The history of this Colony is associated with a large number of men of various nationalities and faiths, in a manner at once striking and significant of the cosmopolitan nature of Hong Kong and the good relations which happily exist among its numerous communities. Among the more famous names associated with local development, indeed we have Sir Paul Chater, an Armenian, whose loyalty and faith in the place have never been surpassed by anybody associated with the Colony's affairs. Some of the early pioneers, we have seen, working hand-in-hand with the first Britons to establish themselves here, were members of the Portuguese community, and there were also many Indian and Jewish merchants in the Colony in the earliest years, as a glance at the old directories denotes.
We might, for the present, consider some of these pioneers briefly. The first-comers of the traders from India were the Parsees, who had been long established in Canton, and must have arrived here simultaneously with the British in 1841. It is recorded that Parsee merchants arrived in China from Bombay about the middle of the eighteenth century, and were practically the pioneers of British trade with the empire of Cathay. Their establishments at Canton were in a flourishing state more than a hundred years ago, and the early merchant princes, such as the founders of Jardines, had a large trade with India through their Parsee connexions there.
The community, who serve as a link with the ancient Persian sect driven out of their homeland by persecution, have always been in the forefront of local commerce, social endeavour, and charity, and the name of Sir Hormusjee Mody will always be associated with the founding and establishment of the Hong Kong University. The community also presented the bandstand in the Botanic Gardens, in the Sixties.
Shortly after the founding of the Colony there appears to have been a temporary period of decline in the brisk trade with India, and it is interesting to note that Jewish merchants were coming to the fore. In an old chronicle appears the following referring to the period about 1844:
"There were further (in Hong Kong) half a dozen Indian firms chiefly Parsees, but ever since the Treaty of Nanking and the introduction of steam navigation, the share of the Parsees in the China trade had commenced to dwindle down rapidly, being gradually pushed out by Jewish firms from Bombay, and the Parsees who remained preferred to conduct their business at Canton."
Later the community revived their trading here, but even up to now have a very strong representation in Canton's trade, with old-established businesses in Shameen.
The Parsees were granted a cemetery at Happy Valley about the time that the Christian and Muslim communities were being similarly accommodated, in the many years ago. It was only about three years back that their new Zoroastrian clubhouse just below Lee Gardens, facing Caroline Hill, was opened.
PARSEDS and the PARSEE CLUB
774
The history of this Colony is associated with a large number of men of various nationalities and faiths, in a manner at once striking and significant of the cosmopolitan nature of Hong Kong and the good relations which happily exist among its numerous communities. Among the more famous names associated with local development, indeed we have Sir Paul Chater, an Armenian, whose loyalty and faith in the place have never been surpassed by anybody associated with the Colony's affairs. Some of the early pioneers, we have seen, working hand-in-hand with the first Britons to establish themselves here, were members of the Portuguese community, and there were also many Indian and Jewish merchants in the Colony in the earliest years, as a glance at the old directories denotes.
We might, for the present, consider some of these pioneers bridfly. The first-comers of the traders from India were the Parsees, who had been long established in Canton, and must have arrived here simultaneously with the British in 1841. It is recorded that Parsee merchants arrived in China from Bombay about the middle of the eighteenth century, and were practically the pioneers of British trade with the empire of Cathay. Their establishments at Canton were in a flourishing state more than a hundred years ago, and the e arly merchant princes, such as the founders of Jardines, ahd a large trade with India through their Parsee connexions there.
The community, who serve as a link with the ancient Persian sect driven out of their homeland by persecution, have always been in the forefront of local commerce, social endeavour, and charity, and the name of Sir Hormusjee Mody will always be associated with the founding and establishment of the Hong Kong University. The community also presented the bandstand in the Botanic Vardens, in the Sixties.
Shortly after the founding of the Colony there appears to have been a temporary period of decline in the brisk trade with India, and it is interesting to note that Jewish merchants were coming to the fore. In an old chronicle appears the following referring to the period about 1844:
"There were further (in Hong Kong) half a dozen Indian firms chiefly Parsees, but ever since the Treaty of Nanking and the intorduction of steam navigation, the share of the Parsees in the China trade had commenced to dwindle down rapidly, being gradually pushed out by Jewish firms from Bombay, and the Parsees who remained preferred to conduct their business at Canton,"
Later the community revived their trading here, but even up to now have a very strong representation in Canton's trade, with old-established businesses in Shameen.
The Parsees were granted a cemetery at Happy Valley about the time that the Christian and Muslim communities were being similarly accommodated, in the many years ago. It was only about three years back that their new Zorastrian clubhouse just below Lee Gardens, facing Caroline Hill, was opened.
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