An archive of photographs of Hong Kong and Canton taken by a crew member of USAT Hancock, 1901.

[Hong Kong and Canton, April 1901]. Group of 67 silver gelatin photographs taken by an anonymous photographer with a private camera, all in format 95 x 115 mm, mounted recto and verso of [19] loose leaves from an album of the period, all with the photographer’s handwritten captions in ink beneath the image; 63 of the photographs, taken in April 1901, show views and scenes in Hong Kong (approximately 50) and Canton, including streetscapes, harbour and river scenes, prominent buildings and geographical features, temples, an execution ground, examination cells, a dinner hosted by the officers of the Fürst Bismarck, and army personnel, nursing sisters and civilians on board USAT Hancock; a further 2 photographs show the Hancock on her return voyage to America at Nagasaki (May 1901) and San Francisco (June 1901), and 2 photographs show nursing sisters on board the USAT Sheridan in November 1900; all of the photographs are in very good condition; a few of the album pages have some mild foxing or toning, but are otherwise clean and sound.

A unique visual record of Hong Kong and Canton at the opening of the twentieth century, taken with a private camera by an American visitor.

Both the USAT Hancock (formerly SS Arizona) and USAT Sheridan (formerly SS Massachusetts) were fitted out as troop ships by the US army in 1898 and used as transports during the Spanish-American War, carrying soldiers and nursing staff between San Francisco and Manila. The present photographs were most likely taken by one of her crew on the Hancock‘s final return voyage to the States from the Philippines.