Dorabjee Naorojee Mithaiwala (sometimes written 'Nowrojee') was an Indian businessman of

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

descent in Hong Kong.

Early years

He first arrived in Hong Kong in 1852 as a stowaway aboard a ship from Bombay bound for China and was a cook.

Career

Founding of the Star Ferry

Naorojee is most recognized for the founding of the Kowloon Ferry Company in 1888 for transporting passengers and cargo (especially bread) between

Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and t ...

and

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island is an Islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong, island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km ...

. The company was renamed in 1898 to

Star Ferry The Star Ferry is a passenger ferry service operator and tourist attraction in Hong Kong. Its principal routes carry passengers across Victoria Harbour, between Hong Kong Island, and Kowloon. The service is operated by the Star Ferry Com ...

, which today transports passengers throughout Hong Kong.

Hotel Business

Dorabjee Naorojee was also a hotel entrepreneur, starting the King Edward Hotel in

Colonial Hong Kong Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the British ...

. According to some sources, he leased the

Hong Kong Hotel The Hongkong Hotel was Hong Kong's first luxury hotel modelled after sumptuous London hotels. It opened on Queen's Road and Pedder Street in 1868, later expanding into the Victoria Harbour waterfront of Victoria City in 1893. History The ori ...

in 1873 for ten years and afterward started one hotel on

Pottinger Street Pottinger Street is a street in Central, Hong Kong. It is also known as the ''Stone Slabs Street'' () since the street is paved unevenly by granite stone steps. It was named in 1858 after Henry Pottinger, the first Governor of Hong Kong, ser ...

and two in

. Other sources have a businessman by the name of Mr Hing Kee, who was tired of the hotel business and sold his landmark in 1903 to Mr Farmer, who was a veteran of the hotel business. Farmer had also worked in Australia before arriving in Hong Kong in 1890 to work at the Victoria Hotel, then the New Victoria Hotel, where he became the proprietor in 1898. His son Dhunjeebhoy Dorabjee Naorojee ran the hotel after his father returned to India and until his death in 1911. Supposedly around 1906 or 1907 Mr Madar, Dorabjee and Mr Farmer started the King Edward Hotel at 3

Des Voeux Road Des Voeux Road Central and Des Voeux Road West are two roads on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. They were named after the 10th Governor of Hong Kong, Sir William Des Vœux. The name was sometimes spelt with the ligature œ in ...

situated in

. It is believed that this hotel used the name as a franchise lease, not the original nor the very first King Edward Hotel. Mithaiwala retired from his businesses in Hong Kong and returned to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mithaiwala, Dorabjee Naorojee Hong Kong businesspeople Star Ferry Parsi people Hong Kong people of Indian descent Hong Kong people of Parsi descent Year of death missing Year of birth missing