Victoria City, Hong Kong

The City of Victoria, (, or ) often called Victoria City or simply Victoria (), was the '' de facto'' capital of Hong Kong during its time as a British dependent territory. It was initially named Queenstown but was soon known as Victoria. It was one of the first urban settlements in Hong Kong and its boundaries are recorded in the Laws of Hong Kong. All government bureaux and many key departments still have their head offices located within its limit.

Present-day Central is at the heart of Victoria City. Although the city expanded over much of what is now Kennedy Town, Shek Tong Tsui, Lung Fu Shan, Sai Ying Pun, Sheung Wan, Wan Chai, Happy Valley, the Mid-Levels, East Point and parts of Causeway Bay, the name ''Victoria'' has been eclipsed by ''Central'' in popular usage. However, the name is still used in places such as Victoria Park, Victoria Peak, Victoria Harbour, Victoria Prison, and a number of roads and streets. It is also retained in the names of various organisations such as the Victoria City District of the Hong Kong Scout, and the Victoria Junior Chamber. The name Victoria District Court had been used into the 1980s, when it was moved to the Wanchai Tower and combined with other district courts in the territory.

History

"City of Victoria" had appeared on the statute books early in the 1845, although names such as "Town of Victoria" can be found as well. Letters patent that formally confers the city status and creates the City of Victoria was made on 11 May 1849.

In 1857, the British government expanded the scope of Victoria City and divided it into four ''wans'' ():

* ''Sai Wan'' ( 'West Ring', present-day Sai Wan, including Kennedy Town, Shek Tong Tsui, and Sai Ying Pun)
* ''Sheung Wan'' ('Upper Ring', present-day Sheung Wan)
* ''Choong Wan'' or ''Chung Wan'' ('Central Ring', present-day Central)
* ''Ha Wan'' (''Lower Ring'', present-day Wan Chai).

"Sai Wan", "Sheung Wan" and "Choong Wan" retain the same Chinese name today. The four ''wans'' are further divided into nine ''yeuks'' (, similar to 'district' or 'neighbourhood'). The coverage also included parts of East Point and Happy Valley (west of Wong Nai Chung Road on the east side of the racecourse). In 1903, boundary stones were established to mark the city's boundary and six of them are still preserved today. The stones spread from Causeway Bay to Kennedy Town.

In the 1890s, Victoria extended west to east along the coastal strip. Buildings were made of granite and brick. Buses and the new tramway would become the main form of transportation in the area.

The city is centred in present-day Central, and named after Queen Victoria in 1843. It occupies the areas known in modern times as Central, Admiralty, Sheung Wan, Wan Chai, East Point, Shek Tong Tsui, the Mid-levels, the Peak, Happy Valley, Tin Hau, and Kennedy Town, on Hong Kong Island.

Boundaries

The city boundaries are defined in the laws of Hong Kong as follows:

*On the north – The Harbour;
*On the west – A line running due north and south drawn through the north-west angle of Inland Lot No. 1299 and extending southwards a distance of from the aforesaid angle;
*On the south – A line running due east from the southern extremity of the western boundary until it meets a contour in the vicinity of the Hill above Belchers above principal datum, that is to say, a level below the bench-mark known as "Rifleman's Bolt", the highest point of a copper bolt set horizontally in the east wall of the Royal Navy Office and Mess Block Naval Dockyard, and thence following the said contour until it meets the eastern boundary;
*On the east – A line following the west side of the Government Pier, Bay View and thence along the west side of , then along the north side of Causeway Road to . Thence along the west side of Moreton Terrace to the south-east corner of Inland Lot No. 1580 and produced in a straight line for , and thence along the north side of Cotton Path and produced until it meets the west side of Wong Nei Chong Road on the east side of Wong Nei Chong Valley and thence to the south-east angle of Inland Lot No. 1364, produced until it meets the southern boundary.

First streets

According to the 1845 map of Victoria City, 16 streets were initially named for the city. These streets exist mainly in the areas of Central and the Mid-Levels, with two being in Sheung Wan. These street names were finalised by the second Governor of Hong Kong, Sir John Francis Davis. All 16 streets were named after persons of great prominence in Great Britain or in Hong Kong, with the location and layout determined according to the position and prominence of the eponymous person:

Boundary stones

In 1903, the Hong Kong Government erected several boundary stones to mark the limits of Victoria, measuring 98 cm in height, tapered at the top and with the inscription "City Boundary 1903". As the city’s boundaries were clearly defined by ordinance, these stones were more just physical markers.

Three additional boundary stones were found in 2021, adding the total of discovered stones to 10, including the one disappeared in June 2007.

Districts

In 1866 the nine districts, also called ''yeuks'', are:

* Shek Tong Tsui
* Sai Ying Pun
* Taipingshan, a neighborhood near Sheung Wan that shared its name with Victoria Peak
* Sheong Wan
* Choong Wan North and South, known in modern times as Central in English
* Ha Wan, today's Admiralty and Wan Chai
* Wan Chai
* Bowrington, between today's Wan Chai and Causeway Bay, known also as Ngo Keng
* So Kun Poo.

Other places that might be considered as ''yeuks'' include:
*Kennedy Town
* Happy Valley
*Causeway Bay

Territorial designation

On 21 May 1982, Sir Crawford Murray MacLehose was made a life peer, weeks after the end of his governorship in Hong Kong. His peerage was announced on 31 December 1981 in the 1982 New Years Honours. He was therefore styled as Baron MacLehose of Beoch, of Maybole in the District of Kyle and Carrick, and of Victoria in Hong Kong. Victoria was listed as the barony's territorial designation, alongside MacLehose's hometown Maybole. The Barony went extinct on 27 May 2000 when MacLehose passed away.

See also

* History of Hong Kong
* List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong
* List of places named for Queen Victoria § Hong Kong, for a list of places named after Queen Victoria
* Praya

References

External links

Boundary of the City of Victoria as defined in Hong Kong Laws
Cap 1 SCHED 1 of Hong Kong Law
Article on history of Hong Kong

Photos of the 1903 boundary stones
* (Adobe PDF format)
Another article on "four wans and nine yeuks"

A photographic panorama of the water-front and city of Victoria
taken sometime after 1906, in Cambridge Digital Library

{{Coord, 22, 16, 42, N, 114, 10, 28, E, region:CN-91_type:city(1063646)_source:dewiki, display=title

Central, Hong Kong
Central and Western District, Hong Kong
Hong Kong Island
Populated coastal places in Hong Kong
Populated places established in 1842
1842 establishments in Hong Kong
Populated places in Hong Kong