Photographs I've gleaned from flea markets, junk shops and sometimes ebay. The cheaper the better. Anything with a story that can be extracted from hand written notes, location research, local histories, census records......anything. A small band of fellow enthusiasts worldwide have helped me with many of these. Of course there are always mysteries that defy research, but there's even a story inside these. All images can be viewed at super-size on Flickr.

Thursday 2 August 2012

Hong Kong - Canton steamboat captains

Captain Lossius and his wife aboard SS Kinshan. Hong Kong - Canton Line. 1900s.
Captain Lossius and his wife on the deck of SS Kinshan.

I found these three photos in a flea market in England. Having spent my childhood in Hong Kong I was quite thrilled to come across them. I've managed to find out a great deal about these people thanks to various on-line databases and helpful individuals.....

Norwegian-born Jacob (a.k.a. Iacob) Johan Lossius (1853 -1942) and his wife Agnes Mary Potter Lossius (d. 1938). They were married in Liverpool in 1877. Both are buried in Hong Kong cemetery, Happy Valley. The SS Kinshan was a steamer which ran between Hong Kong and Canton. She was captured by the Japanese in WW2 and became the "Hachian Maru". She was sunk by USS Thresher, Dec. 30 1942.

(Below) Captain AW Dixon exercising with Indian clubs on the deck of the SS Sainam.

Captain Arthur Wesley Dixon on the deck of paddle steamer 'Sainam' (Hong Kong, Canton and Macau steamboat company). Xi River, China. Exercising with Indian clubs.Article from the 'The Adelaide Advertiser'. 17th July 1906: A number of Chinese pirate junks last week attacked the paddle steamer Sainam, 588 tons, Captain A.W. Dixon, belonging to the Hong Kong, Canton and Macau steamboat company, near Etuchow. They overpowered the officers and crew of the vessel, and murdered the Rev. Dr. MacDonald, who was a passenger. Captain Dixon and the Chief Engineer were seriously wounded. The shallow-draught river gunboat, Moorhen, 180 tons, attached to the China squadron, has been dispatched to the scene of the outrage.

Dixon survived and is recorded as having died in Shanghai in 1928.


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