Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
I am his son Andrew. Sadly Dad died in 2020 aged 89, but my mother is still with us
Dad was born in Kowloon Docks staff accommodation, evacuated in 1941 to Aus then Glasgow, but returned to HK to work with HK Electric until he retired.
Photos that show this Person
1950s
1950s
Comments
McElvie / McKelvie
Hi Andrew,
Please can I check if there's a typo in the surname above, or if that was how your father preferred to spell it?
Also, we have a Mr John McKelvie who worked at the Kowloon Docks (https://gwulo.com/node/60576), and I wondered if he was Ian's father?
Regards, David
Ian McKelvie
Yes, John McKelvie was our grandfather, and Ian McKelvie our father (always with the K). [my brother is also John McKelvie and lives in NZ]
Ian was born in Kowloon Docks housing in Dyer Avenue in Hung Hom, and worked at HK Electric most of his life. In 1941 he and my grandmother were evacuated to Australia, but hen managed to go on a convoy ship back to Glasgow.
My grandfather was considered essential staff (as a boiler engineer, he was also the only one able to repair a submarine) so spent the war in Stanley prison.
His dates are 27.8.30 - 20.3.20
I can send a photo of my grandfather in the early 1920's, which he sent back to his parents on Glasgow
My email is a.j.mckelvie@btinternet.com
Also I have a box of old photos and negatives from the 1940s and 1950s which may be of interest, also some extra copies of "A Mountain of Light" by Austin Coates (1977), which my father managed to get commissioned by HEC after he met Austin Coates during research on a similar book about Kowloon Docks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_Coates
re: Ian McKelvie
Thanks Andrew, I've updated the spelling and dates at the top of the page.
I can't find your grandfather on any of the lists of internees at Stanley Camp, only on the list of POWs. That would usually mean he spent the occupation years in the POW camp at Sham Shui Po, so it's very interesting to hear that the family history is that he spent the time at Stanley.
I'll send you an email about this, and about photos.