I'm researching the RM Detachment of HMS Tamar pre the Battle for Hong Kong, their role in the fighting, as POWs and their postwar rehabilitation.
Any information would be most welcomed and gratefully received.
Many thanks,
Barry Alexander
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Royal Marines Detachment, HMS TAMAR (1939-45)
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Late-1970s oil company bunker accident
I recall reading about a fatal industrial accident in the late 1970s (perhaps 1977 to 1979) involving employees at one of the major oil companies. If memory serves, it happened in a bunker at the main depot.
Where were the depots of the major oil companies located at the time? Does anyone recall this incident? I can't remember if it was a big news item at the time.
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Looking for Hermann Lilienthal b. 1858 HK and his parents
I am looking for any information on my grandfather, Hermann Lilienthal born HK 1858 and his parents. He left HK at age 16, arriving Boston USA 25 May 1874 with no parents. The only clue to his parents is Chronicle and Directory for China etc. 1872 , H Lilienthal listed at China Suger Refinery , East Point. My DNA would indicate that Hermann's mother was Asian. No Lilienthals in cemetery records, no Lilienthals in Juror Lists or Missionary listings. Older brother and younger sister all born Hong Kong, what was this family (probably German father) doing there? Fresh ideas would be so welcomed !!!
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Defense works in Central?
I came across a photograph of Theatre Lane in Central on the Chinese forum uwants.com which is at the top of the linked web page. I wonder what the brick structure is -- is it some sort of defense works? Was this built by the British before the Battle of Hong Kong, or by the Japanese during the occupation? Were there similar structures in other parts of Hong Kong? Thank you.
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Kai Tak nostalgia
Articles about Kai Tak Airport still appear in magazines. The UK based magazine 'Airliner World', October 2014 edition, has a seven page spread with pictures taken during the late 1970s and early 80s
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Tunnels under Victoria Barracks
Hi I am n Hong Kong until 24/9 If anybody is interested in my knowledge of the fault control and underground h/q below Victoria barracks please call me on 66774166
regards Roy Jones
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1925 - St. Johns Cathedral - Baptism, Marriage and Burials
| Baptism | Jan | 2 | Peter James Smith | |
| 8 | Derek John Blaker | Peak Church | ||
| 11 | Jean Mary Ragna Meacock | |||
| 17 | David William Shenton | Peak Church | ||
| 18 | Colin Paul de Rome | |||
| Marriage | 5 | Ma Man Chung Wong Oi Chun | ||
| 5 | Ma Man Kaap Katherine Cheuk | |||
| 5 | Ma Man Hing Yeung Man Yung | |||
| 5 | Ma Man Fai Kwok Lai Lin | |||
| 5 | Frederick Percy Franklin Gladys Livingston Murdock | |||
| Burial | 10 | Alexander German | aged 51 years | |
| 27 | Henry Adolphus Cartwright | aged 47 years | ||
| 29 | Frederick Higgins | aged 54 years | ||
| Baptism | Feb | 4 | John Frederick Watson | Peak Church |
| 8 | Pamela Margaret Harris | Peak Church | ||
| 11 | John Tucker Fowle | |||
| 15 | Pauline Bell Smith | |||
| Marriage | 7 | Harry Ernest Rogers Eleanor Violet Mary Purden | ||
| 10 | Leonard Wynne Harrison Dorothy Offord | |||
| 10 | Arthur Lester Terry Daisy Annie Kearsley | |||
| 25 | Arthur Lawrence Powell Kate Heap | |||
| Burial | 6 | Jack Bennetts | 38 years | |
| 10 | William Alfred John Cooper | 39 years | ||
| Baptism | Mar | 26 | Hazel Mary Weall | |
| Marriage | 4 | Colin Robertson More Dorothy Rodgers | ||
| 7 | John Mackenzie Hannah Wong | |||
| 26 | Alexander Vernon Harcourt Ilma Saul | |||
| Burial | 28 | C. H. Bainbrigge | aged 29 years | |
| Baptism | Apr | 13 | Betty Louisa Sylvester | |
| 19 | William Logan Adams | |||
| 27 | Patricia Anne Mitchell | |||
| 29 | Roger Antony Lockhart Smith | |||
| 2 | James Easthope Martin Nellie Florence Lloyd | |||
| 22 | Roland Leeds Betty Nora Dawson | |||
| Burial | 29 | H. E. Gray | ||
| 29 | Matthew John Denman Stephens | |||
| Baptism | May | 5 | James William Miskin | Peak Church |
| 12 | Rita Jane Elsie Davies | |||
| 17 | Constance Maud Pedder | |||
| 24 | Jeremy Reginald Brakspear Montanaro | |||
| Burial | 5 | Frederick James Jackson | ||
| 22 | Charles Montague Ede | |||
