The Frank Fischbeck Collection Corrections Thread

Submitted by CityUnseen on

I've just been in touch with the architecture librarian at HKU Libraries and she endorsed me starting this thread. HKU Library acquired the Frank Fischbeck Collection in 2019, and having spent quite a lot of time looking through these photos, I've found that quite a lot of the metadata is wrong. Wrong dates, wrong locations. I'm by no means a history expert, so I can often tell that a label is wrong but not know how it should be corrected. I'm quite sure that Gwulo's photo sleuths would be brilliant at it. 

If you would like to help improve the accuracy of the Frank Fischbeck Collection, look through the archive here. 

https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/fischbeck

The most relevant categories are Old Hong Kong and Hong Kong: the Classic Age.

If you spot a photo with an incorrect label, please

  1. Post the link to the photo.
  2. Please include the accession number (not to be confused with the shelf number). For example, this photo of Battery Path in the 1930s has the accession number ff_asg_00324.
  3. Explain how the label should be corrected. 

 

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread and will periodically pass your findings along to the librarian. If I spot a photo that looks off but can't figure it out myself, I'll post it here too. 

Disclosure: City Unseen (www.cityunseen.hk) is an internal program of the WYNG Foundation, which jointly shares copyright to the Fischbeck collection with HKU Libraries. I am not affiliated with HKU Libraries. 

 

 

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I'll start with one. This photo says it is Pedder Street in the 1920s, but the date is wrong.

Accession number: ff_asg_00180

  1. The cars don't look right for the 1920s.
  2. The tyre on the back of the car says "Star Taxi" which according to Google was founded in the 1930s.
  3. Other photos of Pedder Street in the 20s have telephone poles and this one doesn't.
  4. There's a traffic light in the road I'm pretty sure those didn't exist in HK in the 20s. 

 

When was this photo taken? 

At the junction of DesVoeux Road and Pedder Street, a traffic light can be seen. This likely is "EVA", an automated traffic signal installed in August 1934.  Therefore, the photo is likely from the second half of the 1930s.

This one's driving me crazy. The label says "beyond Central District" but I think it's not in Hong Kong at all. The architectural style looks wrong, I don't recognize that stripy colonial building in the background, and there are way more bicycles than I've ever seen in an old photo of Hong Kong. Can anyone place or date this? 

Accession number: ff_asg_00178

I think it might be Singapore. "Lity & Co." returns a search result for a company registration in Singapore in the 1960s-70s. Does anyone know what that colonial building is?  

Photo taken in Singapore at junction of North Bridge Road and Hock Lam Street. Looking at the photo, likely 1950s.

Similar photo: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/vol-7/issue-3/oct-dec-2011/singapore-indian-business-communities/ but incorrect decade. Should be 1950s as noted: https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/photographs/record-details/b31656ba-1162-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad

Location: https://johorkaki.blogspot.com/2020/08/hock-lam-street-forever-lost-food-haven.html

Colonial building: Central Fire Station on Hill Street

 

 

There are these two pictures that claim to show troops parading down Nathan Road after the war in the 1940s. This is definitely wrong, those tall buildings, lampposts and railings didn't exist in the 1940s. They look 1970s or 1980s. Do you know when there was a parade with armoured vehicles like this? 

ff_asg_00273

ff_asg_00272

I also think that the photo is from the 1890s. Unfortunately, I could not find any adverts in Hong Kong Newspapers except for "Yung Kee & Co". But this company had their shop at 25 Lindhurst Terrace in 1891 and 1892.

Nevertheless, I also think the date is pre-1900. Compare this photo, dated to 1890. The sign "A. Hahn" can be seen on both photos. In the 1890 photo we still see clothing hung out for drying, in the other one none. Maybe this hints to the second half of the 1890s. 

Amazing! How did you find the exact spot? I've emailed all suggestions so far to HKU library, and they have corrected the captions or will do so soon. 

I think I have narrowed the Nathan Road military parade pictures down to the late 1960s or 1970s based on the streetlights. They look like the ones in these other photos from this period. Here, and here, and here. By the 1980s, they'd changed to less curvilinear ones like this. 

Based on the people calmly milling about in the background, I'm guessing it's a Queen's birthday parade like in these photos in 1974. Also this one. 

I am otherwise at a loss. Is anyone here good at identifying uniforms? This is entirely out of my wheelhouse and I can't even tell if they're military or police. The man in white looks like he might be wearing a St John's Ambulance uniform like in the second photo on this website. 

 

Yes, very likely during the Queen's Birthday Parade. The photos were taken at the junction of Nathan Road and Middle Road.

Look up Shui Hing House and Alpha House on Gwulo. Looks like construction work is being carried out.

