Horse Shoer

George Duddell made the following announcement on the Friends of China on May 27, 1848

Ferriery corner of Wellington and Wyndham Street, Victoria. Mr. Duddell begs to inform the community of Hongkong, that he has engaged an English Horse Shoer, and will open a Ferriery in all its branches on the above premises on ... ; and is confident that the moderate charge of $1.5 per Horse together with attention and despatch, will produce him a share of Public Patronage.

Duddell made his fortune in land speculations in Hong Kong and retired back to the U.K. only in his 30s. He, at one time, held the opium monopoly, known as an 'Opium Farmer', for the exclusive right to prepare and sell opium in Hong Kong. The Duddell Street in Central, with the 2 surviving gas street lamps, is named after him.

The First Flight of the Now-Defunct Oasis Hong kong Airlines

October 26, 2006, flight O8 700 took off to London after a 24-hour delay as the airline company settled a dispute with Russia, who revoked the London-bound flight's fly-over rights

The First Commercial Flight between Paris and Hong Kong

August 4, 1938, Air France; the 12-seater Dewoitine 338, the new Air France’s favorite trimotor plane

The First Commercial Flight between London and Hong Kong

March 23, 1936, Imperial Airways

The First Powered Flight in Hong Kong

March 18, 1911, Belgian pilot Charles den Bron took off at the Sha Tin Airfield in his plane named Spirit of Sha Tin

The First Colonial Flag

Frist colonial flag: 1871 to 1876

British Flag Raised in Hong Kong

January 26, 1941, British forces landed in and took possession of Hong Kong

Fire Brigate

May 23, 1868, Hong Kong Fire Brigade (香港消防隊) established; 62 men strong, with another 100 Chinese volunteers.

Happy Valley Racecourse Fire

February 26, 1918, over 600 killed.

The bottom photo, taken in 1927, shows the new grandstand that was built after the fire

Hong Kong's Ship Fire

1949, SS Sai On (西安號客船), a ferry that ran between Hong Kong and Guangzhou; 200 death.

Hong Kong's First Hotel Fire

February 13, 1926, Hong Kong Hotel (香港大酒店), 6-storied building opened in 1868; located where the Gloucester Building and the Central Building are situated today; hotel closed after fire.

The First Financial Secretary

Known as Colonial Treasurer before 1937: served 1844-1845, Robert Montgomery Martin (1803?-1868); said the following of Hong Kong in 1844,

"There does not appear the slightest probability that, under any circumstances, Hong Kong will ever become a place of trade. It is worse than folly to persist in a course begun in error, and which, if continued, must eventually end in disappointment and in national loss and degradation."

Martin was probably right about what he said of Hong Kong, but only for the pre-WWII period. The watershed provided by the war, and the change in Hong Kong's fortunes as a result of the establishment of a strong and Communist Government in China, the independence of most other former colonial territories in Asia and the incipient industrialization of all of them put post-1949 Hong Kong into a totally different category from the quiet backwater which it occupied before.

In addition to being a tax expert, Martin is a noted author. Books written by R M Martin are listed here:

eBook reading: title "History of the British Posessions in the Indian; Atlantic Oceans"

Ferry Service by a Steam Launch

1870, Morning Star (曉星號), twin-screw, wooden-hulled, bought from England, owned and run by Grant Smith.

Hong Kong's First Ferry Service Company

1842, between Tsimshatsui and Central; operated by Abdoolally Ebrahim & Co (鴨都喇利); founder Seth Ebrahim Noordin from India

The First Ferrari Imported to Hong Kong

1960s.

1960s – the First Ferrari imported to Hong Kong, no specific information on the exact year and who the owner was...

But here is the first order Ferrari received from Hong Kong in October 1959 – a Series II250GT Pinin Farina (3-liter, V-12) – and the buyer was a captain in the US armed force. By the time the car is ready to ship in May 1960, the captain has been reassigned to Japan, and so the car was shipped to Japan and became the first Ferrari to have been imported in the country.