A selection of pictures of Central Police Station and the Magistracy today.
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
Monday, 10 December 2007
Prison robbed
The colourful history of Victoria Prison contains many interesting incidents and in 1855 it was reported that the prison itself was robbed.
An old history recounted the tale:
Robberies at this period were frequent in different parts of the town, and amongst them, one had been committed on the Police-guarded premises of the Chief Police Magistrate. Now, an important one was reported as having been committed in Victoria Gaol, in consequence of which the authorities were severely taken to task, strong suspicion in this case resting upon the European prison subordinates. The Gaol was under the sole charge of a turnkey named Whelan, and on the 20th of August, Goodings, the Chief Gaoler, discovered the padlock of the store-room forced, and upwards of 90 pounds, partly belonging to prisoners, abstracted from a camphor-wood box, wherein the property of prisoners was kept, there being no safe in the gaol.
The occasion was deemed appropriate, however for noticing the small pay allowed the Gaol subordinates. The Chief Gaoler had $45 a month; his wife, acting matron, $5; McLaughlin, first turnkey, $24; and Whelan, the second turnkey, formerly a private in the 59th Regiment, $15. On these salaries all these people had to provide themselves; and it was a matter for surprise how Government imagined honesty could be maintained in men of Whelan’s class, especially on the small modicum he received. Of the money lost a sum of 30 pounds belonged to prisoners who were entitled to its return on the expiry of their sentences. The Sheriff, it appeared, had brought an iron chest for the gaoler’s use some months before, but as the Government would not allow the disbursement, it lay in the robbed store-room un-used. McLaughlin and Whelan were committed for trial for larceny on the 30th August, but the case being a weak one, they were let out on bail, the prosecution being subsequently abandoned by the Attorney-General.
A seaman named Clark, on the 7th of September, sued Goodings, the Gaoler, for 18 pounds 16 shillings and sixpence, moneys deposited by him in terms of Ordinance No. 1 of 1854, on the occasion of his being sent to gaol for refusing to do work on board ship. The defence was that the money had been stolen from the store-room in the Gaol, together with other moneys belonging to himself, the defendant, and to other prisoners. The case was dismissed, the Chief Justice holding that the Sheriff was the proper person to be sued. The Court at the same time informed the plaintiff that, unless he was prepared to prove gross negligence, the plaintiff must stand the loss himself. On the plaintiff remarking that he had lost everything he possessed in the world and for which he had worked hard, His Lordship replied “perhaps a memorial to the Governor might obtain compensation – he, the Chief Justice, was there to administer the law and could only suggest the application.”
The History of the Laws and Courts of Hong Kong, by James William Norton-Kyshe. 1898. Republished, Vetch and Lee, Hong Kong, 1971.
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
***
An old history recounted the tale:
Robberies at this period were frequent in different parts of the town, and amongst them, one had been committed on the Police-guarded premises of the Chief Police Magistrate. Now, an important one was reported as having been committed in Victoria Gaol, in consequence of which the authorities were severely taken to task, strong suspicion in this case resting upon the European prison subordinates. The Gaol was under the sole charge of a turnkey named Whelan, and on the 20th of August, Goodings, the Chief Gaoler, discovered the padlock of the store-room forced, and upwards of 90 pounds, partly belonging to prisoners, abstracted from a camphor-wood box, wherein the property of prisoners was kept, there being no safe in the gaol.
The occasion was deemed appropriate, however for noticing the small pay allowed the Gaol subordinates. The Chief Gaoler had $45 a month; his wife, acting matron, $5; McLaughlin, first turnkey, $24; and Whelan, the second turnkey, formerly a private in the 59th Regiment, $15. On these salaries all these people had to provide themselves; and it was a matter for surprise how Government imagined honesty could be maintained in men of Whelan’s class, especially on the small modicum he received. Of the money lost a sum of 30 pounds belonged to prisoners who were entitled to its return on the expiry of their sentences. The Sheriff, it appeared, had brought an iron chest for the gaoler’s use some months before, but as the Government would not allow the disbursement, it lay in the robbed store-room un-used. McLaughlin and Whelan were committed for trial for larceny on the 30th August, but the case being a weak one, they were let out on bail, the prosecution being subsequently abandoned by the Attorney-General.
A seaman named Clark, on the 7th of September, sued Goodings, the Gaoler, for 18 pounds 16 shillings and sixpence, moneys deposited by him in terms of Ordinance No. 1 of 1854, on the occasion of his being sent to gaol for refusing to do work on board ship. The defence was that the money had been stolen from the store-room in the Gaol, together with other moneys belonging to himself, the defendant, and to other prisoners. The case was dismissed, the Chief Justice holding that the Sheriff was the proper person to be sued. The Court at the same time informed the plaintiff that, unless he was prepared to prove gross negligence, the plaintiff must stand the loss himself. On the plaintiff remarking that he had lost everything he possessed in the world and for which he had worked hard, His Lordship replied “perhaps a memorial to the Governor might obtain compensation – he, the Chief Justice, was there to administer the law and could only suggest the application.”
The History of the Laws and Courts of Hong Kong, by James William Norton-Kyshe. 1898. Republished, Vetch and Lee, Hong Kong, 1971.
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
***
Fatal cells
The cells in use in Hong Kong’s prison in 1856 were obviously hell holes.
An historian wrote:
“The long tale of Police and Prison misgovernment again came under public notice consequent upon the verdict of a Coroner’s Jury at an incident recently held. Speaking of the cells under the Police Station, Dr Dempster, the Colonial Surgeon, in his evidence at the inquest, said:
‘It is a filthy, disgusting place, badly ventilated, and altogether unfit for occupation by human beings. I was never in the cells but once to see a Policeman under delirium tremens; and so horrified was I with the dirty stinking hole, that I took it on myself to order the man out of confinement at once. It is a sink of iniquity. A man in a weak state of healthy kept in such a place twenty-four hours would receive irremediable injury to his whole system.’
“According to the evidence, the deceased had been kept in one of these cells for four nights and three days! And the following verdict of the Jury was no less startling:
“The deceased died from the effects of disease contracted prior to his arrest – death being accelerated by severe treatment at the hands of the Police, not only in his being dragged from his bed at midnight, when so sick he could hardly walk, but in being thrown into a cell described by the Colonial Surgeon as unfit for occupation by any human being, and further accelerated by the want of attention during his confinement in Gaol; and the Jury recommend that the Colonial Surgeon’s representation regarding the cells at the Police Station be brought to the especial notice of His Excellency the Governor.”
The History of the Laws and Courts of Hong Kong, by James William Norton-Kyshe. 1898. Republished, Vetch and Lee, Hong Kong, 1971.
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
***
An historian wrote:
“The long tale of Police and Prison misgovernment again came under public notice consequent upon the verdict of a Coroner’s Jury at an incident recently held. Speaking of the cells under the Police Station, Dr Dempster, the Colonial Surgeon, in his evidence at the inquest, said:
‘It is a filthy, disgusting place, badly ventilated, and altogether unfit for occupation by human beings. I was never in the cells but once to see a Policeman under delirium tremens; and so horrified was I with the dirty stinking hole, that I took it on myself to order the man out of confinement at once. It is a sink of iniquity. A man in a weak state of healthy kept in such a place twenty-four hours would receive irremediable injury to his whole system.’
“According to the evidence, the deceased had been kept in one of these cells for four nights and three days! And the following verdict of the Jury was no less startling:
“The deceased died from the effects of disease contracted prior to his arrest – death being accelerated by severe treatment at the hands of the Police, not only in his being dragged from his bed at midnight, when so sick he could hardly walk, but in being thrown into a cell described by the Colonial Surgeon as unfit for occupation by any human being, and further accelerated by the want of attention during his confinement in Gaol; and the Jury recommend that the Colonial Surgeon’s representation regarding the cells at the Police Station be brought to the especial notice of His Excellency the Governor.”
The History of the Laws and Courts of Hong Kong, by James William Norton-Kyshe. 1898. Republished, Vetch and Lee, Hong Kong, 1971.