Hi There,

Those looked like Gurkhas, with their British Officers.  In one of the photos there seemed to be a Policeman at the right edge in summer uniform.   I believe the Policce changed their uniform altogether in late 1970's thus no more shorts and knee high socks.

T

Thanks, tngan. The Gurkhas didn't occur to me, but that's how little I know about uniforms. Also thanks for placing the location, moddsey. I was having trouble figuring out what the building was.

This one is labeled as people queuing for water in the 1950s, but it doesn't look right. 

Accession number: ff_dbw_00544 

  • Those clothes look too old-fashioned
  • Wooden buckets in the 1950s?
  • Who is that man with the huge moustache and the tall helmet? That does not look like a Hong Kong police officer. 

Realy good work. I've spotted some incorrectly identified places and people for some of the non-Hong Kong images in the Frank Fischbeck Collection at HKU Libraries. Here are suggested amends ...

ff_gp_00016 Bridge and temple at Jiading (Kading), Shanghai.

ff_asg_00408 Hongkew Market, Shanghai.

ff_dc_01420 Guangzhou (Canton).

ff_dc_01417 Yonghe Temple (雍和宮) ‘The Lama Temple’, Beijing.

srh_p_00207 Hester Hart (Lady Hart, wife of Sir Robert Hart).

srh_p_00363 Hester Hart (Lady Hart, wife of Sir Robert Hart).

srh_p_00593 Sir Robert Hart.

srh_p_00656 Sir Robert Hart.

srh_p_00670 P&O buildings, Aden, Yemen.

srh_p_00662 Seventeen-Arch Bridge (Shiqikong Qiao 十七孔橋), Summer Palace (頤和園), Beijing.

srh_p_00663 Seventeen-Arch Bridge (Shiqikong Qiao 十七孔橋), Summer Palace (頤和園), Beijing.

ff_rb_05011 Dagaoxuan Hall or Temple (大高玄殿), Beijing.

ff_rb_04989 West Lake (西湖), Hangzhou (杭州).


ff_gp_00011 Bodies of executed looters or rioters, Peking Mutiny, lying in the road after their execution in Beijing, 1912

ff_gp_00008 Probably execution of a suspected Boxer, c.1900.

ff_gp_00010 Public torture and execution (lingchi), c.1880-1911.

Chartered Bank 渣打銀行, Accession No ff_rb_00488

This is NOT the Chartered Bank but the P&O Building 2nd Generation [c.1850-c.1885]. The P & O Building was at the waterfront (Des Voeux Road). The Chartered Bank was at 4 Queen's Road and never at the praya. The two buildings look quite the same, but they differ. The Chartered Bank (Building on western corner of Duddell Street / Queen's Road Central junction [1878-1919]) looked like this:

Building on Queen's Road Central c. 1870's?, by oldpics

And the P & O Building looked like this:

P&O Headquarters Building 1887, by Klaus

 

Central waterfront (looking east) c.1885, by Klaus

The latter photos are a perfect match with the one on HKUL.

The date can only be estimated, likely around 1880.

Addendum:

Chartered Bank Accession No ff_rb_00491

This is the Chartered Bank. As said above, the building was at 4 Queen's Road.

Incidentally, the "Hong Kong Religion" section of the Fischbeck archive contains a lot of vaguely labeled photographs of temples and other religious buildings. I have absolutely no expertise in temples, but I think a knowledgeable person might be able to identify some of them. 

I'm having trouble dating this one of Des Voeux Road. The label says 1950s but I'm a little sceptical based on the lack of motor vehicles, the prevalence of rickshaws, the way people are dressed, the cloth banner shop signs, and the graininess of the photo. 

The image isn't very clear but I think it shows a fourth generation tram (1925-51). One of the shop signs says Wah Mei Electrical Company (華美電器行) which according to Hong Kong Industrial History, opened a shop at 113 Des Voeux Road Central in 1925 but that doesn't narrow it down by much. I also see one of the old Hong Kong Electric pylons in the middle of the road, but it's missing the hat-shaped streetlight. Any ideas?  

Accession no ff_dbw_00675

 

Not 1950s. The photo is a cropped version of an original which I have seen dated to 1927 and produced below. I have not refined the date of the photo further. Perhaps the wider view may be able to assist in the dating.

 

1927 Des Voeux Road Central (Looking West), by moddsey

 

Hello everyone, I'm back with several more street scenes with questionable dates. Is anyone able to put more accurate dates on these? 

D'Aguilar Road, accession no. ff_asg_00187. 
It says 1960s but based on the style of taxi and minibus, I think it's the 1970s. Can anyone confirm? 

