All Collections
Rue, Henry Collection
Images of Hong Kong especially, and also Canton, Shanghai and Peking, from an album inscribed 'Henry Rue. 46 Brougham Street. Photographs from China 1910 to 1913'. Henry Adolph Ruhe was born in Greenock, Scotland in 1889 and died in Surrey, England in 1960. In June 1912, Ruhe joined the Chinese Maritime Customs Service (CMCS) as 2nd Engineer, probably serving initially on the RS Likin and then on RS Kaipan. He left the CMCS in April 1914. Ruhe changed his surname to Rue in c.1916 like many in wartime Britain who were of German descent or with Germanic-sounding surnames. He was connected in some way with the Taikoo Dockyard and Engineering Company when in Hong Kong, with a later career as a consulting marine engineer and surveyor. Rue probably took many of the photographs in the album, which is now held in Archives & Special Collections, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London (SOAS archive catalogue reference number for the album is MS 381233). 138 images. HPC refs: HR01 and HR-s.
