[
    {
        "id": 207149,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1974",
        "page_number": 220,
        "title": "RAS-1974",
        "content_text": "214\n\nNOTES AND QUERIES\n\ngood size bed rooms, with dressing and bath room to each; two servant's rooms; a front and back verandah, closed with venetians, each 100 feet long and 12 feet wide, flat roof convenient for exercise and affording a fine view of the harbour and its entrances. Commodious outbuildings for servants, store room and offices; a large compound, garden, etc., whole surrounded by a good fence. Situated on the ridge at West Point and now in occupation of Jamieson, How and Co.\n\nThere was not a ready sale. A business depression prevailed and the location was too remote from the European section of Victoria.\n\nBelow the bungalow Jamieson, How and Co. built a large godown on Marine Lot 57 in 1842. Ten years later this property was sold at auction. The premises on the Marine Lot were described as consisting of \"a costly and recently improved residence, granite godown, pier, outhouses, shrubbery\". The West Point Bungalow was described as beautifully situated immediately opposite on the hill. Both properties were bought by Yorick Jones Murrow.\n\nIn 1854 the West Point Bungalow was used as a military barracks. This left it the worse for wear. Because of its dilapidated condition the Rhenish Missionary Society was able to purchase the property at a reasonable price in 1857. They needed a centre in Hong Kong as they had been forced from their stations on the mainland by the outbreak of hostilities between Britain and China. In 1859 the Government repossessed the property as a site for a new Civil Hospital.\n\nThe area north of Queen's Road extending to Ko Shing Street was the original beach. The land between Queen Street on the east and Wilmer Street on the west can be divided into six main sections. The first (Marine Lot 68) is a rectangular lot three houses wide and bounded on the east by Queen Street. The second section (Marine Lots 68A, 69, 69A, and 70) is intersected by Tsung Sau Lanes East and West. The third section (Marine Lot 58) is the former Ko Shing Theatre property with Wo Fung and Kom Yu Streets. The fourth section (Marine Lot 57) is bounded on the west by Sutherland Street and contains In Ku Lane. The fifth section (Marine Lots 71, 71A, 72, 72A) lies east of Sutherland Street and is intersected by Li Sing Street. The sixth piece (Marine Lot 200) is a triangular lot with its narrow point on Queen's Road and its west boundary Wilmer Street.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 207151,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1974",
        "page_number": 222,
        "title": "RAS-1974",
        "content_text": "216\n\nNOTES AND QUERIES\n\nthe case of the firms at West Point it was not a good situation in spite of the advantages of its water front. Neither of the firms used their property for a long period. Henry Pybus purchased Marine Lot 58 and the firm of Jamieson How and Company bought the adjoining Marine Lot 57. Both were Calcutta-based firms and both purchased their Hong Kong property at the first land sale in June, 1842. They immediately began to build godowns and residences and were in occupation by the fall of 1842.\n\nBoth Pybus and Jamieson, How and Co. had connections with Yorick Jones Murrow, an old China hand. In 1839 he was the agent at Canton for Jamieson's. Upon the death of Henry Pybus, Murrow succeeded to his business in 1844, and in 1852 he bought the adjoining godown property of Jamieson, Edgar and Co., as the Hong Kong branch of the firm was called. Murrow formed a partnership with James Stephenson to engage in California trade at the time of the gold rush. They developed an extensive trade with San Francisco and arranged for a line of steam packets between it and Hong Kong. The partnership was dissolved in 1854 and Murrow moved to Canton. In 1859, his property at West Point was sold at Sheriff's sale. Two years previous, he had moved back to Hong Kong and became editor and subsequently owner of the Hongkong Daily Press.\n\nMurrow as the \"Laird\" of West Point had a running feud with the Princely Hong at East Point. He used his newspaper as a weapon to attack. He was, of course, the lightweight contestant and several times he was sentenced for libel and for a period operated his newspaper from prison. He left Hong Kong in 1867*. \n\nThe suitability of the area for ship berthing has been mentioned. This feature attracted enterprises connected with the shipping industry. In the 1860's and '70's the shipping industry became an increasingly important feature of Hong Kong's economy, particularly as steam replaced sails.\n\nIn 1851, Thomas Roberts opened the West Point Cooperage and Boat Yard on the lot on the west side of what is now Queen Street. He sold his property to Lee Hing alias Li Sing in 1861. It\n\n* Frank H. H. King and Prescott Clarke: A Research Guide to China Coast Newspapers, 1822-1911 (Cambridge, Mass., 1965), pp. 139-141.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077",
        "rank": 0
    }
]