NOTES AND QUERIES
319
Tai Kok Tsui in 1880 and in 1898 the Green Island Cement Company moved its works from Macao to Hung Hom. This fact helps to explain the predominantly male population in the census.
The Hung Hom community was among the largest of these new commercial and industrial settlements. By 1897, its population was 5,876, standing second only to Yau Ma Tei with 8,051 (SP1897 p.485).
(1) Details of the earliest settlement up to 1898
The first list of occupants of Hung Hom is the 1867 Return of Squatter's Licences.* This shows that the village was composed of forty-four premises held under licence by thirty-four individuals, of whom eleven bore the surname Tsang and nine Lee. Near the village was 31 mow of land under cultivation. These also were largely held by the Tsang and Lee families. As the village grew, due to the growth of the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Yard with its opportunities for employment and for providing services for its ever-growing staff of employees, the amount of land under cultivation declined; only three years after the 1867 list, the amount of cultivated land had been cut in half. Between 1867 and 1874 the number of listed properties remained fairly constant, but in 1875 there was an increase from fifty-four to seventy-five. In succeeding years, however, the number of individuals occupying land by squatter's licences slowly declined.
The first collection book for Village Rates in Kowloon is dated 1873.† It lists the occupant of the premise, with the use of the premise, its value, and the owner. Aside from the Dock Company's extensive establishment, thirty-nine buildings are listed. These included the Police Station (at the time unoccupied), a dwelling used as a school, six chandlery shops, one shop dealing in sundries, two carpenter's establishments, a fruit seller, and a barber. Of the shops, only three were rented out; the others were occupied by their owners. The remaining premises were all small family residences occupied by their owners.
In two years, the properties upon which rates were collected had increased by twenty-five. Among the new premises listed was a Joss House rated at $50 and a house for the Joss House keeper,
* H.K. Public Records Office, H.K. Record Series 183. † H.K. Public Records Office, H.K. Record Series 83.
NOTES AND QUERIES
319
Tai Kok Tsui in 1880 and in 1898 the Green Island Cement Com- pany moved its works from Macao to Hung Hom. This fact helps to explain the predominently male population in the census.
The Hung Hom community was among the largest of these new commercial and industrial settlements. By 1897, its population was 5,876, standing second only to Yau Ma Tei with 8,051 (SP 1897 p. 485).
(1) Details of the earliest settlement up to 1898
The first list of occupants of Hung Hom is the 1867 Return of Squatter's Licences.* This shows that the village was composed of forty-four premises held under licence by thirty-four individuals, of whom eleven bore the surname Tsang and nine Lee. Near the village was 31 mow of land under cultivation. These also were largely held by the Tsang and Lee families. As the village grew, due to the growth of the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Yard with its opportunities for employment and for providing services for its ever growing staff of employees, the amount of land under cultivation declined; only three years after the 1867 list, the amount of cultivated land had been cut in half. Between 1867 and 1874 the number of listed properties remained fairly constant, but in 1875 there was an increase from fifty-four to seventy-five. In succeeding years, however the number of individuals occupying land by squatter's licences slowly declined.
The first collection book for Village Rates in Kowloon is dated 1873.† It lists the occupant of the premise, with the use of the premise, its value and the owner. Aside from the Dock Company's extensive establishment, thirty-nine buildings are listed. These in- cluded the Police Station (at the time unoccupied), a dwelling used as a school, six chandlery shops, one shop dealing in sundries, two carpenter's establishments, a fruit seller and a barber. Of the shops only three were rented out, the others were occupied by their owners. The remaining premises were all small family residences occupied by their owners.
In two years the properties upon which rates were collected had increased by twenty-five. Among the new premises listed was a Joss House rated at $50 and a house for the Joss House keeper,
* H.K. Public Records Office, H.K. Record Series 183. ↑ H.K. Public Records Office, H.K. Record Series 83.
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