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
***
Jockey Club opens exhibition on Central Police Station
10 December 2007
Fulfilling its promise to stage a comprehensive, six-month public consultation exercise on its HK$1.8 billion plan to conserve and revitalise the historic Central Police Station Compound, The Hong Kong Jockey Club tomorrow (11 December) will launch the first of a series of initiatives to explain the proposal in more detail: an exhibition at the Hong Kong Racing Museum entitled Conservation & Revitalisation - the Central Police Station Compound.
Through a series of photographs, videos, architectural plans, and site and process models, the exhibition takes visitors through the fascinating history of the compound - parts of which are more than 160 years old - before showing the present status of the buildings and how the Club plans to restore and inject new life into them for the public's enjoyment. The exhibition is aimed at bringing the proposal to life and giving local residents a feeling of the ambience and atmosphere that will be created by the revitalisation.
Speaking at today's opening ceremony, the Club's Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges observed that although the Club's proposal had attracted a huge amount of media interest, the public had only had a limited opportunity so far to see the plans in detail and to understand the rationale behind them. "Furthermore, we are keen to hear the public's views on this important project so that we can ensure it best meets the needs and expectations of the people of Hong Kong," he said. "We hope that as many local residents as possible will visit this exhibition and then let us have their comments."
The Club believes that Hong Kong, as an international city blessed with a unique history and rich 'East meets West' cultural influences, has the opportunity to make its own mark in global heritage conservation. "We hope that our proposal will not only bring a positive outcome for conserving and revitalising the Central Police Station Compound, but also spark wider community discussions on how Hong Kong could make best use of its heritage assets," Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges commented.
The Secretary for Development, Mrs Carrie Lam, said at the ceremony that the Club's revitalisation proposal for the Central Police Station Compound came most timely as the Government was committed to pressing ahead with sustainable and innovative heritage conservation work in Hong Kong. "The cluster of historic buildings in the Central Police Station Compound contains rich heritage value and has great potential to become a cultural landmark for the enjoyment of local people and overseas visitors," she said.
Mrs Lam thanked The Hong Kong Jockey Club for its commitment to conserve and revitalise this historic compound and welcomed the exhibition as an effective way to gauge public opinion on the details of the proposal. She hoped the public could render their support to the project and offered constructive comments to the Club for further refining the proposal.
Also joining today's ceremony were architects Pierre de Meuron and Ascan Mergenthaler, whose firm Herzog & de Meuron have conceptualised the Central Police Station revitalisation plan. Herzog & de Meuron has also been responsible for several other acclaimed heritage projects overseas including the Tate Modern in London, formerly a power station.
The Club also launched today a new website, http://www.centralpolicestation.org.hk/, which will allow the public to understand the project in further detail. Members of the public can leave their comments on a feedback form provided on this website, or submit their views by completing a questionnaire at the exhibition and dropping it into a suggestions box. A roving exhibition featuring the proposal will also be launched in early 2008.
Conservation & Revitalisation - the Central Police Station Compound will be open to the public from now until early May 2008, shortly after the consultation period ends on 10 April 2008. Admission is free. The Hong Kong Racing Museum is located on the second floor of the Happy Valley Stand at Happy Valley Racecourse on Wong Nai Chung Road (opposite the end of Queen's Road East), and is open on Tuesdays to Sundays and most Public Holidays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. During day race meetings at Happy Valley, it opens from 10:00 am until 12:30 pm only. For enquiries, please contact the Racing Museum on (852) 2966 8065.
***
Fulfilling its promise to stage a comprehensive, six-month public consultation exercise on its HK$1.8 billion plan to conserve and revitalise the historic Central Police Station Compound, The Hong Kong Jockey Club tomorrow (11 December) will launch the first of a series of initiatives to explain the proposal in more detail: an exhibition at the Hong Kong Racing Museum entitled Conservation & Revitalisation - the Central Police Station Compound.
Through a series of photographs, videos, architectural plans, and site and process models, the exhibition takes visitors through the fascinating history of the compound - parts of which are more than 160 years old - before showing the present status of the buildings and how the Club plans to restore and inject new life into them for the public's enjoyment. The exhibition is aimed at bringing the proposal to life and giving local residents a feeling of the ambience and atmosphere that will be created by the revitalisation.
Speaking at today's opening ceremony, the Club's Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges observed that although the Club's proposal had attracted a huge amount of media interest, the public had only had a limited opportunity so far to see the plans in detail and to understand the rationale behind them. "Furthermore, we are keen to hear the public's views on this important project so that we can ensure it best meets the needs and expectations of the people of Hong Kong," he said. "We hope that as many local residents as possible will visit this exhibition and then let us have their comments."
The Club believes that Hong Kong, as an international city blessed with a unique history and rich 'East meets West' cultural influences, has the opportunity to make its own mark in global heritage conservation. "We hope that our proposal will not only bring a positive outcome for conserving and revitalising the Central Police Station Compound, but also spark wider community discussions on how Hong Kong could make best use of its heritage assets," Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges commented.
The Secretary for Development, Mrs Carrie Lam, said at the ceremony that the Club's revitalisation proposal for the Central Police Station Compound came most timely as the Government was committed to pressing ahead with sustainable and innovative heritage conservation work in Hong Kong. "The cluster of historic buildings in the Central Police Station Compound contains rich heritage value and has great potential to become a cultural landmark for the enjoyment of local people and overseas visitors," she said.
Mrs Lam thanked The Hong Kong Jockey Club for its commitment to conserve and revitalise this historic compound and welcomed the exhibition as an effective way to gauge public opinion on the details of the proposal. She hoped the public could render their support to the project and offered constructive comments to the Club for further refining the proposal.
Also joining today's ceremony were architects Pierre de Meuron and Ascan Mergenthaler, whose firm Herzog & de Meuron have conceptualised the Central Police Station revitalisation plan. Herzog & de Meuron has also been responsible for several other acclaimed heritage projects overseas including the Tate Modern in London, formerly a power station.
The Club also launched today a new website, http://www.centralpolicestation.org.hk/, which will allow the public to understand the project in further detail. Members of the public can leave their comments on a feedback form provided on this website, or submit their views by completing a questionnaire at the exhibition and dropping it into a suggestions box. A roving exhibition featuring the proposal will also be launched in early 2008.
Conservation & Revitalisation - the Central Police Station Compound will be open to the public from now until early May 2008, shortly after the consultation period ends on 10 April 2008. Admission is free. The Hong Kong Racing Museum is located on the second floor of the Happy Valley Stand at Happy Valley Racecourse on Wong Nai Chung Road (opposite the end of Queen's Road East), and is open on Tuesdays to Sundays and most Public Holidays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. During day race meetings at Happy Valley, it opens from 10:00 am until 12:30 pm only. For enquiries, please contact the Racing Museum on (852) 2966 8065.
***
New website on Central Police Station project
The Hong Kong Jockey Club has introduced an interesting new website describing the thinking on the Central Police Station project and inviting public comments.
The website can be found at http://www.centralpolicestation.org.hk/.
***
The website can be found at http://www.centralpolicestation.org.hk/.
***
Language confusion
In the 1960s there were numerous police officers who had been recruited from the northern province of Shandong.
As their form of Chinese was very different from Cantonese, problems could arise, as recalled by Chris Fraser.
There was a Cantonese maneuvering a three-ton truck and he was being guided by a Shandong man who was at the rear on foot.
The truck was going backwards and forwards to turn around. The Shandong man was tapping on the back to indicate that the driver should continue reversing. “Lai, Lai,” (“Come on, come on,” in Mandarin), he said, until the truck was about to hit a wall.
Then the Shandong guy said: “Hao.” (which means “enough” or “stop” in Mandarin.
The Cantonese driver, though, hearing “Hao,” thought that he had heard “Hau” (Cantonese for “reverse.”) and continued - hitting the wall and breaking the tail lights.
The Cantonese leapt from the truck and made allegations about the Shandong man’s mother. The Shandong man then assaulted the Cantonese.
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
***
As their form of Chinese was very different from Cantonese, problems could arise, as recalled by Chris Fraser.
