Richmond Terrace / Park View / Basilea Terrace, Mid-levels - IL 1216 [c.1880-1954]

Submitted by Bruce Chan on
Current condition
Demolished / No longer exists
Date completed
(Day, Month, & Year are approximate.)
Date closed / demolished
(Day & Month are approximate.)

Until about 1954, there was a row of six connected two-storey houses on  Basilea Terrace, which was built on an old cutting raised above Lyttelton Road, mid-levels.  I happened to grow up there but we had to move when a developer leveled the terrace in 1954 to put up high-rise apartments.

The Street Map of Victoria, c. 1915 (reproduced as end papers in the recently published Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography), shows a property named "Park View" in the same location.  I would like to know if this was the name of the residences later renamed "Basilea Terrace."  If not, when were the two properties built, and what other information is available about them?

Timeline:

  • c.1880: Built. Believed to have been built as 'Richmond Terrace', which first appears in records from the early 1880s (see comments below.)
  • 1906: The first mention of 'Park View' as an address in the Jurors' Lists
  • 1914: The last mention of 'Park View' in the Jurors' Lists
  • 1916: First mention of "Basilea", in Who's Who
  • 1917: Pg 1115 of the 1917 Chronicle and Directory for China has an entry confirming the change of name:
    • BASILEA, Bah-sik Li (formerly "Park View") in Lyttelton Road.
  • 1917: First mention of "Basilea" as an address in the Jurors' Lists
  • 1954: The building is demolished
Later place(s) at this location
Greenland Gardens - IL 1216 Sec L &M [1971- ]

Tags

Photos that show this Place

Westend 1880s
1881
Richmond Terrace and Estate and Building Co.
1889
Western District c1900
1896
See more photos of this place

Comments

Who's Who 1916 shows an address as Basilea, and the Directory and Chroniclefor 1917 Hong Kong Street Directory says "PARK WIEw, Pak King: in Lyttleton Road, now altered into “Basilea” (snippet view).

So, if a name changes, but the building is not demolished, how do we list that?

Hi, Annelisec

Thanks for this great find from the Directory & Chronicle for... 1917!  The whole volume is free for downloading at archive.org.  In the Hong Kong Street Directory on p. [1115], there is a corresponding entry for Basilea -- "(formerly "Park View"), in Lyttelton Road."

Regards,

Bruce

David,

Thanks for consolidating all this data in the main entry about Basilea Terrace, Park View and Richmond Terrace.  Though it's true we have no proof yet that the buildings were identical, I'm quite convinced that they were, going by the same number of units in the same location in relation to the access roads.

Regards,

Bruce

 

Annelise has found a couple of photos in the Basel Mission's archives showing Park View and later Basilea, marked as "The Basel Mission house".

I'm not sure if they were renting space there, or owned the building and also rented space out to other residents. Given that "Basilea" is the Italian spelling for "Basel", I guess they owned the building.

Now merged here:

On the uphill side of "Lower Richmond Road", Richmond Terrace consisded of 6 houses with common walls. 

In 1883, we start with a "murderous assault" on Mrs. Fincham in her Richmond Terrace home, by a member of her household staff (her "boy")  She didn't die, but did end up with two black eyes.

In the 1884 Ladies Directory three ladies listed at Richmond Terrace:

Pocock     Mrs.  T. G.

Hunter     Mrs.             

Fincham   Mrs.  H

In 1888, all the houses had long term tenants.

In 1891, the monks from the French Nazereth community moved in, but they were able a few years later to buy Douglas Castle and moved out in 1896.

From Hong Kong Government Gazette 9th August 1890

 

Richmond Terrace Estate

 

Pursuant to Section 13 of Ordinance No. ! of 1865, His Excellency the office Administering the Government has been pleased to approve the following special resolution passed at an extra-ordinary General meeting of the shareholders of the “The Richmond Terrace Estate and Building Company, Limited” held on the 15th July 1890 and duly confirmed:-

                That the name of the company be changed to the Humphreys Estate and Finance Company Limited

 

By Command WM Deane, acting colonial Secretary 8th August 1890

 

Humphreys Estate & Finance Company, Limited was incorporated on 7 October 1891 (Wednesday) and as of 1 October 2015 (Thursday) is a Live Public Company Limited By Shares. 