| Baptism | Jun | 8 | Jacqueline Bridget Hilliard | |
| 21 | Alfred Morris Langston | |||
| Baptism | Jul | 14 | Ernest Peter Charles Hicks | |
| 30 | Margaret June Stewart Ralston | |||
| Burial | 8 | Harold Wallace Petley | aged 40 years | |
| 13 | William Pritchard | aged 39 years | ||
| Baptism | Aug | 2 | Geoffrey Beal Warren | |
| 2 | Roy Leslie Russell | |||
| 9 | Gordon Leslie Alastair Blunsdon Woodward | |||
| 16 | Brian harper | |||
| 19 | Sidney Frederick Finlayson | |||
| 23 | Jefferd William Ward [sic] | |||
| 23 | Nancy Grace Cager | |||
| 23 | Ronald George Burnet | |||
| Marriage | 6 | Hugh Fitzherbert Bloxham Audrey Jones | ||
| Burial | 3 | Lorne Murphy | aged 44 years | |
| 13 | Job Witchell | aged 68 years | ||
| Baptism | Sep | 3 | Richard Roderic Croucher | |
| 13 | Joan Margaret Dredge | |||
| 12 | Elspeth Mary Forster | |||
| 13 | Doreen Mary Stephens | |||
| Marriage | 5 | Alfred John Wadmore Clara Hicklin | ||
| 26 | Benjamin Cutler Randall Ada Mabel Lee | |||
| Burial | 10 | Cecil Hynes Lyson | aged 39 years | |
| Baptism | Oct | 3 | George Desmond Abbas | |
| 4 | Olive Irene Bacon (?) | |||
| Marriage | 16 | Richard Edward Tottenham Norah Margaret Daly | ||
| 28 | Alexander William George Herder Grantham Maurine Samson | |||
| Baptsim | Nov | 1 | David Ian Rycroft Wattie | |
| 15 | Mary Elizabeth Newton | |||
| 18 | Leslie Patrina Ramage | |||
| 24 | Pauline Mavis Strange | |||
| 27 | Richard Laurence Stuart Taylor | |||
| Marriage | 5 | N. H. Bennett W. K. S. Gifford | ||
| Baptism | Dec | 1 | Douglas Percy Franklin | Peak church |
| 2 | Robert Thomas Spanton | |||
| 2 | Phyllis Beryl Spanton | |||
| 18 | Nigel William Hattersley-Smith | |||
| 19 | Richard Andrew Russell | Peak Church | ||
| 29 | Gladys Fenwick Mackenzie | |||
| 29 | Hazel Victoria Mackenzie | |||
| Marriage | 3 | Edwin Marcus Gray Hanlon Dorothy Fanny Dodwell | ||
| 9 | Loenard Horace Vertue Booth Marjorie Helen Forbes | |||
| 10 | Austin Darley Wall Margaret Alice McGregor | |||
| 12 | Charles Strange Florence Mabel Harris | |||
| 14 | Frederick Wentworth foster-Turner Rosena Lily Radley | |||
| 19 | William Henry Peters Rose Margaret Shea | |||
| 24 | Harry Walter Hewett Evelyn Lennox Paterson | Peak Church | ||
| 26 | David Dalgliesh Lola Charlotte Burdett-Taylor | |||
| 28 | Shiu-pun Preston Wong Phyllis Grace Jan See Chin | |||
| Burial | 4 | Arthur Harry Blackman | 28 years |
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Chelang Point and Tungku Island
I am trying to identify and locate two geographical references referred to in U.S. Army Air Forces after-action reports written in 1945.
The first is Chelang Point, which is apparently on the south China coast. Does anyone know where this is, and what the contemporary name might be?
The second is Tungku Island, said to be in the mouth of the Canton River. Again, does anyone know where this particular island is, and what its contemporary name might be?
I'll be greatly appreciative of any help with this puzzle.
Thanks!
Steve Bailey
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1926 - St. Johns Cathedral - Baptism, Marriage and Burials
| Baptism | Jan | 3 | Robert Derek Green | Peak Church |
| 14 | Phyllis Eleanor Clare Oliver | |||
| 18 | Jill Mackintosh | |||
| 25 | James Alfred Fisher | |||
| 25 | Henry Jackson | |||
| 25 | Richard Andrew Wee | |||
| 25 | Alexander Wee | |||
| Marriage | 16 | John Edward Strange Gertrude Mabel Victoria Bullock | ||
| 25 | Henry Buckle Eleanor Kate Bailey | |||
| Baptism | Feb | 4 | Benjamin Selwyn Dodwell | |
| 4 | Jacqueline Irene Matthews | |||
| 14 | Bettie Alice May Cook | |||
| 17 | Roger Clulow Austin | Peak Church | ||
| 28 | Pauline Heap Powell | |||
| 28 | Beatrice Vera Hall | |||
| Marriage | 22 | John Norrie Owen Ada May Meadows | ||
| Baptism | Mar | 7 | Barbara Alice Mary Wallace | |
| 14 | Juliet Audrina Hall | |||
| 21 | Denise Margaret Brister | Peak Church | ||
| Baptism | 28 | Peter Cheung | ||
| 28 | Madeline Cheung | |||
| 28 | Gladys Cheung | |||
| 28 | John Cheung | |||
| Burial | 14 | Frank Fleshner | aged 38 years | |
| Baptism | Apr | 4 | Robert John Sharman | |
| 5 | Thomas Hedley Russell Craig | |||
| 11 | Leslie Pamela Greenhill | |||
| Marriage | 7 | Henry Lowcock Mabel Constance Kotewall | ||
| 14 | Ronald Thomas Patsey Hicks Phyllis Mary Story | |||
| 17 | Francis Tan Helin Lau [sic] | |||
| 19 | William Henry Smith Pearl Denham | |||
| 20 | Loo Bing Tan Elizabeth Iu Sien Wong | |||