There was a Cantonese maneuvering a three-ton truck and he was being guided by a Shandong man who was at the rear on foot.
The truck was going backwards and forwards to turn around. The Shandong man was tapping on the back to indicate that the driver should continue reversing. “Lai, Lai,” (“Come on, come on,” in Mandarin), he said, until the truck was about to hit a wall.
Then the Shandong guy said: “Hao.” (which means “enough” or “stop” in Mandarin.
The Cantonese driver, though, hearing “Hao,” thought that he had heard “Hau” (Cantonese for “reverse.”) and continued - hitting the wall and breaking the tail lights.
The Cantonese leapt from the truck and made allegations about the Shandong man’s mother. The Shandong man then assaulted the Cantonese.
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
***
Sir John´s reforming instincts
In Hong Kong in the past there was a firm belief that physical punishment was an essential ingredient of keeping crime under control. Both the foreign and Chinese communities shared this view and a system of flogging, tattooing (known as branding) and deportation was used.
However, in April, 1877, Sir John Pope Hennessy arrived to take up the position of Governor and his views were soon found to be at odds with those of the community. This was a time in Britain and Europe where new thinking was going on as to punishment and reform with many efforts being made to play down the punishment aspect of jail and step up the reform aspect.
Sir John proposed that a “separate system” be established. This would have required the construction of a new jail and introduction of new facilities for young offenders. This never happened due to financial problems.
The governor explained to a highly skeptical local community: “If we have a goal on the separate system where the prisoners must do some useful hard work, and where they know there is not the slightest chance of their release before the end of the Judge’s sentence, except by steady good conduct; if we provide reformatory and industrial training for juvenile criminals, and if we let it be clearly understood that second offences will be punished with a long sentence, that will do more than to check the growth of crime than anything else we can devise.”
The community found this difficult to understand, saying there was nothing long with the robust deterrent methods currently in use. The governor wasn’t helped by a series of serious crimes, including an attack by a gang of 40-80 armed men who held police at bay in Wing Lok Street, Wanchai, while they looted it and escaped in a steam launch. A public meeting of foreign residents was held, on October 7, at the Cricket Ground.
This passed a number of resolutions. Point one was that “undue leniency” towards the criminal classes had jeopardized life and property. Point two was that flogging was the only real deterrent. Point three called for a commission of medical men to be established to assess flogging on the back. Point four said that abolition of deportation would be disastrous. Point Five called for a Commission from outside the colony to be appointed to investigate matters. Point six called for a copy of the resolutions to be forwarded to London. Off went the resolutions to London where they languished unanswered for a year.
In the meantime, the Chinese community had rallied to Sir John, whom they saw as pro-Chinese. An address to the Queen was presented on October 29, 1878, signed by no less than 2,218 shop keepers. Eventually, a communication was received from the government in London which attempted to smooth things over.
Sir John started to tighten up on discipline in the jail in 1879, deportation was recommenced in the same year and other measures taken. In 1880, London ordered the final abolition of all tattooing of criminals, the end of public flogging, repeal of all Ordinances providing for the flogging of Chinese, prohibition of all flogging except in cases where it would be inflicted in the United Kingdom, and an order that the flogging of Asians should be on “the breach” rather than the back.
No new jail was built, however, and the existing facilities continued in use.
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
***
However, in April, 1877, Sir John Pope Hennessy arrived to take up the position of Governor and his views were soon found to be at odds with those of the community. This was a time in Britain and Europe where new thinking was going on as to punishment and reform with many efforts being made to play down the punishment aspect of jail and step up the reform aspect.
Sir John proposed that a “separate system” be established. This would have required the construction of a new jail and introduction of new facilities for young offenders. This never happened due to financial problems.
The governor explained to a highly skeptical local community: “If we have a goal on the separate system where the prisoners must do some useful hard work, and where they know there is not the slightest chance of their release before the end of the Judge’s sentence, except by steady good conduct; if we provide reformatory and industrial training for juvenile criminals, and if we let it be clearly understood that second offences will be punished with a long sentence, that will do more than to check the growth of crime than anything else we can devise.”
The community found this difficult to understand, saying there was nothing long with the robust deterrent methods currently in use. The governor wasn’t helped by a series of serious crimes, including an attack by a gang of 40-80 armed men who held police at bay in Wing Lok Street, Wanchai, while they looted it and escaped in a steam launch. A public meeting of foreign residents was held, on October 7, at the Cricket Ground.
This passed a number of resolutions. Point one was that “undue leniency” towards the criminal classes had jeopardized life and property. Point two was that flogging was the only real deterrent. Point three called for a commission of medical men to be established to assess flogging on the back. Point four said that abolition of deportation would be disastrous. Point Five called for a Commission from outside the colony to be appointed to investigate matters. Point six called for a copy of the resolutions to be forwarded to London. Off went the resolutions to London where they languished unanswered for a year.
In the meantime, the Chinese community had rallied to Sir John, whom they saw as pro-Chinese. An address to the Queen was presented on October 29, 1878, signed by no less than 2,218 shop keepers. Eventually, a communication was received from the government in London which attempted to smooth things over.
Sir John started to tighten up on discipline in the jail in 1879, deportation was recommenced in the same year and other measures taken. In 1880, London ordered the final abolition of all tattooing of criminals, the end of public flogging, repeal of all Ordinances providing for the flogging of Chinese, prohibition of all flogging except in cases where it would be inflicted in the United Kingdom, and an order that the flogging of Asians should be on “the breach” rather than the back.
No new jail was built, however, and the existing facilities continued in use.
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
***
The Royal Saxon prison hulk
In 1861 work started on building a new jail at Stonecutters Island, in Hong Kong harbour off Kowloon and this was finished by 1864.
However, there was increasing pressure on prison facilities in the early 1860s, transportation to the Andaman Islands, in the Indian Ocean was suspended, and a new debtors’ ward was introduced at the jail. So, to relieve pressure an old hulk, the Royal Saxon, was put into service as a floating prison.
Arrangements were made and 280 prisoners serving long sentences were loaded onto the ship which was anchored off Stonecutters’ Island. During the day the convicts worked in the quarries on the island. Usually, the hulk was guarded by a gunboat and military guard. However, sometimes these had to be withdrawn and the result was that friends of the prisoners made attempts to rescue them.
On July 23, 1868, there was a tragic accident when a boat carrying 38 prisoners was overturned and they all drowned. On April, 21, 1864, about a hundred prisoners managed to escape after over-powering the guards. The use of the Royal Saxon as a prison was subsequently abandon.
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
***
However, there was increasing pressure on prison facilities in the early 1860s, transportation to the Andaman Islands, in the Indian Ocean was suspended, and a new debtors’ ward was introduced at the jail. So, to relieve pressure an old hulk, the Royal Saxon, was put into service as a floating prison.
Arrangements were made and 280 prisoners serving long sentences were loaded onto the ship which was anchored off Stonecutters’ Island. During the day the convicts worked in the quarries on the island. Usually, the hulk was guarded by a gunboat and military guard. However, sometimes these had to be withdrawn and the result was that friends of the prisoners made attempts to rescue them.
On July 23, 1868, there was a tragic accident when a boat carrying 38 prisoners was overturned and they all drowned. On April, 21, 1864, about a hundred prisoners managed to escape after over-powering the guards. The use of the Royal Saxon as a prison was subsequently abandon.
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
***
John Turner remembers
John Turner, CPM (CSP Retd) recalls his early career at Central Police Station.
I was posted to Central Police Station in the summer of 1956 after passing out from Police Training School with the lowly rank of Probationary Sub-Inspector (PSI). At Central I was “welcomed” by the then Divisional Superintendent, a very youthful Ted Shave who showed me my quarters, a rather large room in “C” Block. The room had a small verandah which overlooked the very steep access road up to the station compound and was linked to the adjacent “B” block by a concrete walkway. There were three blocks of single inspector quarters, “A” “B” and “C” with “A” being for the more “senior” inspectors and “C” for the most junior.
