Impressions of an upbringing in Hong Kong 1910-1933.
My grandmother was a meticulous diary keeper, though I'm not sure when all this was compiled. Apart from taking out the first ten or so pages that are devoted to early childhood in Wei Hai We, where her and her sister were born, I have not editted it. The pictures are all from her photo albums. Some of them are postcards from the time.
Sample pages
LIU KUNG TAO
Audrey and I were born on the island of Liu Kung Tao (Duke Liu's island) off the coast of Shantung in North China. Shantung means "East of the Mountains". The Island was part of the territory of Wei Hai Wei which had been leased to Great Britain in 1898 to be a summer base for the Royal Navy's China Fleet. The leased territory on the Chinese mainland consisted of the 14th century walled city of Wei Hai Wei, founded by Hung Wu, the first Emperor of the…
In September 1915 we left Wei Hai Wei for Hong Kong, our father having been appointed to the Victualling Store Office in Kowloon. I was almost five years old and Audrey was three.
We went to live at Eden Court, a boarding house in Kowloon run by Mrs. Railton. It was a large house with a garden and tennis court, and a bamboo grove. We were told not to go into it, because of the bamboo snakes, but we could not resist eating the soft tightly rolled new leaves of the bamboos.
Mamma…
HONG KONG
I think it was in the Autumn of 1917 that Mamma joined the
staff of Shewan, Tomes and Co., the mercantile firm in Chater Road, as an accountant. We left Kowloon,…
Comments
1st Wanchai Girl Guides Picture
Hi Fergus
I read these diaries with great delight as they mention my grandmother Anne (Nancy) McEwen and her little sister Kathleen. I have a picture of the 1st Wanchai Girl Guides (attached). Nancy is marked with an x and is standing at the back while Kathleen is also marked with an x and sitting at the front. The note on the back (also attached) remarks that they are not in their uniform and Nancy was also a Forget-me-not. I imagine Betty is also in the picture.
The diary mentions that Kathleen is in Brownies. Not sure if this is a group picture of both Guides and Brownies, or is later than the diary entry and Kathleen has graduated to Guides.
Best Wishes
Tori
re: 1st Wanchai Girl Guides Picture
That's a great photo - thanks for posting!
Please can I ask what was your great-grandfather's name? I'd like to see if he is mentioned in the Jurors Lists, and set up a page for him.