| 28 | Bernard Gallmore Thorpe Margaret Francis Gerrard | |||
| Burial | 1 | Evelyn S. Humphreys | 36 years | |
| Baptism | May | 11 | Pauline Hazel Millett | |
| 16 | Betty Fairfax | |||
| Marriage | 14 | Lawrence Alfred Collyer Hilda Eva Bugden | ||
| 26 | Geoffrey Palmer Adshead Olive May Orme | |||
| 29 | William Kearley Reynolds Lal Muriel Caruthers Hutton | |||
| Burial | 27 | Catchick Paul Chater | aged 79 years | |
| Baptism | Jun | 5 | Averil Myrta Davenport Browne | |
| 13 | Jack Stuart Dixon Piggott | |||
| 15 | Wellesley Hugh Arthur Womak | |||
| 17 | Edward Sidney Bertram | |||
| 19 | Peter Branson | |||
| 20 | Elizabeth Clara Wadmore | |||
| 25 | Joan Doris May | |||
| 27 | Sheila Kathleen Davies | |||
| 28 | Elizabeth Carlton Phyllis Kennedy Skipton | |||
| Marriage | 9 | William Arthur Nowers Dorothy Alice King | ||
| Burial | 5 | Joseph Grimble | aged 42 years | |
| Baptism | Jul | 8 | Michael Peter Langley | |
| Marriage | 3 | Walter Campbell Gibson Marguerite Bernard | ||
| 13 | Albert Edward Keen Elsie Constance Bell | |||
| 24 | William Dudley Ward-Smith Dora Herietta [sic] Jaques | |||
| Baptism | Aug | 9 | Alfred Peter Nichols Mycock | |
| 17 | Grace Millicent Frances Beattie | |||
| 30 | Joyce See Chin | |||
| Marriage | 19 | Arthur Ronald England Barbara King | Peak Church | |
| 25 | Hugh Handley Pegg Frances May Margaret Huxtable | |||
| 28 | Henry George Kiddle Wheeler Muriel Edith Fowler | |||
| Baptism | Sep | 1 | Wilbert Peter Chow | |
| 1 | Cheng Lam Chow | |||
| 5 | Kenneth Walter Stone | |||
| 22 | Daphne Muriel Glenny | |||
| 26 | Eric Benjamin Randall | |||
| Marriage | 8 | Cheng lam Chow Alice Bernice Lee | ||
| 22 | Frederick Charles Ridger Dorothy Rose Oram | |||
| 25 | Henry Ching Rubye Irene Mary Kong | |||
| Burial | 9 | James Cyril Dalmahoy Allen | aged 45 years | |
| 10 | William Shewan | aged 67 years | ||
| 10 | Charles Matthew Dorrington | aged 36 years | ||
| 22 | C. Koster | aged 26 years | ||
| Baptism | Oct | 2 | Frances Elizabeth Jennings | |
| 2 | Phyllis Moira Edgecumbe Martin | |||
| 4 | Heather Dorothy Bell | |||
| 5 | Eric John Sloper | |||
| 10 | Edward Kenneth De Mott | |||
| 10 | William Henry Miles | |||
| 20 | Anthony Michael Sterling Wallace | |||
| Marriage | 2 | Percy John Austin Winifrid Suckling | ||
| 4 | Allister Sommerfelt Edith Dorothy Lillian Birchall | |||
| 16 | Charles Douglas Armstrong Dorothy Muriel Holyoak | |||
| Baptism | Nov | 7 | James Davidson Sanders | |
| 14 | Donald Eric Andrews | |||
| 23 | Marjorie Joan Douglas | |||
| 28 | Lionel Charles Strange | |||
| Marriage | 12 | Bernard Crowley Joyce Augusta Crowley | Peak Church | |
| 26 | Joseph Edward Badeley Evelyn Holmes | |||
| 26 | Albert George Martin Mabel Emma Louisa Holloway | |||
| Burial | 26 | William Edward Clarke | aged 71 years | |
| Baptism | Dec | 5 | Daphne Ursula Bloor | |
| 12 | Patrica Irene Rapp | |||
| 12 | Kathleen Thelma Rapp | |||
| 12 | Florence Colleen Chan | |||
| 12 | William Kenneth Way | |||
| 12 | Weng Cheong Lai | |||
| 12 | Edward Francis Shea | |||
| 12 | William Leon Cunningham | |||
| 19 | Barbara Starling | |||
| 26 | Daphne Mary Deakin | |||
| Marriage | 6 | Ole Andreas Andreassen Borghild Barresen | ||
| 16 | Gay Lansberry Peterson Gladys Mary Compton Smith | |||
| 18 | Robert Lythgoe Read Jean Vallance Fleming | |||
| 18 | George Stephen Ford Grace Daphne Lee |
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1927 - St. Johns Cathedral - Baptism, Marriage and Burials
1927 is the last year of these transcriptions from "Cathedral Notes". Data from this page is from the February 1927 through December 1927 issues. (The Jan 1928 newsletter would have the info for Dec 1927.) Notes on this page: There do not appear to have been any listings for Jun or Jul | ||||
| Baptism | Jan | 9 | Daphne Ettron Silver | |
| 9 | Iris Pauline Ewing | |||
| 16 | Albert Frank Sabey | |||
| 16 | Joan Yvonne Stewart | |||
| 16 | Pamela Mary Noll | |||
| 28 | Annett Francis More | |||
| Marriage | 5 | Henry William Head Ethel Francis Nowtin | ||
| Burial | 7 | Edward Adlington Herbert | aged 25 years | |
| Baptism | Feb | 11 | Derek Alexander | |
| 6 | James Davis Edmondson | |||
| 10 | Derek Oliver Berg | |||
| 17 | Elizabeth Mary Jill Hamilton | |||
| 20 | Nellie Beatrice Rogers | |||
| 23 | George Lawrence Rapp | |||
| 25 | Dallas Edmund Bernard | |||
| Marriage | 3 | Frank Burrington Kathleen Agnes Bunt | ||
| 5 | W. Alistair Donaldson Margureite de Dibon Faber | |||