Many of the residents of “A” Block, including Jimmy Hidden, Mike Davis and Mo Hulbert, all apparently confirmed bachelors, had been in residence for some years and were not expecting to be moved. I, on the other hand, was informed I would be moved to a “superior” room in “B” block as soon as a vacancy arose. the residents of the three blocks, about 25-30 inspectors, were all served by one “room boy”, Ah Kit, who lived with his family on the ground floor of “B” Block. Ah Kit helped us all survive our first few months outside Training School and taught us the ropes. What a tale he could tell of the goings on at Central!!! Young inspectors with me at the time included Bob Styles, Ivan Scott, Jock Atkinson and Ken Wellburn.
The Sub-Divisional Inspector, SDI, was Mr Wong Wing-yin, nicknamed “Mambo Wong” on account of his fondness for ballroom dancing, especially Latin American. “Mambo” wanted to be British and regarded England as home where he went on leave. He very seldom spoke in Cantonese, insisting on an interpreter whenever he interviewed junior Chinese officers. Something we could never understand.
Opposite “B” Block and adjacent to the entrance to the old Victoria Prison, was a large pre-war building which served as Central Magistracy, where Mr Hing Shing-lo, the principal magistrate, presided, dispensing instant justice to a mixture of hawkers, opium addicts and wife beaters. Mr Lo wasted little time and rarely accepted a plea of not guilty!
The charge room staff were actually run by a Sergeant who sat behind a high desk, overlooking anyone who wished to make a report. He and only he was allowed to make an entry in the enormous red Report Book. I remember making an entry on one occasion but was quickly corrected by the Sergeant. When the charge-room became overcrowded, as it frequently did, those people waiting to make a report were placed in the large cage in the room, where they remained until they could be dealt with by the IOD. The SDI’s office was behind the charge room. However, Mr Wong seldom appeared outside his office.
In 1956 Hong Kong was being overwhelmed by refugees from Mainland China who were fleeing the communist takeover of the country. They arrived in their tens of thousands, many of them turning up at Police Stations to be “registered” for a Hong Kong identity card. They would queue for hours outside the charge room waiting their turn. Our knowledge of Cantonese, the local Chinese dialect, was rather limited to say the least, although in our first tour of duty we were expected to be able to qualify in both the Standard 1 and 2 language examinations if we were to become Sub-Inspectors. None of the refugees could speak English and we were taught to ask them in Cantonese for their name, age and place of birth in China. We struggled to make some sense but usually succeeded unless the person came from some obscure region in China and spoke a dialect no one could understand, in which case we often invented the personal particulars and passed on to the next one. Registration meant that they would receive a Hong Kong Identity Card in due course, giving them the right to remain in the colony.
My first year at Central was fairly routine and there was little in the way of excitement until the civil disturbances that broke out on the “Double Tenth” 1956 and I found myself in charge of anti-riot platoon, consisting solely of policemen with wooden batons – little use when faced with an angry mob of stone throwing rioters! I and my platoon were sent from Central to the San Miguel Brewery in Sham Tseng, Tsuen Wan, where the European staff were being held hostage by the Chinese workers. We succeeded in rescuing them and were then told to guard the brewery, obviously considered a vital point in those days, until relieved. Relief arrived some four days later. We had no rations of our own and were forced to survive on a diet of cuttle fish from the village shop, washed down by copious amounts of San Miguel beer!
In the Central Police Station compound and next to the station charge-room was the headquarters of the Hong Kong Island District Emergency Unit. The personnel spent their time “on stand-by” playing mahjong and waiting to be called out, when they would put on their white helmets, leap into their open-sided patrol vehicles and speed off down the slope leading to Central District. There was a story doing the rounds at the time that one night when on patrol two constables fell asleep while on second night patrol and actually fell onto the road when the patrol car went round a sharp bend!
Next to the Emergency Unit stood the Police Stores where Chief Inspector “Granny” Scott presided. “Granny” was a dour Scot who had an intense dislike of young inspectors and was determined to make their life a misery whenever possible. Woe betide anyone handing in their kit prior to vacation leave if even a single button was missing. This was a serious disciplinary matter in “granny’s” book. Not only would you be charged for the missing item, but also threatened with disciplinary action if there was any re-occurrence. As a result, to avoid any unpleasantness, most inspectors would bribe their barrack sergeant who would in turn bribe the stores sergeant to accept the kit as being all correct. We called this the “Ways and Means Ordinance.”
The large red brick building with its colonial style verandahs stood on the opposite side of the station compound and housed the Hong Kong Island District Headquarters, with Roy Turner, the District Commander, the Divisional C.I.D with “Paddy” Carty, the Divisional Detective Inspector. The Central Divisional Superintendent, Ted Shave’s office was on the ground floor of the building, together with Tommy Dow, the Divisional Chief Inspector. Lowly uniform probationary sub-inspectors, such as myself, seldom had any dealings with these senior officers, except during official inspections, although I was surprised on one occasion to receive Roy Turner’s bank statement from the Hong Kong Bank – they had got the names mixed up apparently. Unlike the District commander I was usually overdrawn at the end of the month, but not apparently on this occasion. It was not to last!
The Central Division and Hong Kong Island District Mess was located in the basement of the District HQ building. I had my breakfast and lunch there but only visited the upstairs bar on very rare occasions. It was usually frequented by the more senior officers, most of whom had a distinctly patronising attitude towards young sub-inspectors. It was “get yer knees brown”, and “what did you do in the war when we were in Stanley prison?” So taking the hint, myself and some other like-minded individuals, Bob Style, Taff Hughes, Les Henson and Jack English, would be found most evenings enjoying the delights of the Blue Heaven nightclub which was in the King’s Cinema building about ten minutes walk downhill from Central Police Station. Here we all received a very warm welcome from Louis the manager who, unknown to us, was operating a large illegal casino on the floor above the nightclub and appreciated the security of having half the officers of Central Division wining and dining on the floor below! The club had a Filipino band, Tino’s, and a gorgeous singer called Estella, with whom we were all hopelessly in love but couldn’t afford!
After a few months in “C” block, I was “up-graded” to a room on the ground floor of “B” block where I lived until early 1957, when I moved to Upper Levels Police Station where, under Ron Dudman the Mess President, we really knew how to live. Unfortunately, this was not to last and at the end of the year the Police Training Contingent (PTC), later to become PTU, was looking for volunteers and I was one of the first to go.
In retrospect, I look on my time spent at Central with a good deal of nostalgia. They were good days and quite unforgettable.
***
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
I was posted to Central Police Station in the summer of 1956 after passing out from Police Training School with the lowly rank of Probationary Sub-Inspector (PSI). At Central I was “welcomed” by the then Divisional Superintendent, a very youthful Ted Shave who showed me my quarters, a rather large room in “C” Block. The room had a small verandah which overlooked the very steep access road up to the station compound and was linked to the adjacent “B” block by a concrete walkway. There were three blocks of single inspector quarters, “A” “B” and “C” with “A” being for the more “senior” inspectors and “C” for the most junior.
Many of the residents of “A” Block, including Jimmy Hidden, Mike Davis and Mo Hulbert, all apparently confirmed bachelors, had been in residence for some years and were not expecting to be moved. I, on the other hand, was informed I would be moved to a “superior” room in “B” block as soon as a vacancy arose. the residents of the three blocks, about 25-30 inspectors, were all served by one “room boy”, Ah Kit, who lived with his family on the ground floor of “B” Block. Ah Kit helped us all survive our first few months outside Training School and taught us the ropes. What a tale he could tell of the goings on at Central!!! Young inspectors with me at the time included Bob Styles, Ivan Scott, Jock Atkinson and Ken Wellburn.
The Sub-Divisional Inspector, SDI, was Mr Wong Wing-yin, nicknamed “Mambo Wong” on account of his fondness for ballroom dancing, especially Latin American. “Mambo” wanted to be British and regarded England as home where he went on leave. He very seldom spoke in Cantonese, insisting on an interpreter whenever he interviewed junior Chinese officers. Something we could never understand.
Opposite “B” Block and adjacent to the entrance to the old Victoria Prison, was a large pre-war building which served as Central Magistracy, where Mr Hing Shing-lo, the principal magistrate, presided, dispensing instant justice to a mixture of hawkers, opium addicts and wife beaters. Mr Lo wasted little time and rarely accepted a plea of not guilty!