Carnarvon Road, accession no. ff_rb_00920
They seem to have no idea when this photo was taken. Anyone recognize that type of bus? 

Queen's Road, accession no. ff_dbw_01049
Labeled 1950s, but I think it's 1920s. It is very similar to photo 5 in David Bellis' Volume 2, and I've matched up most of the shop signs. 

Wellington Street, accession no ff_rb_00916
Date unknown. It's a colour photo but blurred so not very helpful. The clothing makes me think 1940s or 1950s? 

Jubilee Street near Central Market, accession no. ff_asg_00186
It says c.1950s but the traffic cop and the style of clothing make me think it's a bit later. 1960s perhaps? 

Queen's Road, accession no. ff_dbw_00987
Again labeled 1950s but the style of clothing looks more 1930s to me. Any ideas about the Kohinoor Silk Store? 

Locations I can't identify or date. There isn't much to go on but have a try: 

Accession no. ff_dbw_00686

Accession no. ff_rb_08940

 

Hi CityUnseen,

I note that none of the Frank Fischbeck photos have been posted on Gwulo so far. Gwulo seems to work best when there's a photo, perhaps with an initial comment from the poster, which then attracts further comments from other viewers. To achieve this, it seems easier to have the subject photo and related comments on the same page rather than clicking in and out of Gwulo and the HKU website to view the pic and follow the string. As you are the joint copyright holder, I was wondering if there is any reason we shouldn't post the subject photo we are discussing, including reference to HKUs copyright ownership of course?    

 

Accession no. ff_rb_00496, “Peak Hotel” and ff_dbw_00725, “The Peak Hotel” 

Currently dated between 1897 and 1938 (ff_rb_00496) and c.1910's (ff_dbw_00725).

Accession No.’s ff_rb_00496 and ff_dbw_00725 can be dated together as they were taken at around the same time.

Peak Hotel was extended numerous times over the years. In these two photos its north-west section is clad in scaffolding but has reached its maximum height, the exterior walls appear to be complete and the roof is on. 

The top floor to this part of the hotel was being built on 10th November 1900 when disrupted by a typhoon. The HK Weekly News of 17 November 1900 reported that, “…of the matshed over the new storey being added to the Peak Hotel little remains”. 

The fact that a matshed had been covering the area under construction suggests that the roof hadn’t been added at the time the typhoon struck. With the typhoon damage coming so late in the year, and with a significant amount of work still to do, the project was probably completed in 1901. The photo appears to show the project just before completion, so 1901.   

Other buildings seen in the photos that were finished in 1901 at the latest are Peak Hospital & Formosa (the two large buildings immediately behind and above the Hotel) and the Peak Chair Shelter (white building in bottom left of ff_rb_00496). All three look complete in the photos.

The Hotel’s next major extension project was the construction of an Annexe on the flat land in front of the Hotel. Unfortunately, I don’t know exactly when the Annexe was built, but it’s shown in this postcard bearing the postmark 14 August 1907, so it must have been before that date.

Peak Hotel cover sent in 1907, by HCIIL

 

In summary, both photos can be dated with confidence to between 1901 and 1907, but are probably from 1901.

ff_dbw_00726, “Peak Hotel”

Currently dated c.1920’s.

I agree with the c.1920’s date given for this photo. Two elements of the photo help to further narrow the date. 

Firstly, building material and workers are on the road, the surface of which appears bright white, suggesting it is in the final stages of construction. It was built between 1921 and 1925 and was then called Stubbs Road, since renamed Peak Road. 

The 1923 PWD Report (1) stated that;

“At the close of the year,…, the road was so far advanced, that a small length of retaining wall only and some filling in near Treverbyn needed to be done.”

Nevertheless, the work continued through 1924 when it was “nearly completed”(2), into 1925 when it was reported that;

“This road was regraded and strengthened at… that section between Gough Hill and the Peak Hotel” (3).

So, as far as the road is concerned, the photo could have been taken anytime between 1923 and 1925. 

Secondly, consider the area next to Peak Hotel at the right edge of the subject photo. Only a small white hut and the hillside are visible. Now look at the compilation below showing three views of this area taken at different times.

Peak Hotel, Treverbyn and Peak Mansions, by gw

Each of the three pics shows the Annexe and main Hotel building in exactly the same positions relative to each other, meaning that the three photos were taken from exactly the same place. The top and bottom pics show Treverbyn and Peak Mansions respectively on the right of Peak Hotel. The middle image is extracted from the subject photo and shows only a small white hut and vacant hillside. 

Treverbyn or Peak Mansions would have been visible if they existed when the middle photo was taken. As neither are visible, the photo was taken after Treverbyn was demolished but before Peak Mansions was constructed.  