| 9 | Sech Wah Phoon Suen Lan Chau | |||
| Baptism | Mar | 5 | Diana Dudley Warren | |
| 6 | Harzel Roma Merriman | |||
| 16 | Elizabeth Aida Way | |||
| Marriage | 15 | George Sun Jue Yow Ivy Chang | ||
| 22 | Thomas Patrick Hugh Blake Jessie Ann Serene Hamilton | |||
| Burial | 22 | Alice Dawson | aged 48 years | |
| Marriage | Apr | 22 | Raymond Guy Wilkerson Ailsa margaret Leadbeater | |
| 3 | Walter Charles Clarke Evelyn Winifred Thompson | |||
| 6 | Patrich Cassan Perfect Helen Ann Hog | |||
| 18 | Robert Woolley Amy Allerton | |||
| 23 | Fritz Edward Shuster Alice Emily Hing | |||
| 11 | Lionel Victor Afflick Fairley Mabel Pemberton | at the Church [sic] | ||
| Burial | 21 | Arthur Long | ||
| Baptism | May | 1 | Rita Dorothy Langston | |
| 1 | Eileen Ruth Andrews | |||
| 2 | Jane Eva Mary Cammell Strellett | Peak Church | ||
| 4 | Roger Clive Victor Backett | |||
| 10 | Noel Reginald Ost | |||
| 22 | Amelie Patricia Landolt | |||
| 22 | Emilia Rose Rosselet | |||
| 22 | Edward Clarence Cyril Johnson | |||
| 4 | Robert Henry Morton Ody Anne Waln | |||
| 14 | Ronald William Keymer Norah Eleanor Lynch | |||
| Marriage | 18 | Leslie Wood Hutton Gwineth Bayes-Davy | ||
| 21 | Albert Laing Cunningham Alice Mary Law | |||
| Burial | 23 | Alice Elizabeth MacReady | aged 44 years | |
| 26 | Bessie Watts | aged 77 years | ||
| Jun | ||||
| Jul | ||||
| Baptism | Aug | 9 | John Graves | |
| 21 | Cynthia Mary FitzGerald | |||
| 21 | Victoria Frances Moss | |||
| 23 | Edward Peter Dinsdale | |||
| 28 | George Henry Hudson | |||
| Marriage | 15 | Andrew Brown Daisy Bower | ||
| Burial | 8 | Rose Mackay | aged 29 years | |
| 16 | Gladys Jean Moss | aged 5 years | ||
| 17 | W. G. Harrington | aged 21 years | ||
| 18 | Donald Clement Logan | aged 32 years | ||
| 26 | Broughton Parker | aged 40 years | ||
| 29 | Guy Haywood | aged 45 years | ||
| Baptism | Sep | 2 | Cyrel Peter Mugford | |
| 3 | William Albert Hoyle | |||
| 16 | Phyllis Hopgood Sayer | at Peak Church | ||
| Marriage | 9 | Willian Robert Cannell [sic] Muriel Constance Macoun | ||
| Baptsim | Oct | 16 | June Patricia Ruth Day | |
| 20 | Michael Vallejo Hynes | |||
| Marriage | 10 | Thomas Mark Jordon Gertrude Viola Elser | ||
| 14 | Thomas McMahon Muriel Jane Blunsdon | |||
| 21 | James Stark Browne Alice Margery Wreford | |||
| 22 | Harold Fowler Marshall Dorothy Hughes | |||
| 22 | Robert Keith Valentine Aimee Talbot Haslett | |||
| Burial | 22 | Peter Brown | 47 years | |
| Baptism | Nov | 6 | Basil Walter Old | |
| 21 | Albert Stanley Bertram | |||
| 2 | John Dennis Holloway Martin | |||
| Marriage | 4 | Conway Benning Allen Marjorie Brough Warren | ||
| 12 | George Thomas Padgett Violet Winifred May | |||
| 14 | Kenneth Kingsley Staple Martha Jane Warbrick | |||
| 21 | Dudley Leonard King Violet Louise Searles Wood | |||
| 23 | George William Davis Margaret Grant | |||
| Burial | 3 | Frank Lammert | aged 55 years |
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1960-1970's Guildford Road - Mansfield Road, The Peak
Hi Everyone,
This website is great! I grew up in Hong Kong and have lived in Mansfield Road over the 1990s. Wondering are there any photos or photos anyone has taken of the Peak area Guildford road to Mansfield road during 1960s onwards? It is a very peaceful area and I have revisited it after moving to California. There is even a football team that plays in the park every now and then... my eldest son's childhood was that park took him there almost each day and was nice chatting to parents. Am interested in having a look at what it was during that era.
Thank you lovely website here,
Alexandra
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The Origins of Deacons in Hong Kong
I see that the origins of the history of Deacons has been recorded on their website:
"The firm takes its name from a young English solicitor, Victor Deacon, who arrived in the burgeoning British colony of Hong Kong in 1880 to join the legal practice established by William Bridges in 1851.
Within two years, the irrepressible Victor Deacon was made a partner and within 20 years, under his own name, he had firmly established Deacons as one of the colony's leading law firms, a position it has retained to this day"http://www.deacons.com.hk/
William Henry Brereton QC
In 1861, William Henry Brereton QC (born Dublin 1824) joined the law firm of Henry Charles Caldwell (Notary Public) in Hong Kong. W H Brereton became partner & a Notary Public and the firm was known as 'Caldwell and Brereton'.