The charge room staff were actually run by a Sergeant who sat behind a high desk, overlooking anyone who wished to make a report. He and only he was allowed to make an entry in the enormous red Report Book. I remember making an entry on one occasion but was quickly corrected by the Sergeant. When the charge-room became overcrowded, as it frequently did, those people waiting to make a report were placed in the large cage in the room, where they remained until they could be dealt with by the IOD. The SDI’s office was behind the charge room. However, Mr Wong seldom appeared outside his office.
In 1956 Hong Kong was being overwhelmed by refugees from Mainland China who were fleeing the communist takeover of the country. They arrived in their tens of thousands, many of them turning up at Police Stations to be “registered” for a Hong Kong identity card. They would queue for hours outside the charge room waiting their turn. Our knowledge of Cantonese, the local Chinese dialect, was rather limited to say the least, although in our first tour of duty we were expected to be able to qualify in both the Standard 1 and 2 language examinations if we were to become Sub-Inspectors. None of the refugees could speak English and we were taught to ask them in Cantonese for their name, age and place of birth in China. We struggled to make some sense but usually succeeded unless the person came from some obscure region in China and spoke a dialect no one could understand, in which case we often invented the personal particulars and passed on to the next one. Registration meant that they would receive a Hong Kong Identity Card in due course, giving them the right to remain in the colony.
My first year at Central was fairly routine and there was little in the way of excitement until the civil disturbances that broke out on the “Double Tenth” 1956 and I found myself in charge of anti-riot platoon, consisting solely of policemen with wooden batons – little use when faced with an angry mob of stone throwing rioters! I and my platoon were sent from Central to the San Miguel Brewery in Sham Tseng, Tsuen Wan, where the European staff were being held hostage by the Chinese workers. We succeeded in rescuing them and were then told to guard the brewery, obviously considered a vital point in those days, until relieved. Relief arrived some four days later. We had no rations of our own and were forced to survive on a diet of cuttle fish from the village shop, washed down by copious amounts of San Miguel beer!
In the Central Police Station compound and next to the station charge-room was the headquarters of the Hong Kong Island District Emergency Unit. The personnel spent their time “on stand-by” playing mahjong and waiting to be called out, when they would put on their white helmets, leap into their open-sided patrol vehicles and speed off down the slope leading to Central District. There was a story doing the rounds at the time that one night when on patrol two constables fell asleep while on second night patrol and actually fell onto the road when the patrol car went round a sharp bend!
Next to the Emergency Unit stood the Police Stores where Chief Inspector “Granny” Scott presided. “Granny” was a dour Scot who had an intense dislike of young inspectors and was determined to make their life a misery whenever possible. Woe betide anyone handing in their kit prior to vacation leave if even a single button was missing. This was a serious disciplinary matter in “granny’s” book. Not only would you be charged for the missing item, but also threatened with disciplinary action if there was any re-occurrence. As a result, to avoid any unpleasantness, most inspectors would bribe their barrack sergeant who would in turn bribe the stores sergeant to accept the kit as being all correct. We called this the “Ways and Means Ordinance.”
The large red brick building with its colonial style verandahs stood on the opposite side of the station compound and housed the Hong Kong Island District Headquarters, with Roy Turner, the District Commander, the Divisional C.I.D with “Paddy” Carty, the Divisional Detective Inspector. The Central Divisional Superintendent, Ted Shave’s office was on the ground floor of the building, together with Tommy Dow, the Divisional Chief Inspector. Lowly uniform probationary sub-inspectors, such as myself, seldom had any dealings with these senior officers, except during official inspections, although I was surprised on one occasion to receive Roy Turner’s bank statement from the Hong Kong Bank – they had got the names mixed up apparently. Unlike the District commander I was usually overdrawn at the end of the month, but not apparently on this occasion. It was not to last!
The Central Division and Hong Kong Island District Mess was located in the basement of the District HQ building. I had my breakfast and lunch there but only visited the upstairs bar on very rare occasions. It was usually frequented by the more senior officers, most of whom had a distinctly patronising attitude towards young sub-inspectors. It was “get yer knees brown”, and “what did you do in the war when we were in Stanley prison?” So taking the hint, myself and some other like-minded individuals, Bob Style, Taff Hughes, Les Henson and Jack English, would be found most evenings enjoying the delights of the Blue Heaven nightclub which was in the King’s Cinema building about ten minutes walk downhill from Central Police Station. Here we all received a very warm welcome from Louis the manager who, unknown to us, was operating a large illegal casino on the floor above the nightclub and appreciated the security of having half the officers of Central Division wining and dining on the floor below! The club had a Filipino band, Tino’s, and a gorgeous singer called Estella, with whom we were all hopelessly in love but couldn’t afford!
After a few months in “C” block, I was “up-graded” to a room on the ground floor of “B” block where I lived until early 1957, when I moved to Upper Levels Police Station where, under Ron Dudman the Mess President, we really knew how to live. Unfortunately, this was not to last and at the end of the year the Police Training Contingent (PTC), later to become PTU, was looking for volunteers and I was one of the first to go.
In retrospect, I look on my time spent at Central with a good deal of nostalgia. They were good days and quite unforgettable.
***
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
Anna Poon remembers
Anna Poon has very fond memories of her service at Central Police Station.
I was a Woman Police Constable in late 1979 and was based at the Peak Police Station where the SDI was Donaldson. I was transferred to CID Central after being interviewed by OC CID C, Elizabeth Mary Kerr (I think she was the only expatriate lady inspectorate officer in Central Division at the time. The CIP CID C was John Breen.
We were called Junior Investigators (JI) at the time. There were about five investigation teams, if I remember correctly. I had to handle lots of morning reports. I was also invited by expatriate officers to join their Christmas parties at their houses, such as SDI Peak, OC CID C and DS C at Repulse Bay. I remember the RC HKI was Mr McDonald, DRC HKI was Mr Redpath, DS C was Mr H.M. Whitton, who loved smoking his pipe. ADS was Mr Lionel Lam Kin, SDI C was Mr Willy-Furth, Mrs Annie Chu Ying Nin was a local woman officer. The ratio of WPCs to PCs was about one to 10. I was promoted to Probationary Inspector after about two years as a Constable.
The Central Police Station campus was packed with HKI HQs, C District HQs, C Division HQs, EU HKI, T HKI, RSDS HKI, Regional Vice Squad, SO Mess (as I believe it was), the Officers’ Mess as well as barracks for the JPOs.
There were three shifts a day for UB and CID worked 12 hours shifts with a five day cycle. I felt that the whole police station was a big family under the leadership of the DS and ADS with the RC and DRC. The atmosphere was so harmonious that I never felt tired, even though sometime I had to work for more than 16 hours a day.
I need to mention our JPO Canteen, which was a gathering place for every team to meet together, feed ourselves and go off to work without worrying about looking for food. I never heard one complaint in those days. Everyone cared for each other. In a team we had Inspectors, S/Sgt and Sgt as supervisors and assistant supervisors. We looked after each other not only during our daily work but also sometimes in personal or family affairs. Sergeants played a role like moms and Inspectors were like the dad of a family.
Every so often we had exercises dealing with raids, attacks or emergency action. EU HKI also had its drills. The Victoria Detention Center was next to the EU HKI office with a flight of steps up. Therefore, the Correctional Services Department also had a close liaison with us.
After promotion to Inspector, I left Central Police Station and worked for 12 years in different positions and districts. In 1994, I returned to Central Police Station as Road Safety Officer, Hong Kong Island. There, the he other senior women officers were Mrs Katherine Roper, Miss (I cannot recall her name at this moment). Of course, I will never forget SSP Lai Pak Hay, who was my SSO T HKI. Mr Willy Furth was again my boss as SO T HKI. I had an unforgettable four years before I left Hong Kong for the United States in 1997. He was like Santa Claus after he retired and came back to my office one day. I should have a picture of him in my LA house.
