Wanchai to Bowen Road c.1950s - annotated.jpg

It would be of interest if the annotated buildings could be identified and listed.

Hello, if ka and kb marked in the picture are No. 50 and No. 52 Kennedy Road？And kc is St Francis' Canossian College. Looking forward to your reply, thanks.

Probably solved in gwulo (or somewhere) with references of different numbering schemes (need some time to find that). But with the modern scheme of Kennedy Road:

ka: No. 60 (now part of Sakura Court)

kb: No. 58 (now part of Sakura Court)

kc: No. 54 and 56 (now Ewan Court)

Thanks for your professional correction. Per the current positioning, please check whether the following is correct.

kd: Nos. 50–52 (now Man Yuen Garden). No. 52 (now 52B) is the three-storey portion on its left, and No. 50 (now 52A) the right portion.

ke: No. 48 (now Monticello)

Based largely on the 1950’s “Road Map Of The Peak District” (map ref 1954.1 on www.hkmaps.hk ) I reckon;

Pb. No 535 The Peak with 536 seen in part behind it.

Pc. As stated previously – Interocean Court.

Pd. No 537 or No 538 The Peak. 

Pe. No 539 The Peak.

Pa. 30 Magazine Gap Road which was part of Cameron Mansions. The old terrace can be seen on the left of 30.

Ma. Durisdeer, No 511 The Peak.

Mb. Katoomba, 513 The Peak.

Mc. Holmedown, 510 The Peak.

I’m not 100% sure about Ma, Mb or Mc. The reason for picking them is because the land falls away to the left of Ma, meaning that we’re looking at the ridgeline on the west side of Magazine Gap rather than the east. The ridgeline on the east side must be largely obscured behind the hillside. Durisdeer was the first house on the ridge to the west of Mag Gap, Holmedown the second. If those two are correct then Katoomba is the best fit for the house below. Happy to be proved wrong.    

Hi Paul,

I believe T.N. KWOK was correct earlier when identifying Ka & Kb as No.’s 60 & 58 Kennedy Road respectively and stating that they were replaced by Sakura Court. 

They had a distinctive footprint, being basically two rectangles joined only at their rear. The earliest their footprint appears on the detailed maps and aerial photos on www.hkmaps.hk is in the 1922 Survey Sheet (ref. 1922.1) and the 1924 aerial photo (ref. 1924.1). The 1924 map (ref. 1924.2) labels their site “2299”, meaning Inland Lot (IL) 2299. The public auction of IL 2299 was advertised to take place on 21 June 1920 (Government Gazette Notification S.142/1920). 

The 1938 Street Index confirms that No.’s 58 & 60 occupied IL 2299 and that at some time previously they had been numbered 22 & 22A Kennedy Road. In a post at https://gwulo.com/node/36052 contributor Herostrastus states that the number change occurred on 18 November 1927.

The 1958 map (ref.1958.1) is confusing as it has Ka numbered as 60 Kennedy Road and Kb as 85 Kennedy Road. The number “85” seems to be a misprint as it does not appear elsewhere and 58 fits the numbering sequence in that section of Kennedy Road, whereas 85 does not.

Ka & Kb are still present in the 1971 Survey Sheet (ref.1971) and are probably still there in the rather blurred 1972 aerial photo (ref.1972.3). The 1973 Survey Sheet (ref.1973) and aerial photo (ref.1973.1) both show a vacant site. The 1975 Survey Sheet (ref.1975.1) labels the site “CIP May 1974”, meaning “construction in progress” on that date. The very clear 1976 aerial photo (ref.1976.3) shows a cleared site. 

The 1979 Survey Sheet shows the site occupied by Sakura Court, 58 – 60 Kennedy Road, which had been completed in 1978 (HAD Database of Private Buildings).

To summarize, the two houses Kb & Ka were built on IL 2299 at sometime between mid-1920 and 1922. At some time they were numbered 22 and 22A Kennedy Road respectively, but by 1938 had been renumbered 58 & 60 respectively. They were probably demolished in 1972 or 1973. The site then remained vacant for a time until construction commenced on Sakura Court which was completed in 1978.   

Again, based on the Survey Sheets on www.hkmaps.hk;

Kg = terrace containing 10,12,14 & 16 Kennedy Road.

Kh & Ki = Both are part of Monmouth Terrace, No.'s 9, 11, 13 & possibly 13A.