Cochrane Street

Cochrane Street (Chinese: 閣麟街; Cantonese Yale: gok3 leun4 gaai1) is a hilly street between Queen's Road Central and the junction with Gage Street and Lyndhurst Terrace in Central, Hong Kong. The whole street hosts the Central–Mid-Levels escalators.

Intersection of Queen's Road Central and Cochrane Street in 1895. Photograph by William Henry Jackson.

Name

The street was named after Thomas John Cochrane, a Rear Admiral of Second in Command (1842–44) and commander-in-chief (1844–46) in East Indies and China Station of Royal Navy. At the time, he stayed in Hong Kong.^[1]^[2]

History

The street is near the Central Market across the Queen's Road. Cochrane Street was at the build-up area of Cantonese residents. It was re-zoned in 1844 under the administration of Henry Pottinger to improve the hygiene condition of water supply. The Cantonese residents was later removed to Tai Ping Shan area.

At about 11pm on 14 August 1901, two houses at No. 32 and 34 of Cochrane Street collapsed suddenly, claiming 43 lives.^[3]

Features

The street runs uphill and many restaurants are on this street.

References

^ "Friend of China". 1844-02-27. "The thieves cross to Tsim Sha Tsui. Does Sir Thomas Cochrane need to see his ships from his house ashore? Do the naval officers need them nearby for ease of boarding?"
^ "Friend of China". 1844-03-19. "Should not Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane be doing that? His marines have recently been ashore in Kowloon exercising with four brass field pieces while D’Aguilar's soldiers will be rowing the harbour in search of pirates!"
^ "THE COCHRANE STREET DISASTER". Daily Press (Hong Kong) page 2. 21 August 1901. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)