In 1871, after Charles Henry Caldwell left Hong Kong the firm was known as 'Brereton and Wootton'.
In 1880, the firm was joined by Victor Hobart Deacon and became known as 'Brereton, Wootton and Deacon'- There are several references to this firm in the Jardine Matheson Archive which is held at Cambridge University (see link - http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0012%2FMS%20JM%2FF15%2F28 ).
Today the firm is called 'Deacons'.
W H Brereton was appointed Queen's standing Counsel in London for the Chinese government on 30 March 1886. He was called to the Bar at Middle Temple in Kensington on 17 June 1886.
William Henry Brereton QC died of Bright's Disease at his home on Mount Gough, The Peak, in Hong Kong on 24 Oct 1887 and is buried there in Happy Valley cemetery.
His age is given as 59 in the death announcement (China Mail 25 Oct 1887).
As a lawyer he was known as "a shrewd adviser and a ready speaker".(see obit. The China Mail 24 Oct 1887).
Accounts of his law cases appear in the Hong Kong newspapers of the time.
His official papers are held in the Jardine Matheson archive at Cambridge University.
According to the member profile of Deacons on the link below for the Hong Kong Chamber of Comerce-
"The firm's namesake, Victor Deacon, arrived in Hong Kong aboard the Peninsula and Oriental steamship "Ravenna" on July 7, 1880.
The 33-year-old solicitor joined the partnership of Messrs Brereton and Wotton, a direct continuation of Bridges' original practice. While it had been just 19 years since Bridges' departure, much had changed and the practice was now one of four firms of solicitors that were flourishing in Hong Kong.
In just two years, he had quickly become respected as one of Hong Kong's leading conveyancers, and in 1882, Mr Deacon was admitted as a partner, thus adding his own name to the firm's."
http://www.chamber.org.hk/en/membership/profile_detail.aspx?profile_id=21
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New "Insert image" feature
Whenever you're on a page where there is a text editor shown, eg if you're creating a new page or adding a comment, you'll see a new toolbar appears on the right edge of your browser. I've highlighted it in red:
This is the toolbar that lets us insert media (photos, videos, etc) into the text, and is the first of the three new features planned for the site. It is still a work in progress, but is good enough to use with a little care.
The toolbar has three sections:
- Search. Click the Search button to show the search form. Try typing a word into "Title", eg Pillbox, and click "Apply". The library updates to show all the media with that word in the title. Click the Search button again to hide the form.
- View library. Click the View library icon to show the library. You can click the "Insert" link under any image, and it inserts the image into your text where the cursor is. Click the View library icon again to hide the library.
- Add. The section below the "+" isn't working properly yet, so please hold off from clicking that.
I find this a big improvement over how we handled media in the old site, eg:
- You can choose to insert any image on the site, regardless of whether it is an uploaded image, a Flickr image, or one of the weekly who/what/when/where images.
- The search offers better options for searching. Currently you can search by:
- Title
- Publisher (The username of the person who uploaded the image. Use this to search for all your photos, for example.)
- More to follow
- Once you've searched and found the images you're looking for, they stay available until you've finished working with them. On the old site we had to repeat the same search for every single image.
If you have any questions or run into any bugs, please let me know in the comments below.
Regards, David
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Selwyn-Clarke's Prison Bible at Bedales School
Note: Access to the Bible and permission for photography and reproduction was kindly granted by Jane Kirby, Librarian and Archivist of Bedales School.
Introduction
I recently went with a group of friends on a literary trip to the Petersfield area of Hampshire. One of our main interests was the poet Edward Thomas who was killed in the front line in 1917. One of our group was an old girl of Bedales, a school with which Thomas had strong links so she arranged for our group to visit.
The Bedales archivist, Jane Kirby, kindly showed us round the performance hall and the Library and allowed us to inspect archival material related to the poet. I had already informed her of my interest in another Old Bedalian, Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke, so I was pleased to learn during the coffee break that she had his Bible in the archive. I was a little surprised that a Bible belonging to a pupil from before WW1 had been kept, but was nevertheless hopeful of seeing something connected with Selwyn-Clarke's school career. I was amazed and thrilled to discover on return to the Library that in fact the Bible in question was the one that had comforted the Hong Kong medical director during his imprisonment by the Japanese in 1943 and 1944!
Selwyn-Clarke and Bedales
Percy Selwyn Clarke (later Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke - see below) was born in Cockney London on 17, December, 1893 (1). His parents were progressive-minded 'Victorians', which is why they chose to send him to Bedales – the first and at that time still the only co-educational boarding school in the country. In fact, the family had eight children who survived infancy, all of whom went there except the youngest son, who chose to attend a recently opened co-educational rival to avoid direct competition with the rest if his family. One of the daughters, Amy, later became headmistress of Dunshurst, the Bedales preparatory school. (2).
Selwyn-Clarke was clear about the role played by the school in his development:
I can declare with conviction that the chance of coming under the influence of John Haden Badley, the founder and first head of Bedales, is something for which I have again and again had cause to bless my parents. He was a man of vision and understanding, and I owe more than I can ever tell to his guidance. (3)
Selwyn-Clarke certainly lived up to the Bedales school motto, 'Work of each for weal of all,' as his subsequent career showed.
His fiercely independent character surely shows some Bedales influence too – the school aimed to provide an alternative to the authoritarianism of other public schools and obviously encouraged its pupils to think for themselves (4). The School's ethos under Badley was Christian, although not the Christianity of any one denomination, and there was the striking absence of a chapel. Selwyn-Clarke's mother was a Quaker, but he was brought up according to his father's 'broadly Anglican lights' (5).