 

About John and Henry Humphreys:

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Henry Humphreys was a Hong Kong businessman and member of the Sanitary Board.

Henry Humpphreys moved to Hong Kong in 1889 to enter into business. He was the manager of the J. D. Humphreys & Son set up by J. D. Humphreys who set his office at the Alexandra Building. The J. D. Humphreys & Son was the general managers of the Peak Tramways & Co., A. S. Watson & Co. where he was the Chairman, and the Humphreys Estate and Finance Company where Henry Humphreys was the liquidator of the Humphreys Estate and Finance Company, Limited..[1] He lived on the Peak Road.[2]

Henry Humphreys ran for one of the vacant seat on the Sanitary Board in the 1906 election. He was appointed by Governor Matthew Nathan to the Public Health and Regulations Ordinance Commission in 1906 to inquiry into the alleged corruption and bribery in the Sanitary Department,[3] which led to the amendment of the Public Health and Building Ordinance to reform the Sanitary Board in 1908.

He left Hong Kong for home in 1933.[4]

 

Dr. John David Humphreys (died November 1922) was an English merchant in Hong Kong.

 

Humphreys was trained for a commercial career and spent some time in India when he was young. He was attracted to Australia by the gold discoveries and spent years working on the field. Subsequently he moved to Hong Kong in 1867 and became bookkeeper to A. S. Watson & Co., Ltd.. In the following year, his employers left him and Mr. Hunt to take in charge of the business. Humphreys purchased Hunt's interest and became the sole proprietor in 1871.[1]

 

Humphreys expanded the A. S. Watson & Co., Ltd. by establishing a small aerated water factory and opening branches in various districts and setting up branches all over China. In 1886, he turned it to a public company. He ceased to be general manager in 1896, and his firm of John D. Humphreys & Son became general managers of the A. S. Watson & Co.[2] and also Hong Kong High Level Tramways Co., Ltd, Olivers Freehold Miners, Ltd., and the New Balmoral Gold Mining Co., Ltd. He acquired the Mount Austin Hotel when it was winding up and sold it to the Military Authorities in 1922. He was also the first Chairman of the Kowloon College and provided financial support to the school.[1]

 

Humphreys was also the one of the first unofficial members elected to the Sanitary Board, together with J. J. Francis. They were dissatisfied with the limited power of the unofficial members and the neglecting and mismanagement of the municipal affairs by the governmental departments. In 1894, he brought forward his motion for the reconstruction of the Board with unofficial majority.[3]

 

He died in November 1922 in England.[1]

Mr. John D. Humphreys agreed to let for five years a house he owned at the entrance into the town of Victoria above the quarter called Kennedy Town, and in April 1891 the Community transferred to its new centre, which was known as Richmond Terrace.

 

In May 1894 Douglas Castle was purchased for use a a printery

 

Source: Old Hong Kong by Colonial Vol 1

 

Thanks for posting these.  Further notes on the Humphreys (three generations).

The obituary on J.D. Humphreys published by Hong Kong Telegraph, 11 Nov. 1922, p. 7 appeared under the byline: "Twenty Five Years Ago. A Glance at our Files (Nov. 6-12, 1897)".  He actually died on 8 November, 1897 (HK Probate Grant No. 3, Probate Calendar for 1898).

Henry Humphreys was the son of J.D. Humphreys, born in Hong Kong, 1867 [Who's Who in the Far East (June) 1906-07  published by the China Mail, 1906], p. 152.  In 1933 he and his family moved to Vancouver Island, British Columbia.  ["Prominent travellers from the Orient included Mr. and Mrs. Henry Humphreys, Hong Kong residents, who will reside near Duncan in future" in The Colonist (Victoria, B.C.), 13 Apr. 1933].