I was an active member of the Officers’ Mess. Without everyone’s support the mess would not have existed. We had a curry lunch at the Officers’ Mess every two weeks. You would always see me there and we had the best PC and WPC chefs there. Our curry lunch was a popular event and I remember that Jacky Chan and other businessmen and movies stars would come along.
When I was RSO/HKI, I would occasionally invite stars, singers and business people to hold functions at the police station to support Road Safety activities.
I miss my police friends and my police life. I never regret being a woman police officer in those days with our British government.
***
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
I was a Woman Police Constable in late 1979 and was based at the Peak Police Station where the SDI was Donaldson. I was transferred to CID Central after being interviewed by OC CID C, Elizabeth Mary Kerr (I think she was the only expatriate lady inspectorate officer in Central Division at the time. The CIP CID C was John Breen.
We were called Junior Investigators (JI) at the time. There were about five investigation teams, if I remember correctly. I had to handle lots of morning reports. I was also invited by expatriate officers to join their Christmas parties at their houses, such as SDI Peak, OC CID C and DS C at Repulse Bay. I remember the RC HKI was Mr McDonald, DRC HKI was Mr Redpath, DS C was Mr H.M. Whitton, who loved smoking his pipe. ADS was Mr Lionel Lam Kin, SDI C was Mr Willy-Furth, Mrs Annie Chu Ying Nin was a local woman officer. The ratio of WPCs to PCs was about one to 10. I was promoted to Probationary Inspector after about two years as a Constable.
The Central Police Station campus was packed with HKI HQs, C District HQs, C Division HQs, EU HKI, T HKI, RSDS HKI, Regional Vice Squad, SO Mess (as I believe it was), the Officers’ Mess as well as barracks for the JPOs.
There were three shifts a day for UB and CID worked 12 hours shifts with a five day cycle. I felt that the whole police station was a big family under the leadership of the DS and ADS with the RC and DRC. The atmosphere was so harmonious that I never felt tired, even though sometime I had to work for more than 16 hours a day.
I need to mention our JPO Canteen, which was a gathering place for every team to meet together, feed ourselves and go off to work without worrying about looking for food. I never heard one complaint in those days. Everyone cared for each other. In a team we had Inspectors, S/Sgt and Sgt as supervisors and assistant supervisors. We looked after each other not only during our daily work but also sometimes in personal or family affairs. Sergeants played a role like moms and Inspectors were like the dad of a family.
Every so often we had exercises dealing with raids, attacks or emergency action. EU HKI also had its drills. The Victoria Detention Center was next to the EU HKI office with a flight of steps up. Therefore, the Correctional Services Department also had a close liaison with us.
After promotion to Inspector, I left Central Police Station and worked for 12 years in different positions and districts. In 1994, I returned to Central Police Station as Road Safety Officer, Hong Kong Island. There, the he other senior women officers were Mrs Katherine Roper, Miss (I cannot recall her name at this moment). Of course, I will never forget SSP Lai Pak Hay, who was my SSO T HKI. Mr Willy Furth was again my boss as SO T HKI. I had an unforgettable four years before I left Hong Kong for the United States in 1997. He was like Santa Claus after he retired and came back to my office one day. I should have a picture of him in my LA house.
I was an active member of the Officers’ Mess. Without everyone’s support the mess would not have existed. We had a curry lunch at the Officers’ Mess every two weeks. You would always see me there and we had the best PC and WPC chefs there. Our curry lunch was a popular event and I remember that Jacky Chan and other businessmen and movies stars would come along.
When I was RSO/HKI, I would occasionally invite stars, singers and business people to hold functions at the police station to support Road Safety activities.
I miss my police friends and my police life. I never regret being a woman police officer in those days with our British government.
***
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
Barbara Anslow remembers
Barbara Anslow worked at Central Police Station before the Second World War.
I was not a member of the HK Police, but a stenographer at the Colonial Secretariat who was sent to Central Police Station for a month in 1938 while the regular steno was ill or on leave.
I was 19 and had only then been in Hong Kong for a few months, and in awe of all authority. To get to CPS I took a bus from my home (my Dad had quarters next to the Naval Dockyard in Queen’s Road, then I had a steep walk up very smelly streets.
I worked for the CP, Thomas King, who was also Commanding Officer Fire Brigade and he had a tiny glassed-in office with some clerks. To my horror I had to work a tiny telephone exchange – a completely new experience.
When the CP was seen coming towards the building in the morning, some messenger or clerk would shout “CP Come!”
The person who impressed me most at CPS was the Chief Chinese Clerk. He had the most beautiful English accent. A verandah ran along the side of our office and the CP’s. If this clerk wanted to know if the CP was busy, he would flatten himself against the wall of the verandah and slide carefully along until he could just see the CP in his office, then sidle back – even thinking about that now I can’t help giggling!
After the war Barbara, nee Redwood, married Frank Anslow who was working as a clerk at Central Police Station when the Japanese attacked in 1941. He passed away in 2003. Barbara’s father was the Superintending Electrical Engineer in the Generating Station of the Naval Dockyard. They lived in a flat on the ground floor of block six, separated from the dockyard itself by a high brick wall. She thinks that the office verandah was one looking onto Hollywood Road, rather than the parade ground: “I think our view was onto the back streets etc., because the extreme heat and the smells remain my strongest memory!”
***
centralpolciestationhongkong.blogspot.com
I was not a member of the HK Police, but a stenographer at the Colonial Secretariat who was sent to Central Police Station for a month in 1938 while the regular steno was ill or on leave.
I was 19 and had only then been in Hong Kong for a few months, and in awe of all authority. To get to CPS I took a bus from my home (my Dad had quarters next to the Naval Dockyard in Queen’s Road, then I had a steep walk up very smelly streets.
I worked for the CP, Thomas King, who was also Commanding Officer Fire Brigade and he had a tiny glassed-in office with some clerks. To my horror I had to work a tiny telephone exchange – a completely new experience.
When the CP was seen coming towards the building in the morning, some messenger or clerk would shout “CP Come!”
The person who impressed me most at CPS was the Chief Chinese Clerk. He had the most beautiful English accent. A verandah ran along the side of our office and the CP’s. If this clerk wanted to know if the CP was busy, he would flatten himself against the wall of the verandah and slide carefully along until he could just see the CP in his office, then sidle back – even thinking about that now I can’t help giggling!
After the war Barbara, nee Redwood, married Frank Anslow who was working as a clerk at Central Police Station when the Japanese attacked in 1941. He passed away in 2003. Barbara’s father was the Superintending Electrical Engineer in the Generating Station of the Naval Dockyard. They lived in a flat on the ground floor of block six, separated from the dockyard itself by a high brick wall. She thinks that the office verandah was one looking onto Hollywood Road, rather than the parade ground: “I think our view was onto the back streets etc., because the extreme heat and the smells remain my strongest memory!”
***
centralpolciestationhongkong.blogspot.com
Old prisons remembered
Old prisons remembered
A review of Hong Kong’s prison history was written in the 1930s by the newspaper columnist who signed himself “Colonialist.”
The serious condition at the local gaols these days, resulting in the deportation of many convicts after they have served only a portion of their sentences, suggests a little research into the system of dealing with convicts in the Colony’s early years. The records show that shortly after the foundation of Hongkong, the authorities were embarrassed almost as much as they are today owing to the difficulty of dealing adequately with the convicted criminals in their midst. For a time there was no desire to have European convicts in the island, and the Government were at a loss where to send them. It was provided in 1844 that convicts under sentence of transportations – a sentence existing in those days, based on the Indian Penal Code which had been adopted by the Crown Colonies – should be sent to Van Diemen’s Land [Tasmania]. The following year, however, provision was made to accommodate these criminals in the Colony itself, and in 1846 we find that certain convicts were sent to Scinde [India] and to Penang and Singapore (the later mainly Chinese pirates) suggesting that they continued to offer a problem to the prison authorities. Over forty years later, in 1889, we find records of European convicts from Hongkong still being sent to the Cape of Good Hope [South Africa]; a practice commenced in 1848. It may seem that the various selected places had not in those days, enough spirit to “kick” against this dunning process; but the Cape had in 1850, ineffectually protested, as did the Straits in 1851. White convicts from the garrison, after sentence by court martial, were still being sent to Van Diemen’s Land up to at least the early Nineties [1890s]
***
Yet there actually were gaols in the Colony, the Hongkong prison, one of the first two buildings erected, being completed in 1841, for the accommodation mainly of Chinese prisoners. One of the early sites selected was Stonecutters Island, and the obvious derivation of the name is here – the place where granite was quarried, cut and broken by gaol labour. Erection of a gaol was commenced at Stonecutters in 1861 and was completed in 1864, but the building, we learn, was destroyed by a typhoon in 1875. It is on record that the prison had been abandoned some time before its destruction, owing to the prisoners making frequent escapes therefrom, and was thus in a state of disrepair when the typhoon finished it off. Reference to gaol breaks recalls that even our modern prisons in the Colony have not been without their more or less sensational escapes in recent years.