His three closest friends at the school were the son of a Russian general and the sons of painters, one later to become a painter himself, Ivor Hitchens (6). I think that this probably reflects both the schools internationalism – WW1 was a particular tragedy as pupils fought on both sides – and its appeal to the artistically minded. The young Selwyn-Clarke, though, loved natural history and his dissertation on the specimens of animals and flowers collected while cycling around the Hampshire countryside won him a prize. (7)
Unfortunately his schooling was disrupted for two years by a knee injury leaving him with a much greater knowledge of the literary classics in his father's library but two years behind in his formal studies (8). Nevertheless, with the help of his paternal grandfather who paid the fees, he was able to fulfil his ambition to become a doctor by starting at St. Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School in May 1912. (9) He saw medical service during the war, was wounded at least three times, and ended up winning a Military Cross in 1918 (10). The hostilities over and his training completed, he tried practising in Britain but hated taking money for medical work, so he embarked on a career in the Colonial Medical Service, serving mainly in Africa - the Gold Coast (now Ghana) and then Nigeria - with a couple of years secondment to Malaya (now Malaysia) in the middle. By 1937 he had risen to Director of Medical Services for the huge colony of Nigeria when he was asked by Sir Geoffrey Northcote, who he'd previously served under, to take up the same position in Hong Kong. In 1935 he'd married Hilda Browning, a politically ambitious socialist activist – they'd met when she organised his Intourist trip to the Soviet Union. As they packed their bags for the Far East in January 1938, the headlines were of imminent war, and they had a young daughter, Mary, born in September 1936, to think about. They decided to go anyway, and arrived in April. (11)
Selwyn-Clarke in the War
Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke was a man of strong character and opinions, the first to admit he had none of the British love of compromise. His work as Director of Medical Services before the Japanese attack was sometimes controversial – his nick-name was 'Septic'– but it was undeniably effective. In the matter that concerns us most in this article, his preparations for the medical response to a possible Japanese attack, he was undeniably successful. When the day finally arrived – December 8, 1941 – the system he set up worked far better than could have reasonably be expected, given the overwhelming task it faced, a tribute both to his organisational skills and the courage and expertise of Hong Kong's medical personnel (12).
However, the controversy that had surrounded him in peace, was nothing to the furore he stirred up during the occupation. Probably on the very day of the surrender – Christmas, 1941– he was contacting the Japanese to get their permission to carry on his work as Director of Medical Services under the new order. He believed it was his duty to carry out public health work for the benefit of everyone in Hong Kong, in particular the Chinese majority. The Japanese were convinced by the urgency of the task - the unburied bodies from 17 days of fighting threatened epidemics to which their soldiers would not be immune – and it's said that their own medical director, Colonel Eguchi, had met Selwyn-Clarke on a previous visit to Hong Kong and been impressed by his uniquely aracial courtesy, In any case, Eguchi helped get Selwyn-Clarke and a skeleton staff permission to remain uninterned and even approached the former British Governor, Sir Mark Young, to obtain his consent for the continuation on work; this didn't save Selwyn-Clarke from accusations of collaboration during and after the occupation, but it did mean that his position was legally unassailable (13).
By the end of January 1942 almost all the Allied civilians were in Stanley Camp on Hong Kong's south western peninsula and the soldiers in POW camps in Kowloon. Selwyn-Clarke quickly understood that the dreadful conditions they were enduring, and the even worse ones of the Chinese and anyone else left living in occupied Hong Kong meant that, in order to relieve suffering and save lives, he would need to supplement his legal public health work with 'calculated subterfuge' (14). A group of bankers, who were also kept uninterned to help the Japanese take over the assets of their banks, provided most of the money, while the doctor set up a network of courageous men and women to buy medicines illegally and smuggle them into the camps. There were, in fact few aspects of relief work during the first 15 months of the occupation that he wasn't involved in, but his refusal to aid the military resistance set up by Lindsay Ride after his escape from POW camp in February 1942 led to friction between these two great figures of the Hong Kong war.
He knew, though, that the Japanese regarded what he was doing as illegal and understood that it was so risky he would one day be caught. It's amazing that he was able to do so many things for so long, but on May 2, 1942 the inevitable happened, and a dawn raid on the French Hospital, where he was living with his wife and daughter, saw his arrest and that of some of his helpers (15).
Selwyn-Clarke in Prison
The Japanese wrongly believed that he was head of British espionage in Hong Kong – as we've seen, he'd refused to have anything to do with military activity, although some of his work would probably have been seen by his captors as coming into that category. He was taken to the headquarters of the Kempeitai (generally and reasonably referred to as the Japanese Gestapo) where he spent ten months in squalid conditions in a tiny underground cell beneath the former Supreme Court building. He was regularly taken out to be brutally interrogated, but he steadfastly refused to incriminate himself or name any of his helpers (16).
