— Nona Pio-Ulski-Parks ~ 1947-1949
23 Cameron Road
August 27, 1947 was a momentous day as I was born at 8pm at St Teresa’s Hospital!!
“WOOT!” the doctors and nurses shouted! “HUZZAH!! She FINALLY decided to come out!” and they popped the champagne corks in celebration of my arrival ?
My mother told me that I should have been born at the beginning of August but I took my time coming, so much so that mom’s doctor told her to stand at the back of a bus every day so that the ride would shake me down and I’d come out finally!
Probably just as well I waited as I would have made a lousy Leo! Virgo suits my personality down to a T ?
I was christened at the Russian Orthodox Church, which was situated in Kowloon Tong in those days, in October …
I don’t know why my father decided he didn’t want to keep his surname … well, maybe I do! I never believed dad’s excuse that he got fed up with his surname being mangled by other people …I think he heard of his father’s exploits in Warsaw and was so disgusted that his father would give the Soviets as much as the time of day that he didn’t want to be associated with him.
You can see he began calling himself George Parks in 1946, even though my mother was still Mrs Pio-Ulski. Totally confusing ?
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Anyway, the deed was done in December. He got his certificate of naturalisation on December 13 and on December 29 he was George Parks.
I had a notification on my birth certificate saying my surname was changed from Nona Pio-Ulski to Nona Parks so really, I had no impression of being a Pio-Ulski but my sister was different.
Poor thing had been Pio-Ulski for 8 years and then, all of a sudden, she’s now a Parks.
I can understand her frustration, as Parks meant nothing to her but I must say I never had that particular issue.
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This map shows most of the areas which are mentioned in my photos. You can see Cameron Road and the grassy area parallel to Chatham Road and the train track, where a lot of pictures of me as a toddler were taken.
St Andrew’s Church – a bit further up along Nathan Road – is where our church was when my parents split with Father Dmitri Uspenski and his church.
We lived in Cameron Road when dad got his job with HK Tramways and, after a couple of years, mom and dad decided it would be better for us to live on Hong Kong side.
I can hardly remember our flat in Cameron Road but have vague recollections of when I used to go to have piano and Russian lessons from Balia, as she stayed there.
It was a huge old place – big rooms with high ceilings. There was a narrow corridor with steps going down to the kitchen area and beyond were the servants’ quarters. When in the kitchen, I remember looking out of the kitchen window at the well, where mom told me the bomb had fallen into during the war and not exploded.
It really gave me chills to think of what might have been if not for the Grace of God ?
Lindy celebrated her 10th birthday in our Cameron Road flat on October 29, 1949 …
In 1949 dad bought a car and we spent a lot of time driving around the New Territories, going to the beaches like Castle Peak, 11½ Mile Beach, or Clear Water Bay and afterwards having an ice cream at the Dairy Farm road house on the way back home, and picnics on Tate’s Cairns ?
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Lindy, Laila Smirnoff and me at 11 Mile Beach or maybe Castle Peak?
Hong Kong the year I was born
Hong Kong in 1949 by Michael Rogge
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