***
While gaol accommodation was being found ashore, the authorities resorted to the use of a hulk off Stonecutters Island, which had fore some time been moored there, apparently in Laichikok bay. This hulk, named the Royal Saxon, was put into commission in 1863, when about 300 long-term men were transferred to it; but escape from the hulk appears to have been extraordinarily easy, for there were a number of such records, and in 1864 no fewer than a hundred prisoners, in collusion with the guards, got away. The records show that there was also a tragedy in the previous year, 1863, when a boat with prisoners bound for the hulk capsized, and 38 convicts were drowned. The use of the hulk as a gaol came to an end in 1866, and it was sold and taken to Canton.
In 1857 three European convicts escaped from the Hongkong gaol, after bribing two Indian guards. Only one man was recaptured, at Amoy. The same year, a large batch of Chinese convicts was again transported, this time to Labuan [an island in what is now Malaysia].
And so the chronicle goes on – and one cannot help wondering whether the prison problem, like the water shortage, is an ever recurring one.
The references to local prisons in the early years of the Colony, in yesterday’s article, recall that the conferring of nicknames on such establishments goes back a good many years. The tendency to name such a place a “hotel”, and attach the surname of the Superintendent, is nothing new! The old Victoria Gaol was once known as “Douglas’ Hotel,” after the Superintendent who was appointed about seventy years ago. Reference was made yesterday to the frequent records of escapes from the prisons, and the old chronicles related that a particularly daring one was effected in 1863, from the Hongkong gaol, when quite a number of convicts made their way out of the building by crawling through the drains. There was an outcry against what was considered laxity on the part of the officials, and a Commission – they had the Commission habit even then – was appointed to investigate matters. Following its report, a new Superintendent was appointed. He was Mr F. Douglas, and thus arose the name of “Douglas’ Hotel.” Evidently our forebears in Hongkong were not without their sense of humour.
***
It appears that the post of Superintendent of the Gaol had been most unpopular, and various Government departments were searched in vain for someone who would undertake the job, the pay for which was the fairly good one (in those days) of $120 a month with free quarters. Eventually resort was had to the shipping in port, and for a time the prison was superintended by the mate from a vessel in harbour. It is on record that the man in question had a “past” which was not quite favourable, but that did not debar him from appointment to the post.
Mr Douglas, however, was appointed by the Secretary of State, and the prison regime improved from that date. This officer died in 1874, and references to his fine qualities were made by the Chief Justice of the time in the Supreme Court. The funeral was attended by the leading people of the Colony; and about three years later a gratuity of $1,920 was voted by the Legislative Council for his children.
***
In July, 1866, three pirates were publicly executed in Hongkong. These men were implicated in the piracy of the “Carl.” Previous to the execution, numerous petitions from Chinese hongs were presented to the Governor for a reprieve of one of the prisoners on the ground that the petitioners believed that it was a case of mistaken identity. In fact, so numerous were the petitioners that at one time a reprieve had actually been ordered by the prisoner himself afterwards acknowledged that he had been a cook on the piratical junk and had taken part in the affair.
The whole of the preparations connected with the execution, we are told, were of a satisfactory character, and it took place punctually and without any mishap. The gallows was guarded by about 150 police under the command of Captain Quin and the spectators, numbering 2,000, witnessed the spectacle without any manifestation of feeling.
***
The following is a notice published on 23rd August, 1866:
“The prisoners at the Stonecutters Island will shortly be lodged in Victoria Gaol. The Island Gaol will then be disposed of.”
“In September, 1866, intimation was given that another improvement was to be introduced concerning the management of the chain gang convicts. For the future, they were to break their stones in public roads instead of in the Gaol compound. Each convict wore a badge upon which was inscribed his name and address as well as the nature of the crime for which he was convicted.”
These notes from “Dramaticus” might be amplified on the subject of executions, which were carried out in public in the colony until as late as 1895. In that year the first private execution took place, within the precincts of Victoria Gaol, the only persons present, besides the Superintendent of the Gaol, being the Captain Superintendent of Police (who afterwards became the Governor, Sir Henry May), and representatives of the Press. The case was one in which two Chinese were hanged for the murder of a Sikh police constable.
In looking up the old records we find that regular executioners were not necessarily employed, and occasionally the services of an “outsider” were obtained temporarily. An American once acted in this capacity, in the year 1849, when six pirates who had been captured by HMS Inflexible were found guilty of murder on the high seas and sentenced to death. The duty of the executioner was entrusted to an American whose brother had been killed by pirates some years previously.
In 1852, six Portuguese seamen who had committed piracy and murder on the British barque Herald, and were brought to justice and convicted, were sentenced to death, and were hanged there, the executioner being actually selected from the prisoners at the gaol. The man chosen was a coloured American, whose further term of imprisonment was remitted in return for his services.
***
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
A review of Hong Kong’s prison history was written in the 1930s by the newspaper columnist who signed himself “Colonialist.”
The serious condition at the local gaols these days, resulting in the deportation of many convicts after they have served only a portion of their sentences, suggests a little research into the system of dealing with convicts in the Colony’s early years. The records show that shortly after the foundation of Hongkong, the authorities were embarrassed almost as much as they are today owing to the difficulty of dealing adequately with the convicted criminals in their midst. For a time there was no desire to have European convicts in the island, and the Government were at a loss where to send them. It was provided in 1844 that convicts under sentence of transportations – a sentence existing in those days, based on the Indian Penal Code which had been adopted by the Crown Colonies – should be sent to Van Diemen’s Land [Tasmania]. The following year, however, provision was made to accommodate these criminals in the Colony itself, and in 1846 we find that certain convicts were sent to Scinde [India] and to Penang and Singapore (the later mainly Chinese pirates) suggesting that they continued to offer a problem to the prison authorities. Over forty years later, in 1889, we find records of European convicts from Hongkong still being sent to the Cape of Good Hope [South Africa]; a practice commenced in 1848. It may seem that the various selected places had not in those days, enough spirit to “kick” against this dunning process; but the Cape had in 1850, ineffectually protested, as did the Straits in 1851. White convicts from the garrison, after sentence by court martial, were still being sent to Van Diemen’s Land up to at least the early Nineties [1890s]
***
Yet there actually were gaols in the Colony, the Hongkong prison, one of the first two buildings erected, being completed in 1841, for the accommodation mainly of Chinese prisoners. One of the early sites selected was Stonecutters Island, and the obvious derivation of the name is here – the place where granite was quarried, cut and broken by gaol labour. Erection of a gaol was commenced at Stonecutters in 1861 and was completed in 1864, but the building, we learn, was destroyed by a typhoon in 1875. It is on record that the prison had been abandoned some time before its destruction, owing to the prisoners making frequent escapes therefrom, and was thus in a state of disrepair when the typhoon finished it off. Reference to gaol breaks recalls that even our modern prisons in the Colony have not been without their more or less sensational escapes in recent years.