After ten months, while under sentence of death, he was transferred to Stanley Prison, which was next to (but not part of) the internment camp where Hilda and Mary were living. The sentence was eventually commuted to three more years, then, in a development that left him 'dazed' he was unexpectedly released on December 8, 1944; the occasion was a broad amnesty to mark the third anniversary of the outbreak of the Pacific War, but it's not known why Selwyn-Clarke was included in it – he speculated that Chinese friends had been at work, but my own guess is that his obvious lack of a sense of racial superiority and his courage under interrogation had won the respect of some of his captors, who were, in any case, always rather uneasy about convicting British civilians without a confession. He was taken to Ma Tau-Wai Internment Camp in Kowloon. His wife and daughter were waiting for him and he spent the rest of the war as this small camp's medical superintendent and, in effect, leader. (17)
The Role of the Bedales Bible
For the first ten months, when he wasn't being 'interrogated', Selwyn-Clarke was held in solitary confinement in indescribable conditions. He needed to draw on all of his resources of character and intellect to survive; a number of prisoners went mad or attempted suicide, most unsuccessfully. One tactic he adopted was to make up stories for his daughter in French and Latin – lest this not be demanding enough he insisted that the words in each language be, as far as possible, cognates (for example ursa/ours in the story of the three bears) (18) Obviously his Bedales education was standing him in good stead, but he knew it would still be valuable for him to be able to draw on the products of other minds too:
...It was a red-letter day when, some five months after my arrest, Hilda at last succeeded, in her own internment in the Stanley camp, in persuading the Japanese in charge there to let her send me a Bible and induce the military gendarmerie ((Kempeitai)) to allow me to have it. (19)
There's a hand-written note that accompanies the Bedales Bible:
This tells a rather different story as to the way he acquired the book: an Indian warder heard his repeated requests for a Bible and the inevitable surly rejections, and told one of Selwyn-Clarke's pre-war almoners (almost certainly Constance Lam, who also managed to get life-saving food into her imprisoned boss), who, the note implies, sent one in to his cell. However, in his autobiography he tells the story of an Indian guard who told Constance Lam of the refusal of his repeated requests for soap and a handkerchief and tells us that the brave almoner then smuggled in both items through the guard. (20). My guess is that Selwyn-Clarke's memory confused the two incidents – the Bedales note is undated and the occasion of its composition is unknown so it's impossible to know how close to the actual events it was. I'm inclined to accept the version in his autobiography and credit his wife with the Bible and the guard and Dr. Lam with the soap and handkerchief. However, I should declare an interest at this point: in October 1943, the period in which the Bible arrived in Selwyn-Clarke's cell, his wife and daughter were living in Stanley Camp's Bungalow D alongside my parents where they and most of the rest of the uninterned health workers were sent soon after the arrests of May 2, 1943. I love the thought that in 1943 my mother and father might have glimpsed the book I was inspecting, in such different circumstances, over seventy years later!
In any case, having the Bible was one thing, reading it was another:
There was no window and no artificial light, but a dim light filled the communal cell outside mine....At certain times of day the light brightened a little, from a window high up and out of sight in this communal cell. (21)
It was only at those times of day when he could read - the Bedales note stipulates from about 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. He had to hold the Bible in the patch of natural light by poking it through the bars of his cell, laboriously taking in a few words at a time.
And even this wasn't possible much of the time – the guards confiscated the book whenever they wanted to make his life harder and he estimates he had it only one third of the time. Later Hilda managed to get him a complete Shakespeare and a copy of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations as well, but these two were often not in his possession. When he didn't have the Bible, he tried to reconstruct his mother's favourite passages from memory – for example, the 23 Psalm ('Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil') and the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians ('but the greatest of these is charity'). In Stanley Prison, where he was sent after ten months, he had a larger cell and 'the luxury of a window'. (22) Although he doesn't mention the Bible explicitly, it seems that he read from all three of his books when he had them, as well as playing himself at chess using pieces he made from a piece of the newspaper given to the prisoners for an obvious purpose in the latrines.
The Bedales Bible: Other Features
The Bible is stamped to show that it belonged to St.Johns Anglican Cathedral.
Hong Kong's bishop, Ronald Hall, was out of Hong Kong when the Japanese attacked, but most of the British cathedral staff were in Stanley, including Dean Alaric Rose, who performed some of the camp's weddings, so there would have been no trouble in getting a Bible from this source.
Another stamp seems to suggest it was originally bought in a Kowloon bookshop.
There's also an inscription that was almost certainly written after the war – it's most unlikely he had any writing implement during his imprisonment.
It gives Selwyn-Clarke's prisoner number while in Stanley Prison, his signature - P. S. Selwyn-Clarke was his 'elongated' name: he was christened Percy Selwyn Clarke but during WW1 he changed it by deed poll to Percy Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke to make it easier to identify his mail in a Division with too many 'Clarkes' (23). Clearly he never minded drawing attention to himself! There's also a date, 24. V111 44, which is something of a mystery.
Both the autobiography and the Bedales note state clearly that he received the Bible after about five months in the Kempeitai prison under the former Supreme Court, which would be in or around October 1943. He was indeed in Stanley Prison on August 24, 1944. His second trial – where he had the death sentence lifted and replaced by three more years in prison – was said by another source to be on August 29, 1944 (24) but it's possible that the real date was August 24 or that Selwyn-Clarke misremembered it, but there's no known reason for him to have associated his trial with his Bible, nor is there any other currently known significance to August 24, 1944.
Selwyn-Clarke's Religious Development and the Bedales Bible
Selwyn-Clarke was brought up a liberal and non-sectarian Christian by his parents, something that was reinforced by his time at Bedales (see above). But like many of his generation his faith in Divine Providence was destroyed by the experience of the slaughter of WW1 (25). His experiences in the next war moved him in the opposite direction: in an interview he gave to Radio Hong Kong in 1973 he claimed that his time in prison had made him 'a bad Christian'. His autobiography, published two years later, gives a rather different story. After discussing the use he made of the Bible during his imprisonment he summarises his religious development:
For twenty-five years I had regarded myself as an agnostic, and I cannot claim that captivity and the valley of the shadow of death made me a good Christian. Nevertheless, a deep change was wrought in me by these experiences. I did not return to the simple beliefs taught to me in childhood, and to a God in whose image man was made. But I did become profoundly aware of something external to myself and yet reachable in contemplation: something – call it what you will, a force or a spirit or a supreme being – that comprehended the principle of goodness and truth and the high quality of love. This became indeed my rod and staff, to comfort and sustain me and I do not see how otherwise I could have survived. (26).
