Shelley Street

Shelley Street (Chinese: 些利街) is a street in Central, Hong Kong. It is a ladder street and the Central–Mid-levels escalators run along the entire length of the street.

The street is named after Adolphus Edward Shelley, an early British colonial administrator. The second son of Sir John Shelley, 6th Baronet, he arrived unemployed in Hong Kong from India in June 1844 with vague recommendation letters from Lord Stanley, the then Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, and soon became Auditor General until 1846. Shelley was described in a private letter by Sir John Francis Davis, the second Governor of Hong Kong, to Lord Grey as "dissipated, in debt, negligent, guilty of falsehood, and quite unfit for the high office". In an 1844 letter to James Matheson, Alexander Matheson described Shelley as a "swindler". He is said to have escaped Hong Kong because of poor investments, and in 1847, he was appointed Assistant Auditor-General of Accounts of Mauritius.

Shelley Street runs uphill from Hollywood Road to Robinson Road in Mid-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 backwards),Mosque Street and Mosque Junction.