No.4 Cameron Villas, Mount Kellett [????-????]

These three photos, each titled “The Commissioner’s House, Mount Kellett, Hong Kong” and dated c.1898, are part of the Hillier Collection on the “Historical Photos of China” website (1).

The website tells us that the Commissioner being referred to was Mr. Harry Mason HILLIER, Commissioner of the Imperial Maritime Customs Service, Kowloon, from 1895 to 1899. Additionally, the second photo carries the caption;

“This is our new house at Mount Kellett Hong Kong looking S.W. 1200 feet about (sic) the sea.”

I don’t recognise the building from other old photos, so where exactly was it? For the years in which HILLIER is said to have been The Commissioner, 1895-99, the Peak and Ladies Directories tell us the following;

1895. No mention of Mr. or Mrs. HILLIER in either the Peak or Ladies Directories.

1896. The Ladies Directory has Mrs. H. M. HILLIER at The Pines, Peak Road. I can’t find the 1896 Peak Directory.

1897. I can’t find either Directory.

1898. No mention of HILLIER in the Peak Directory. I can’t find the Ladies Directory for 1898.

1899. Mr. & Mrs. H.M. HILLIER, listed as residing at 4 Cameron Villas, Peak in both the Peak and Ladies Directories (2) & (3).

Although incomplete, the records provide one Mount Kellett address - 4 Cameron Villas. According to the early Peak Renumbering Exercises, No.4 Cameron Villas was No.63 The Peak from 1904-14, No.64 The Peak from 1914-24 and No.178 The Peak from 1924 until at least the 1950’s (4).

This extract from the 1950’s map shows No.178 The Peak, i.e. No.4 Cameron Villas, to be the most southerly of the houses within Cameron Villas.

The outline of No.178 on the map is similar to what we can see of the Commissioner’s House in the three old photos, but the map was drawn fifty plus years after the photos were taken so can’t be relied upon.

Luckily this 1922 Survey Sheet covered Cameron Villas in detail. No.4 Cameron Villas, or No.64 The Peak as it was in 1922, is the building with the “hand” cursor over it.

The outline of the house hadn’t changed much from 1922 to the 1950’s. Two of the old photos show steps leading down from the nearest side of the house to a long flat area that could be a tennis court, an arrangement also seen in the 1922 Survey Sheet. The third photo shows another building lower down the hillside, and this too is present on both the 1922 Survey Sheet and the 1950’s map where it is marked No. 176 & 177.

Based on the above, I’ll say that “The Commissioner’s House” was No.4 Cameron Villas. Corrections welcome.

You may be wondering why the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs Service was still operating in Kowloon after the lease of New Kowloon and the New Territories was signed in mid-1898. Hillier comments on it in his Annual Report for 1898 (5).

“China leased to Great Britain, for a period of 99 years, the waters of Deep and Mrs (sic) Bays, territory lying between them, and a number of the islands lying adjacent to Hongkong, reserving to itself the city of Kowloon only. This expansion of the colonial territory was received with much satisfaction by the colonists of Hongkong, many of whom appeared to derive particular gratification from the prospect of seeing the Stations of the Chinese Customs moved further from the Colony. The Honourable J.H. Stewart Lockhart…proceeded on a tour of the newly leased territory in August…but by the close of the year no steps had been taken for immediate occupation. The year 1899 will however, most assuredly inaugurate a new order of thing…”.

Reading between the lines it appears that the Chinese Customs took the pragmatic approach of continuing to operate in New Kowloon and the NT until physically replaced by the Hongkong equivalent. Also interesting is Hillier’s comment that, although the “city of Kowloon” had not been leased, Chinese Customs would move “further from the Colony”. At face value this suggests he accepted that Chinese Customs would not have jurisdiction over Kowloon City even though the terms of the lease stated otherwise (6).

References

(1). The three photos, ref no’s. Hi-s064, Hi-s065 & Hi-s067,  provided courtesy of The Hillier Collection, Historical Photos of China website, University of Bristol, Library (www.hpcbristol.net), copyright 2014 Andrew Hillier.

(2). 1899 Peak Directory at 1899 Peak Directory | Gwulo .

(3). Ladies Directory at 1899 Ladies Directory | Gwulo .

(4). Peak Renumbering Exercises combined by Herostratus at Peak Renumbering | Gwulo .

(5). China Mail, 14 Aug 1899.

(6). 1898 Convention between the UK and China, respecting an extension of Hongkong territory. Wayback Machine (archive.org)