Labrum, Victor Charles

Victor Charles Labrum (June 14, 1887 – March 8, 1964) was the founder of Ye Olde Printerie, a printshop based in Hong Kong specializing in stationary and pocket-sized publications. After apprenticing at Eyre and Spottiswoode in Warminster, Labrum left England in 1909 to become the Assistant Manager for the Singapore office of the printers Kelly and Walsh, before moving to become manager of their Hong Kong Office in 1913. He served on the Balkan Front in the First World War (in the Hampshire Regiment) but was back in Hong Kong working for Kelly and Walsh when their building was destroyed in a fire in 1922. In 1923, Labrum founded Ye Olde Printerie, handling the technical aspect of printing while his younger brother G. B. managed the business side of the operation. Ye Olde Printerie published, in addition to stationary, tourist guides and local histories of Hong Kong, works on other nearby British colonies in Asia, and works relating to Macao and mainland China. Labrum was a colorful character well-known among the British community in Hong Kong, an avid golfer and cricketeer, a supporter and actor with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society, an accomplished shooter with a rifle, and a talented printer. He and his brother both served in the Hong Kong Volunteer Defense Corps in 1941 and were subsequently interned by the Japanese. A Hungarian employee of theirs managed to keep the printshop operational during the war, but was forced to publish banknotes by the Japanese military. In the early 1950s, V.C. Labrum retired and relocated to New Zealand, handing the business over to his brother, who quickly sold it to the Local Printing Press (樂古印務公司), headed by Lee Yat-Ngok (李一諤, 1892 - 1974). V.C. Labrum appears to have later moved back to England, where he died in 1964.