Shelley Street (Chinese:些利街) is a street inCentral, Hong Kong. It is aladder street and theCentral–Mid-Levels escalators run along the entire length of the street.
The street is named afterAdolphus Edward Shelley, an earlyBritish colonial administrator. The second son ofSir John Shelley, 6th Baronet,[1][2] he arrived unemployed in Hong Kong from India in June 1844 with vague recommendation letters fromLord Stanley,[3] the thenSecretary of State for War and the Colonies, and soon becameAuditor General until 1846. Shelley was described in a private letter by SirJohn Francis Davis, the secondGovernor of Hong Kong, to Lord Grey as "dissipated, in debt, negligent, guilty of falsehood, and quite unfit for the high office".[4][5] In an 1844 letter toJames Matheson,Alexander Matheson described Shelley as a "swindler".[6] He is said to have escaped Hong Kong because of poor investments,[7] and in 1847, he was appointed Assistant Auditor-General of Accounts ofMauritius.[8]
Shelley Street runs uphill fromHollywood Road toRobinson Road[5] inMid-Levels. On the way, it intersects Tsun Wing Lane,Staunton Street,Elgin Street,Caine Road, Leung Fai Terrace, Prince's Terrace,Rednaxela Terrace ("Alexander" spelled backward),[5]Mosque Street, andMosque Junction.
Until the early 20th century, the area was mostly inhabited by Portuguese people working as clerks in the main British companies. The Club Lusitano, a gathering place of the local Portuguese community, was located on Shelley Street below Caine Road until 1866, when it was moved to its present location atIce House Street[5][9] (according to other sources, the club was located at Shelley Street from December 1866 to 1920).[10]
TheCentral–Mid-Levels escalators opened in 1993.
The lower part of the street is part of theSoHo entertainment area and houses many restaurants, bars, and shops.
The upper part of the street is mostly residential.
Jamia Mosque is located near the top of the street at its junction with Mosque Street. It was built in 1849 and was the first mosque in Hong Kong.[11]
