Gresson Street Explained

Gresson Street
Location:Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Direction B:North
Terminus B:Queen's Road East

Gresson Street is a street in the Wan Chai area of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It connects Queen's Road East (south) to Johnston Road (north).

Market

The open market of Gresson Street is part of the Wan Chai Heritage Trail. The market began in the 1950s. Stalls sell wet and dry goods.[1]

History

Gresson Street was opened around 1909 on Marine Lots 29 and 30, when the lots were redeveloped by Hongkong Land. The street was named after William Jardine Gresson (1869–1934),[2] a partner of Jardine, Matheson & Co. from 1901 to 1910.[3]

A noted shootout, the "Siege of Gresson Street", took place here on 22 January 1918,[4] as a gang of armed-robbers were trapped while raiding a tenement[5] at No.6 Gresson Street. Four or five policemen and two robbers were shot dead and an additional robber and six policemen were wounded. The Governor, Francis May, a former Captain Superintendent of Police, personally negotiated with the last remaining gang member, but to no avail. When the young man refused to surrender, the Royal Garrison Artillery was used to "bomb" him out.[6] [7] [8]

See also

Notes and References

  1. http://www.wcheritage.org.hk/pdf/wan_chai_map_e.pdf Wan Chai Heritage Trail flyer. p.2
  2. http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=CV%2FPers%2FGresson%2C%20William%20Jardine%20(1869-1934)%20businessman Janus Project: William Jardine Gresson entry
  3. Book: Sinn, Elizabeth. Between east and west: aspects of social and political development in Hong Kong. 1990. Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong. 57.
  4. http://gwulo.com/node/8739 Notes by Patricia Lim on Gwulo.com website
  5. Book: Cameron, Nigel. An illustrated history of Hong Kong. 1991. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-584997-4. 223. registration.
  6. Book: Lim, Patricia. Forgotten Souls: A Social History of the Hong Kong Cemetery. 2011. Hong Kong University Press. 978-962-209-990-6. 430–431.
  7. Book: Historical and statistical abstract of the Colony of Hong Kong, 1841-1930. 1932. Noronha & Co., Govt. Printers. 70.
  8. http://www.police.gov.hk/offbeat/795/eng/n07.htm Grandsons of siege victim visit Force