on the website of the National Gallery Scotland.
Update after Herostratus' comment:
Photographer unkown, likely not John Thomson. Date estimated to c.1875
Actually Victoria Barracks Block A-E are shown in the foreground, and Wellington Barracks are on the left side.
Wonder what happened to the de-roofed building front left?
Date picture taken
1875 (year is approximate)
Gallery
Shows place(s)
Comments
This photo is very unlikely…
This photo is very unlikely to be by John Thomson due to the date. Thomson left Hong Kong in 1872 and the presence of the 1,000 foot Wanchai pier in the above suggests it was taken mid to late 1870s. One possibility is it was taken after the Typhoon of 1874 and that the Typhoon was the cause of the destroyed building bottom left.
I have a copy of this photo from Getty (I couldn't tell you which Getty) who attributes it to Thomas Child however I do not have much confidence in that attribution either. Institutions seem happy to make a best guess when they aren't sure who actually took the photo. Other possibilities for who took the photo are Floyd and Afong.
Not John Thomson
Herostratus, you're probably right. This photo, together with a couple of others, is a "Gift of Mrs. Riddell in memory of Peter Fletcher Riddell, 1985". In this collection, many photos are by Lai Afong, many are by unknown photographers, and a few are attributed to John Thomson.
I will delete the name and set the date to mid-1870s.
For my curiosity, I will ask the library why they attributed the photo to John Thomson.
Re: Thomas Child
The photo from the Getty Museum is here.
They do not name a photographer and refer: Previous Attribution: Thomas Child (British, 1841 - 1898)