301
Again reverting to the Colony's hotels, therefore, we find that the Hongkong Hotel Company Limited in the old days was by no means what it is to-day. To illustrate the state of affairs as existed in the year 1866, it is to be noted that at a meeting of shareholders held in that year, Mr. Overbeck, the Chairman, stated that one of the Directors had resigned, had repudiated all his shares, and recourse had to be made to the law in order to make him pay his calls. The number of shares originally subscribed was 2,175. The owners of 231 shares, having left the Colony, had been struck off the list and while 1,208 shares had been paid up, the holders of 400 shares had refused payment!
I mentioned the other day (3-8-33) an old directory of Hongkong kindly sent me by a reader.
This old directory also gives a full list of the "hotels and taverns" (note the distinction!) in the Colony in 1860. Their names are in many cases redolent of the old inns, and, as previously regretted (see 29-6-33, et seq) it is a pity none of the signs appear to have been preserved. The list is reproduced here complete, with the exception of the only two Chinese taverns which are also given in the chronicle. The names of the "houses" are followed in each case by those of their proprietors, and the location, showing that they must have extended almost the length of Queen's Road:
Albion Hotel, Edward Parker, 339 Queen's Road.
Army and Navy Hotel, R.H. Kentwell, Queen's Road West.
Bombay Tavern, Joze Fernandez, Queen's Road West.
British Queen, G. Thompson, Queen's Road West.
British Hotel, Henry John Carr, Queen's Road West.
City of Hamburg, Henry A. Sievers, Queen's Road West.
Commercial Hotel, Parker Bradstreet, Queen's Road.
Crown and Anchor, J. Robertolo, Queen's Road West.
El Dorado Inn, George Robinson, Queen's Road West.
Empire Tavern, Robert Beattie, Queen's Road West.
German Tavern, William Peterson, Queen's Road West.
Hamburg Tavern, Peter Kettles, Queen's Road West.
Irish Flag, John Rich, Queen's Road West.
Land we Live In, J. Young, Queen's Road West.
London Tavern, Daniel Jones, 316 Queen's Road West.
Magnet Tavern, G. Wilkins, Stanley Street.
Napoleon Tavern, H.S. Peel, Queen's Road West.