Lot 8074
1861 (Dec 21): Cover from London to John Lamont, Esq., Hong Kong endorsed 'via Marseilles' franked by 1857 1 d. red star, 1858 2 d. blue pl. 9 and 1856 6 d. lilac in a horizontal pair, lower stamps crossed by ironed file fold, all tied by London '11' obliterators in black. Reverse with London datestamp (Dec 26) in black and HONG KONG arrival cds (Feb 15, 1862). Manuscript '1' (penny) credit to Hong Kong on front of an attractive three colour franking. Signed Pröschold. Cert. Holcombe (1987).
Following the defeat in the First Opium War, the Chinese ceded Hong Kong to Britain. John Lamond was an early European settler in Hong Kong. He was a Scottish ship carpenter, settled in East Point as early as 1843 where barques and clippers could be easily looked after and repaired. In 1853 John Lamond built Hong Kong's first steamship, the ‚Queen‘, a wooden boat of 137 tons. In 1859 he built Hong Kong's first dry dock!