The 1923 Report quoted above tells us that Treverbyn was still standing at the end of 1923. It disappeared soon afterwards. The 1924 PWD Report (4) said this;

“A commencement was made with the 24 European flats on RBL 78…but work was suspended from the beginning of October to the end of the year”. 

The flats being referred to were Peak Mansions, which replaced Treverbyn, and the suspension was probably due to a Hong Kong-wide workers strike (5). The building was eventually roofed in 1927 (6) and finally completed in 1928 (7).

One of the first things to do on the Peak Mansions project would have been to demolish Treverbyn. Based on the progress reported above, that probably occurred between January and October 1924, but if not then definitely by 1927.  

Considering the construction of Stubbs Road together with the Treverbryn/Peak Mansion demolition/construction, leads to the conclusion that the photo was probably taken in 1924, and if not then shortly thereafter.  

(1). Para.120(c), 1923 PWD Report.

(2). Para. 124( c ), 1924 PWD Report. 

(3). Para.123(q), 1925 PWD Report.

(4). Para.42, 1924 PWD Report. RBL 78 (Rural Building Lot 78) was initially occupied by Treverbyn then Peak Mansions.

(5). See comments of 12 Sept 2025 at https://gwulo.com/peak-mansions regarding the possible effect of the strike on the construction of Peak Mansions.

(6). Para.34, 1927 PWD Report.

(7). Para.33, 1928 PWD Report.

ff_asg_00066, “The Peak Hotel” 

Currently dated c.1920’s.

Immediately behind Peak Hotel, the bright white building is Victoria Ridge Apartments which opened in 1932 or 3 (1).

Peak Hotel itself looks scruffy and rundown. It closed permanently on 31st August 1936 (2), but was it still operating when this photo was taken? I can’t see any people inside, but many windows are open and there are chairs and plants on the Annexe rooftop terrace. If the Hotel had permanently closed, I’d expect its windows to be shut and the terrace to be cleared. If pushed, I’d say the photo was taken before the Hotel closed.

The Hotel was severely damaged by fire and demolished in 1938 (3), so the photo couldn’t have been taken later than that.

In summary, I think the photo was taken whilst the hotel was still in business, so between 1932 and September 1936. But, if you think the Hotel had closed when the pic was snapped, it’d be from September 1936 to 1938. If you’re unsure, then from 1932 to 1938.   

(1). Page titled “Formosa”, Page 3 of 10 in document titled “Hospital – Private”, Ref. No. PRO-REF-130 in Library Holdings on GRS website.

(2). China Mail, 1 Sept. 1936.

(3). The Peak: An illustrated history of Hong Kong’s top district, by Richard J. Garrett, 2018, ISBN 978-988-77927-0-3.

 

  1. D'Aguilar Street: Fashion style (bell-bottomed pants) and hair style also suggest 1970s.
  2. Carnarvon Road has already been mentioned.
  3. Queen's Road Central appears here with comment on the shop "Madame Flint".
  4. Wellington Street, my guess is from the 1950s. The photo appeared in the National Geographic Magazine which will provide the year. A better image: https://es.pinterest.com/pin/35325178307318630/
  5. Jubilee Street appears here, dated to 1956
  6. Queen's Road Central likely from the 1920s as mentioned above.
  7. Accession no. ff_dbw_00686 Very blurry. If one is able to read the signboard on the left, that may help. The rickshaw by itself on the street is interesting which suggests the street had no steps. Date range 1890s to 1900s. 
  8. Accession no. ff_rb_08940 Not Hong Kong, may be the street bazaars of "Little India", Singapore

 

Agree with comments made by gw. If able, it is suggested to post photos individually so that better results can be attained. Plus there is also a visual trace back and record. The insertion of links to photos helps for now but after a period of time these links may become "dead links" after a web page overhaul/update or transfer to another platform/server. Thanks

gw - Is it possible for you to do a separate article on the Peak Hotel or combine it in an existing thread of the Peak Hotel with the valuable comments and findings that you have made above ? Over time, it will be easier for viewers to search and access the information that you have provided. Many thanks.

Re: 

Queen's Road Central, Hong Kong, c.1924. Photo by Denis H. Hazell., by Jamie Carstairs


Labeled 1950s, but I think it's 1920s. It is very similar to photo 5 in David Bellis' Volume 2, and I've matched up most of the shop signs. 

Yes! This photo of Queen's Road Central, Hong Kong, looking westwards, was taken about 1924 by Denis H. Hazell. It was published in 'Picturesque Hong Kong’ by Ye Olde Printerie Ltd., Hong Kong, in c.1925. See https://hpcbristol.net/visual/Bk09-15.