Branding Centennial

Updated (partial) on December 6, 2012

In this feature we pay tribute to establishments founded in Hong Kong in 1910 or before, which are still operating under their original names, or brands, (fractional acceptable) at inception. Government agencies and religious establishments are not included.

1832 Jardine Matheson

1846 Hong Kong Club

1846 Masonic Order Hong Kong

1847 The Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch
Ceased to exist between 1859 and 1959 however

1850 Lane Crawford

1851 Hong Kong Cricket Club

H.A. Lammert

1855 Lammert Brothers Limited 覽勿夜冷館, later 欖勿兄弟拍賣行有限公司

The auction house was originally incorporated as Lammert, Akinson and Company and was founded by George Rhinegold Lammert, who opened the firm in Stanley Street. The firm was renamed George P. Lammert when Rhinegold Lammert’s son G.P. (who by the way was one of the best-known vocalists in Hong Kong at that time) took over. It was again re-named Lammert Brothers in 1855 when George P. Lammert’s brothers H.A. and L.E. Lammert started running the company while George P. spent much of his time in Shanghai. H.A. personally conducted all the sales. In 1870 it was advertised as a naval and general store, auctioneers and commission agents and had "Lammert, Hongkong" as its telegraphic address. Some sales were conducted in the medium of Chinese, which was unusual at the time. The firm was located, in the early days at the site where Jardine, Matheson were to erect their new office, it was then moved to No. 4 Duddell Street. Since the 1950s, the firm was located in the basement of the Pedder Building, now the home of Shanghai Tang, from there it moved to its present address in the Union Commercial Building in Lyndhurst Terrace.

1859 Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, Hong Kong Branch

1861 Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce
The Chamber of Commerce of Hong Kong was founded in 1861 with 62 members. The inaugural Chairman was Alexander Percival, the 7th Tai-pan of Jardine, Matheson & Co, while W. Walkinshaw representing another opium merchant, Turner & Co., took the vice chair. Mirroring the composition of the mercantile community in that era, opium merchants can be found in the very core of the Chamber as they nearly filled up one third of the Founding Member roster. The first general meeting was held in the Hong Kong Club on 29 May 1861 where the first General Committee was established. The nine-member committee had included opium merchants such as American Warren Delano of Russell & Co. 旗昌洋行. Delano was the maternal grandfather of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Today, the Chamber has more than 4,000 corporate members. It is known as the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce 香港總商會.

1862 Hong Kong and China Gas

1862 A S Watson 屈臣氏

1863 Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock

1864 Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Company

1866 Hongkong Hotel Company

c.1867 George Falconer the Jewelers

1868 Nam Pak Hong Union 南北行公所

1870 Tung Wah Hospital

1870 Butterfield & Swire

1878 Po Leung Kuk

1879 Eu Yan Sang

1880 Wotton & Deacon
Victor Hobart Deacon was admitted to practice in Hong Kong in 1880 (and registered as a Notary Public on November 30, 1881) and joined the law practice established in 1851 by William Thomas Bridges who was the second barrister to commerce practice in Hong Kong, and from time to time Colonial Secretary. The firm then practiced under the name Wotton & Deacon. In 1898, the name of the firm was again changed to Deacon, Looker and Deacon, when Victor Hobart’s nephew, Frank Barrington Deacon was admitted to the firm. The firm changes its name the last time to Deacons 的近律師行 in 1924. This was a remarkably early adoption of a modern naming method, given that both Victor and Frank Deacon had by now retired from the firm. By 2008, Deacons became Hong Kong’s largest local law firm (190 attorneys and about 600 employees) as well as the oldest.

c.1880 John D. Hutchison

1883 Ladies Recreation Club

1884 Hong Kong Jockey Club

1885 Kelly and Walsh 必發圖書有限公司
The publishing house and bookshop was established in 1876 by Irishman Kelly, the printer, Scotsman Walsh, the bookseller, and was incorporated in Hong Kong on July 1, 1885 with investments from about 20 other shareholders. The first shop was in Queen's Road. It then moved to York Building (Chater Road), then to Prince's Building to Swire House, and finally to its present location in Ice House Street and the Pacific Place. There were branches in Shanghai, Singapore, Hankow (Hankou) and Japan. Their printing presses were in Shanghai and Singapore, and Kelly and Walsh published about 500 titles all told. Kelly and Walsh was ultimately sold to book sellers Swindon Book Co. Ltd. in Hong Kong.

