Maybe they’re family; continued from May 8 post.
Below is one of my favorite mystery photos. Of the four people pictured, I know just one. The man on the left is my grandfather, Tobias Hunter. I’ve posted this picture many times before, on Facebook pages and any website I can find that might take a crack at it.
I originally posted it on Facebook Groups; “Hong Kong Past-The Early Years” and “Family and Friends from Shanghai and Hong Kong” and probably a couple of others. I began this particular search in 2018 in the hopes of identifying the people besides my grandfather who is on the far left in the picture.
We established the year and make of the car as a 1933 Austin A10 Touring Sedan and and that the location was likely Hong Kong. This we derived from the terrain shown as well as the Hong Kong Auto Club badge on the front bumper bar of the car. The next quest was to find the building, but it seemed to no longer exist. Many members guessed and I checked out every possibility, all to no avail, until about a week ago. A group member Donald Gudgin posted a couple of photos that were taken when he was serving in the Royal Engineers, #56 Field Squadron, Tai Lam back in 1956. This base was located near Ting Kau Beach along Castle Peak Road, New Territories. He sent me a crop from a Google Earth screen shot and amazingly, the location matched one that I had “pinned” several years ago, marking two properties associated with my grandfather. They were located at 333 and 335 Castle Peak Road.
This is what he wrote:
When I saw your photo I thought that looks like our camp building. I was there in 1956 Tai Lam Camp 56 Field Squadron RE Castle Peak Rd. The first photo is from inside the second floor. The second photo taken from the other direction. The third taken the same way as yours. ( Sorry they are not very clear ) All I know about the building was taken over by the Japanese in 1941 and then by the British army in 1945. We moved out in 1957. It was then demolished. I may be wrong but the building looks very similar.
The photo below shows the view from the upper floor balcony with the distinctive “X” patterned railings
This is my capture from Google Earth showing where the two properties that my grandfather had an interest in, were located.
So, a connection is there and now my search for the identity of the other people becomes more centered. I will attempt to delve into the property records next to see if anything shows up.
Below is a Lot map from the Hong Kong Land Registry that shows the location and present parcel numbers for the property in question on Castle Peak Road. The overall section is DD399 and the piece numbered 333 is now represented by DD399 177. The piece that was at one point #335 is now DD399 437. The plot map is pictured below.
I’ve done a search under these numbers and neither produces a connection to my grandfather however there’s a possibility that there were multiple subsections of these lots. The letter below is one of several between my grandfather and B J Wong of P C Woo & Co in 1949 that establishes his relationship to the property.
A coincidence I just noticed is the pattern of the railing is three bars then three Xs and then three bars again ( III-XXX-III ) 3-30-3 The address of the house was “333” Castle Peak Road! I realize that the true Roman numerals would be CCCXXXIII but that wouldn’t look as good.