Henry's son, who continued directing the family's business, was named after his grandfather.  He died at age 46 in HK ("Death of Taipan: Mr. J.D. Humphreys Passes", Hong Kong Telegraph, 28 Feb. 1940, p. 15).

Richmond Terrace was built in 1883

JD Humphreys lived at No 1 Richmond Terrace from  1883 

Captain Johnson lived at No 2 Richmond Terrace from 1887. Mr & Mrs Baily lived at No 2 1883-1886

No 3 in 1888 was Mr Webber for a short time and Mrs Blackburn for a short time. Prior to that Mr  & Mrs Wise lived there 1883-1886

No 4 was Dr Wharry 1883-1885, Mrs Blackburn in 1886 and Major Ellis in 1887-88

No 5 was Captain & Mrs Fincham from 1883-1885, Captain & Mrs Dove in 1886-1887

No 6 was Mr & Mrs Ewers in 1883-1884, Mr Wright in 1885-86, Mrs Blackburn in 1887

An extra storey was being added by the late 1880s, in 1888 three of the houses had an extra storey

Source

Thanks, great sleuthing!  Other Government notices had mentioned the prevalence of malaria in the West End, including Richmond Terrace.  In fact when living there (Basilea Terrace) as a teenager I got it twice!  J.D. Humphreys' testimony to the Commissioners indicates that by 1883 the property had been lived in, but we still don't have the actual completion date of construction. 

Both,

Sorry to sound minatory, but Bruce's copyright extends only to the text. The article as printed is copyright RASHK and the Society's Council would have to give permission once a due request has been made.

It is also a breach to make digital copies from the Journal or to use proprietory tools to carve up a digital copy of the journal into individual articles and make them publicly available. Copies are exclusively for private use only. The only publicly authorised digital copies at present are accessible via JSTOR, which also, therefore, has a copyright it is likely to enforce.

Should Bruce wish to upload his original typescript (NOT the edited and copy-edited scripts, on which the RASHK holds copyright), RASHK can of course have no objection.

Stephen D

Hon EDitor JRASHK

When we moved in an apartment at the end of Lyttelton Road in 1961, there was a vacant terrace sitting above road level on the opposite side.  Believe this terrace fit your description of Basilea Terrace,  Shortly afterwards, a building was built at street level - Hanwin Mansion and eventually other buildings were built behind Hanwin Mansion - Greenland Gardens.

My thesis discusses the First World War and Protestant German missions operating in Hong Kong. This is how I came to know Basilea Terrace (No. 1-6, Lyttelton Road). They were six European houses purchased by the Basel Missionary Society in 1912 for $80,000. The Basel Mission had a very special policy. They purchased lands and property in mission fields so that their churches, hospitals, schools etc could have regular income and thus reduced their financial reliance on the parent mission in Europe. Basilea Terrace were mainly rented out to generate regular income to support the mission work in South China (including Hong Kong). Occasionally the houses were occupied by guest missionaries during their stay in Hong Kong.

During the First World War, due to its strong German culture, the Basel Mission was classified as an enemy mission and its property in Hong Kong was taken by the colonial government as enemy assets.  It was, during the wartime, looked after by Lowe, Bingham & Matthews, the Government-appointed receiver. In 1919, Protestant mission leaders in the US and UK lobbied for the preservation of German mission work in Allied territories, preventing these assets from confiscation and disposal as ordinary enemy assets.  As a result, Article 438 of the Treaty of Versailles was introduced, requiring British and other allied  governments to place German missions' property in their territories in a board of trustees of the same faith for custodianship and the continuous use for missionary purposes.

