Public Pier No. 17 - British Canton Line / Yuen On Steamship Co. Ltd [c.1924-c.1972]

from HKG Business:

THE YUEN ON STEAMSHIP COMPANY LTD
Company Type: Private Company Limited By Shares
Date of Incorporation: 23 July 1903 (Thursday)
Status: Dissolved
Date of Dissolution: 13 June 1962 (Wednesday)

The pier vanished latest when the next phase of reclamation started west of the new built Macau Terminal in the 1970s. It doesn't appear on the 1975 map on hkmaps.hk.

First appearance is on an aerial photograph from 1924, also on hkmaps.hk.

News report that Yuen On pier was demolished on 7-5-1959. Steamer Fatshan which used to dock here had to move to HK Macau wharf that means  Osaka Custodian pier in 1959. It also said it had 50 years history that means it started out in 1909.

Another news report gives the exact year it started operation as 1908.

News report says Yuen On wharf demoition began:
Demolition of Yuen On wharf on Connaught rd started on Jun 29 1959. Ticket counter and coolie room inside pier has moved elsewhere. The roof has been partly removed. It is estimated it will be completely removed in one month.
The wharf was built end of Qing dynasty Xuantong period or 1908. The steamers Guangdong and Guangxi docked here since then. It has a 50 year history. Government has designated that place within boundary of the third phase of planned reclamation.

The location of Yuen on wharf was given in this government map in 1930 which is the same as the map here.

The date that Fatshan moved to Custodian pier  was confirmed by this report:

https://gwulo.com/media/47270

The pier is still shown on maps at https://www.hkmaps.hk/viewer.html after 1959, and also looks to be still standing in the foreground of the photo below, dated to 1966. Is there any chance that the report about the demolition is just talking about the buildings on the pier, but that the pier survived for a few more years?

The second report says demolition started in July 1959 but didn't say how long it takes. But the report is quite clear about the date it was built. It says it was during the last emperor of Qing dynasty Xuantong period or 1908.

I'd like to see this pier shown on pre-1924 maps or photos before changing the completion date. 

On the aerial photograph 1963.4 on hkmaps,hk, the pier is still there. There are no larger ships but small boats only. On an aerial photograph on HKMS 2.0 from 1972-05-31, the pier has already been demolished and removed.

I think the 1959 date refers to the end of services at this pier.

1. Steamship Companies

Besides the Hongkong, Canton and Macao Steamship Company (HCMSC) and the China Navigation Company (CNC) also Chinese companies emerged to get their share in the profitable connections to Canton and Macao. One of these companies was the Shiu On Steamship Company, founded in November 1901.

In 1902, the company ordered a steamship from the Hong Kong yard of Bailey and Murphy. The ship named KWONG CHOW (renamed to KWONG SAI after being sunk in the 1906 typhoon) had her maiden voyage on 15 December 1902. The regular service to Canton started at the end of December 1902. An advert in the Hongkong Telegraph 1902-12-24 announces this:

The wharf’s location is described as:
The company’s wharf is West of the Hongkong Harbour Master's Office [i.e. Harbour Office (3rd generation)].

In 1903, the Yuen On Steamship Company was founded. The company ordered a sister ship named KWONG TUNG which started its service in February 1904 (see advert in the China Mail, 1904-02-18)

Both companies shared the wharf and the service to Canton. This continued for many years, see advert in Hong Kong Telegraph 1910-01-15

As the new Western Market had been built in 1906, the description of the wharf’s location slightly changed:
The company’s wharf is situated in front of the new Western Market, opposite the old Harbour Office.

From early 1911 onwards, no adverts can be found in English language Hong Kong newspapers. I couldn’t find any reason for that, possibly they advertised in Chinese newspapers only. In Rosenstock’s Directory of China and Manila 1917 Volume 23 is an advert of the two companies with the same description of the wharf’s location.

Finally, The Far Eastern Review 1919-2 compiled a list of wharves in Hong Kong, one of these is the Yuen On Steamship Co.’s Wharf with a length of 200 feet.

2. The wharf

A photo of the wharf can be seen here on a photo from c.1903:

The photo very likely shows the steamer KWONG CHOW, owned by the Shiu On Steamship Company. This would fit to the date of 1903 as the KWONG CHOW had her maiden voyage on 15 December 1902. A detail from this photo, the entrance gate is shown below:

The English letters on the entrance likely read: HONG KONG & CANTON FAST STEAMERS.

3. Conclusion

The wharf described in the adverts and on the photo is very likely the one which was known later as Public Pier No. 17 - British Canton Line / Yuen On Steamship Co. Ltd. However, the wharf does not appear on English Hong Kong maps before c.1928, although it was visible on an aerial photograph from 1924 (which is the first one available so far).

But why?

It might have been that the (British) Hong Kong Government tried to support the European steamship Companies by just ignoring this Chinese wharf on their maps. In several Hong Kong newspapers (starting 1907) the Yuen On Wharf is mentioned in connection with police reports about crime (theft, smuggling etc) and accidents – so it existed in these early days.

4. Alternative option

Maps on Gwulo show from 1905 onwards a wharf directly opposite the new Western Market. This could have been the wharf mentioned above. David referred recently that the Government resumed piers for passenger services, amongst these was the one "Opp. Western Market". This would mean Shui On and Yuen On had to construct a new pier for their Canton service, but I could not find anything about it despite intense searching.