1886 Dairy Farm

1887 Alice Memorial Hospital 雅麗氏紀念醫院

1888 Peak Tram

1889 Royal Hong Kong Golf Club

1889 Hong Kong Land 置地公司

1890 Hong Kong Electric

c.1890 Sir Ellis Kadoorie Secondary School 嘉道理爵士中學

1891 Dodwell

1892 Diocesan Boys' School 拔萃男書院

1892 Wu Woo Shing Goldsmith 胡和盛金行
Wu Woo Shing is located in Shanghai Street. The founder was Wu Foon 胡寬.

1893 Nethersole Hospital 那打素醫院

1893 Belilios Public School 庇理羅士女子中學

1894 Queen’s College 皇仁書院
(Updated on December 6, 2012)

I found this recently:

Government Notification – No.38
With reference to Government Notification No.70 of 18th February, 1890, it is hereby notified that his Excellency the Governor has been pleased to direct that Victoria College shall be in future be known as Queen's College.
By Command,
G.T.M. Obrien, Colonial secretary
Colonial Secretary's Office, Hongkong, 31st January, 1894.

References:
- The Hong Kong Government Gazette, February 3, 1894.

1894 Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club

1894 Craigengower Cricket Club

1894 Leigh & Orange

1895 Johnson Stokes & Master 孖士打律師行

The history of the firm dated back to 1863 when Edmund Sharp established himself as one of Hong Kong’s earliest sole proprietorship law practices – solicitor and notary public (Sharp registered as a notary public on July 20, 1871). In 1895, the firm expanded and Alfred Bulmer Johnson (registered as a notary public on February 18, 1875). In became senior partner of the firm with Alfred Stokes and Godfrey Master (registered as a notary public on January 5, 1903) as supporting partners, and subsequently re-named Johnson Stokes & Master (JSM). At that time, its clients had included the newly established Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation. Johnson was a Crown Solicitor since 1882 and passed the title to Henry Lardner Dennys, a senior partner in Hong Kong when the former retired in 1896. In 1897, JSM engaged the firm’s first local born solicitor – the Oxford-educated Wei On 韋安, who was the brother of Wei Yuk 韋玉 (aka Wei Boshan 韋寶珊) [1]. In 2008, JSM was acquired by the Chicago-based law firm Mayer Brown, and became Mayer Brown JSM. Before the merge, JSM had offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai), Bangkok, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The firm had a team of 800 staff, including more than 260 lawyers.

1897 Hong Kong Parsee Cricket Club

1898 Star Ferry

1899 Diocesan Girls' School 拔萃女書院

1900 Chinese General Chamber of Commerce 香港中華總商會

1900 Sincere Department Stores

1901 YMCA, Hong Kong

1902 British American Tobacco

1903 Police Recreation Club 警察游樂會

1903 Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Hong Kong

1903 The South China Morning Post

1903 China Fleet Club

1904 Hastings, John, Solicitor, Conveyancer, Proctor, Notary Public, Patent and Trade Mark Agent 希士廷狀師（律師、地產轉讓人、訴訟代理人、國際公證人、專利及商標代理人）

1904 Hong Kong Tramways

1904 Kowloon Cricket Club

1906 Club de Recreio

1907 Matilda Hospital 明德醫院

1907 Wing On Department Stores

1907 The Incorporated Law Society of Hongkong 香港律師會

1909 Chau Kee Paper Model Shop 秋記扎作
Traditional handicraft shop that produces handmade paper models made from a bamboo frame 紙紮. Models include lanterns, kites, and items used as offerings to dead people (by way of incineration) such as houses, automobiles, mahjong, clothing, etc., basically, anything one wishes that can be made from bamboo and paper (I’ve seen figures of man and woman servants), … The shop is situated in Elgin Street 伊利近街.

1910 Lam – King of Snakes 蛇王林
Oldest surviving snake soup restaurant, located in Hillier Street 禧利街.

1910 Lin Heung Lau Teahouse 蓮香樓
(Updated on December 6, 2012)

Lin Heung Lau
photo by Malu, 2006, Pixnet Blog

Originated from Guangzhou in 1889, there were three restaurants under the same ownership in Hong Kong, with the first one opened in 1910. The only surviving one opened in 1918 and is situated at the corner of Wellington Street and Aberdeen Street. In addition to being a restaurant / teahouse, it is also a famous bakery producing popular Chinese pastries.

1910 South China Football Club

1912 University of Hong Kong

1912 Chinese Recreation Club, Hong Kong 香港中華游樂會

Coming Up …

1914 Commercial Press, Hong Kong Branch 商務印書館香港分館
1915 Boy Scouts Association, Hong Kong Branch 香港童子軍總會
1916 Helena May 梅夫人婦女會
1916 Girl Guide, Hong Kong
1916 Lo & Lo Solicitors 羅文錦律師樓
1916 Chun Wui Tong Herbal Tonic 春回堂涼茶店
1918 Bank of East Asia
1920 Hong Kong Chinese Medical Association (The Hong Kong Medical Association)
1921 Hong Kong Chiu Chow Chamber of Commerce 香港潮州商會
1924 China Motor Bus
1925 Maryknoll Convent School 瑪利諾修院學校
1928 Peninsula Hong Kong
1928 Jimmy's Kitchen
1929 Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children 香港保護兒童會
1931 St Patrick's Society of Hong Kong
1933 Luk Yu Tea House

- TO BE COMPLETED -