Basilea Terrace and other German mission property was first entrusted to non-statutory trustees (1919 - 1923), and then a statutory body German Missions Trust (1923-1929). The former was a three-person committee, comprising the Colonial Treasurer (also the Custodian of Enemy Property), Archdeacon Judd Ernst Barrnet (Church Missionary Society) and Rev. Thomas Pearce (London Missionary Society). The latter was  established under the German Missions Trustees, 1923 Ordinance. It had five trustee members including the Bishop and representatives of the CMS, LMS, the Kowloon Union Church and the Hong Kong Methodist Church. During this wartime and post-war period, Basilea Terrace was rented out by the GMT for income but at least one was rented to CMS at very low rate. From 1927 to 1929, the Hong Kong Government gradually returned the German missions property to their former owners.  

For further stories relating to these German mission property, please refer to my thesis "Aggression and Unity: Impacts of the First World War on German Protestant Missions in Hong Kong" available at HKU Thesis Hub.

demolished Richmond Terrace/Parkview site , by WYIP

The posted photo was taken back in 1961. The focus is not on me in the graduation gown pretending to be the boy genius graduating from college, but the surroundings. The photo was actually taken at the demolished Richmond Terrace/Parkview site. With this photo, I would like to jock my memory and present what happened to this site after the Richmond Terrace building was demolished. After almost 60 years, I hope my memory can still serve me well. 

From some old photos, the Richmond Terrace estate was built on a big plot of land in the western part of Hong Kong Island in the early 1880s. It was located at the mid-level of Victoria Peak on a gentle slope overlooking the western side of Victoria Harbour. Back then, there was no road to this plot of land, and so a new road, branching off Robinson Road (now called Park Road), was built to reach this estate. This new road was originally named Lower Richmond Road but was later renamed Lyttelton Road. This road meanders along a cliff that slopes down to Bonham Road.   

Richmond Terrace was actually built on a higher elevation than Lower Richmond Road and recessed about 100 feet away from Lower Richmond Road. There were two inclining driveways, one from the east end and the other from the west end, allowing cars from Lower Richmond Road to reach the front door of Richmond Terrace. The rest of the area in front of the terrace was planted with trees and bushes, making Richmond Terrace a very secluded location. 

After Richmond Terrace was demolished in 1954, all the trees and bushes surrounding the estate were removed, and the estate was left with a dirt lot and just the concrete foundation of the house. This big estate was rebuilt later in phases. The first phase of the rebuild, was on the east end of the plot between the upper section of the West End Park and the east end driveway. A seven-story apartment in seven blocks was erected from 56 to 57. They became #17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, and 29 Lyttelton Road. The second phase of the rebuild was the front part of the estate, i.e., the area in front of Richmond Terrace between Lyttelton Road. The construction took place between 1962- and 1963-time frame and they were all eight-story high apartments numbered #31 through 53 Lyttelton Road. The third phase of the rebuild was on the west end of the estate, which took place from 1964 to 65. This 12-story apartment with 4 blocks was numbered #71 through 77 Lyttelton Road. The last phase of the rebuild was on where Richmond Terrace/Parkview residence was actually located.  Two 12-story high rises were built in 1971-73 and numbered #67 and 69 Lyttelton Road.   

The photo I posted was taken in 1961. I was standing on the ground where Richmond Terrace/Parkview used to be. The background apartment on the left side of the photo is Minerva House, and the apartment on the right side of the photo is # 29 Lyttelton Road. 

Map of the developed Richmond Terrace/Parkview estate, by WYIP

This is a 1973 map showing the full development of Richmond Terrace/Parkview estate. Looks like the development of this estate was divided into four phases. The first phase was the development of the east side of the estate, of which four blocks of seven-story apartments were erected in 1956-57 and became #17 to #29 Lyttelton Road (7 blocks with odd numbers only). Then in 1962-63, the front center section of the estate was also rebuilt into eight-story apartments and became #31 to #53 Lyttelton Road (12 blocks, odd numbers only). The next phase was # 71 to #77 Lyttelton Road (4 blocks, odd number only) erected in 1964-65 located on the west end of the estate. The last phase of the development was the actual location of Richmond Terrace/Parkview residence. It was developed into two separate 12-story high rises and became #67 and #69 Lyttelton Road. 

Map source: https://www.hkmaps.hk/map.html?1973