There is no mention of the Trinity and an explicit denial of 'a God in whose image man was made.' Yet the conception of this 'supreme being', particularly the emphasis on 'the high quality of love', does suggest a Gospel influence. Selwyn-Clarke gives the main reason for his abandonment of Christian theism in the face of the horrors of WW1 as being 'the problem of evil': if God is all good how can he not want to prevent such things, if He is all powerful, how is He not able to prevent them? Returning to some form of faith involved understanding that evil was the result of human misuse of Divinely granted free will. (27)
This is not an idea he would have found in The Book of Job or, in any straightforward form, elsewhere in the Bible. I believe that Selwyn-Clarke's religious views – whatever their exact form – were arrived at as an integral part of his Titanic struggle to avoid betraying those who'd trusted him enough to play a role in his relief network, and to keep his sanity in conditions that were driving others to madness and suicide. His Bible is, as far as I know, the only physical object that can witness to this sustained heroism, and it was a privilege to be able to hold it in the Bedales library.
It is also pleasing and appropriate that it is now in the care of his old school, whose role in shaping the character that enabled him to emerge triumphant from the toughest of ordeals he so clearly acknowledged when he looked back on his life a year or so before its end.
Notes:
1) Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke, Footprints, 1975, p. 2. This is his autobiography, published in 1975, one year before his death. All future references are to this book, unless indicated otherwise.
2) p. 6.
3) p.6.
4) http://www.bedales.org.uk/home/about-bedales/history-bedales
5) p. 5. For the Bedales religious ethos, see http://www.bedales.org.uk/home/history-bedales/bedales-jaw
7) p. 7.
8) p. 8.
9) p. 9.
10) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2550548/?page=1
11) pp. 50-53.
12) Charles Roland, the leading medical historian of the Hong Kong war, judges that, apart from two cowardly performances by doctors ' the medical department did very well in the war' - Long Night's Journey into Day, 2001, Kindle Edition, Location 785.
13) p. 70; p. 186.
14) p. 70.
15) http://brianedgar.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/the-french-hospital-arrests-a...
16) p. 83-85.
17) p. 93.
18) p. 89.
19) p.89.
20) p. 86.
21) p. 84.
22) 89-90.
23) p. 3.
24) http://brianedgar.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/a-slip-in-selwyn-clarkes-auto...
25) p. 19.
26) p. 89.
27) p. 19.
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Christine Thomas
In searching for information about my grandfather b. HK 25 May 1858, and his parents,(possible baptism records) I contacted Christine Thomas, at that time I must have been googling Hong Kong _____. On the strength of a simple query, she not only searched church recoreds and but went to Juror Lists, Directories and other sources that I did not know existed. She has been helpful and thorough in checking many sources, we have had some results but of course we always want to know more!!! Although her specialty may be Royal Hong Kong Police in which she served, she has great familiarity with all things Hong Kong. I particularly loved that she came up with creative ideas as well as sound genealogical searches. If you need a terrific searcher - Christine Thomas could be the answer. http://hongkongfamilyhistory.blogspot.co.uk/ ... -not sure if I sign this but if so = isioux or isioux2
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History is mostly guessing; the rest is prejudice.
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HK photos sell for nearly 50,000 pounds
Several people have sent me this link:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2814613/Hong-Kong-ve-never-seen-...
I asked my wife if she was the anonymous buyer, sorting out my christmas present. Unfortunately it wasn't her...
Regards, David
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Barques Carrying Cargo 1874 +/- 10 years
Looking for records of ships in and out of Hong Kong from 1854-1884, particularly the Schooner or Barque Dohphin or Delphin with the Master Lilienthal. I would be very grateful to learn of sources to consult or any details at all that I could investigate. 
-isioux
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Hong Kong and the west until 1860
http://bamboo.lib.hku.hk/HKWest/HKWest.htm
The "Hong Kong & the West until 1860" database was created by the University of Hong Kong Libraries in response to the Pacific Rim Digital Library Alliance's project of setting up among member libraries a digital Pacific Explorations Archive for access and preservation of important materials related to the exploration of the Pacific.
The database is to provide online access and retrieval to a variety of valuable information, including sketches, maps, and accounts of western visitors and settlers about early Hong Kong, which are scattered in rare titles located in Special Collections and Fung Ping Shan Library of the University of Hong Kong Libraries.
The year 1860 has been identified as the cut-off date because it marked the end of the first phase of Hong Kong history. Geographically and politically, the territory of Hong Kong was confined to Hong Kong Island until 1860 when the Convention of Peking was signed under which Kowloon became part of the territory. A total of forty-two titles, mostly in English and published before 1860, were selected from the collection for inclusion into this database. The database now comprises 531 images, including 49 picture and 482 full text. It will be updated periodically to include new entries.
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MyMapHK app Old Hong Kong
App - Lands department has put out this truly superior app that includes an 1889 map superimposed on the current map.
No doubt they got the idea from your 1924 map, David.
East point Hill, by Hong Kong government lands department
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