***
While gaol accommodation was being found ashore, the authorities resorted to the use of a hulk off Stonecutters Island, which had fore some time been moored there, apparently in Laichikok bay. This hulk, named the Royal Saxon, was put into commission in 1863, when about 300 long-term men were transferred to it; but escape from the hulk appears to have been extraordinarily easy, for there were a number of such records, and in 1864 no fewer than a hundred prisoners, in collusion with the guards, got away. The records show that there was also a tragedy in the previous year, 1863, when a boat with prisoners bound for the hulk capsized, and 38 convicts were drowned. The use of the hulk as a gaol came to an end in 1866, and it was sold and taken to Canton.
In 1857 three European convicts escaped from the Hongkong gaol, after bribing two Indian guards. Only one man was recaptured, at Amoy. The same year, a large batch of Chinese convicts was again transported, this time to Labuan [an island in what is now Malaysia].
And so the chronicle goes on – and one cannot help wondering whether the prison problem, like the water shortage, is an ever recurring one.
The references to local prisons in the early years of the Colony, in yesterday’s article, recall that the conferring of nicknames on such establishments goes back a good many years. The tendency to name such a place a “hotel”, and attach the surname of the Superintendent, is nothing new! The old Victoria Gaol was once known as “Douglas’ Hotel,” after the Superintendent who was appointed about seventy years ago. Reference was made yesterday to the frequent records of escapes from the prisons, and the old chronicles related that a particularly daring one was effected in 1863, from the Hongkong gaol, when quite a number of convicts made their way out of the building by crawling through the drains. There was an outcry against what was considered laxity on the part of the officials, and a Commission – they had the Commission habit even then – was appointed to investigate matters. Following its report, a new Superintendent was appointed. He was Mr F. Douglas, and thus arose the name of “Douglas’ Hotel.” Evidently our forebears in Hongkong were not without their sense of humour.
***
It appears that the post of Superintendent of the Gaol had been most unpopular, and various Government departments were searched in vain for someone who would undertake the job, the pay for which was the fairly good one (in those days) of $120 a month with free quarters. Eventually resort was had to the shipping in port, and for a time the prison was superintended by the mate from a vessel in harbour. It is on record that the man in question had a “past” which was not quite favourable, but that did not debar him from appointment to the post.
Mr Douglas, however, was appointed by the Secretary of State, and the prison regime improved from that date. This officer died in 1874, and references to his fine qualities were made by the Chief Justice of the time in the Supreme Court. The funeral was attended by the leading people of the Colony; and about three years later a gratuity of $1,920 was voted by the Legislative Council for his children.
***
In July, 1866, three pirates were publicly executed in Hongkong. These men were implicated in the piracy of the “Carl.” Previous to the execution, numerous petitions from Chinese hongs were presented to the Governor for a reprieve of one of the prisoners on the ground that the petitioners believed that it was a case of mistaken identity. In fact, so numerous were the petitioners that at one time a reprieve had actually been ordered by the prisoner himself afterwards acknowledged that he had been a cook on the piratical junk and had taken part in the affair.
The whole of the preparations connected with the execution, we are told, were of a satisfactory character, and it took place punctually and without any mishap. The gallows was guarded by about 150 police under the command of Captain Quin and the spectators, numbering 2,000, witnessed the spectacle without any manifestation of feeling.
***
The following is a notice published on 23rd August, 1866:
“The prisoners at the Stonecutters Island will shortly be lodged in Victoria Gaol. The Island Gaol will then be disposed of.”
“In September, 1866, intimation was given that another improvement was to be introduced concerning the management of the chain gang convicts. For the future, they were to break their stones in public roads instead of in the Gaol compound. Each convict wore a badge upon which was inscribed his name and address as well as the nature of the crime for which he was convicted.”
These notes from “Dramaticus” might be amplified on the subject of executions, which were carried out in public in the colony until as late as 1895. In that year the first private execution took place, within the precincts of Victoria Gaol, the only persons present, besides the Superintendent of the Gaol, being the Captain Superintendent of Police (who afterwards became the Governor, Sir Henry May), and representatives of the Press. The case was one in which two Chinese were hanged for the murder of a Sikh police constable.
In looking up the old records we find that regular executioners were not necessarily employed, and occasionally the services of an “outsider” were obtained temporarily. An American once acted in this capacity, in the year 1849, when six pirates who had been captured by HMS Inflexible were found guilty of murder on the high seas and sentenced to death. The duty of the executioner was entrusted to an American whose brother had been killed by pirates some years previously.
In 1852, six Portuguese seamen who had committed piracy and murder on the British barque Herald, and were brought to justice and convicted, were sentenced to death, and were hanged there, the executioner being actually selected from the prisoners at the gaol. The man chosen was a coloured American, whose further term of imprisonment was remitted in return for his services.
***
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
The mysterious mango tree
John Thorpe remembers the mystery of the mango tree at Central Police Station.
The mango tree was by the entrance to the CID office, which was originally the police stores.
As far as anyone knew, the tree had never born any fruit. However, one day in 1977, the SPCID HKI, Ken Wellburn, told me the SPCID HKI interpreter at that time, a long time civilian stalwart, had been seen using a bamboo pole to knock down some fruits which, although small and green, looked likely to grow bigger.
When asked about his actions he said that during his lengthy service with CIDHKI the tree had only fruited twice. Once was in 1941, which saw the downfall of Hong Kong, and in 1967, when there were riots.
Because of this he was not chancing any more turbulence for the Force and so he removed them before fruition.
Who knows, perhaps his action did have a calming effect on the situation?
***
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
The mango tree was by the entrance to the CID office, which was originally the police stores.
As far as anyone knew, the tree had never born any fruit. However, one day in 1977, the SPCID HKI, Ken Wellburn, told me the SPCID HKI interpreter at that time, a long time civilian stalwart, had been seen using a bamboo pole to knock down some fruits which, although small and green, looked likely to grow bigger.
When asked about his actions he said that during his lengthy service with CIDHKI the tree had only fruited twice. Once was in 1941, which saw the downfall of Hong Kong, and in 1967, when there were riots.
Because of this he was not chancing any more turbulence for the Force and so he removed them before fruition.
Who knows, perhaps his action did have a calming effect on the situation?
***
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
What happened to the fire engine?
The former officers’ mess at the Central Police Station at one time featured a small hand-operated fire engine that was obviously of considerable antiquity.
Barbara Anslow has mentioned that a former Commissioner of Police was also in charge of the Fire Brigade before the war. What has happened to the fire engine?
An old time columnist, writing in the 1930s, referred to the Fire Brigade and its original engines.
“We learn that the first meeting of the Fire Brigade was held in the Room of the Asiatic Society that same month (March 1856) and rules were drawn up by a committee appointed for that purpose. The Brigade was called the Victoria Volunteer Fire Brigade and consisted of three divisions, Engine companies Nos 1 2 and 3. The Brigade was supported by voluntary subscription and its property was to be handed over to the Colonial Government whenever the Brigade was considered totally inefficient…
“Curiously enough, at its inception the Brigade received little encouragement from the insurance companies and foreign Hongs. On the other hand, the Chinese merchants contributed voluntarily and liberally towards this public utility.
“Afterwards this state of affairs was remedied by the firm of Messrs. Dent and Co., placing a fire engine at the disposal of the brigade.”
Could this have been the engine that used to be on display in the Central Police Station mess?
***
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
Barbara Anslow has mentioned that a former Commissioner of Police was also in charge of the Fire Brigade before the war. What has happened to the fire engine?
An old time columnist, writing in the 1930s, referred to the Fire Brigade and its original engines.
“We learn that the first meeting of the Fire Brigade was held in the Room of the Asiatic Society that same month (March 1856) and rules were drawn up by a committee appointed for that purpose. The Brigade was called the Victoria Volunteer Fire Brigade and consisted of three divisions, Engine companies Nos 1 2 and 3. The Brigade was supported by voluntary subscription and its property was to be handed over to the Colonial Government whenever the Brigade was considered totally inefficient…
“Curiously enough, at its inception the Brigade received little encouragement from the insurance companies and foreign Hongs. On the other hand, the Chinese merchants contributed voluntarily and liberally towards this public utility.
“Afterwards this state of affairs was remedied by the firm of Messrs. Dent and Co., placing a fire engine at the disposal of the brigade.”
Could this have been the engine that used to be on display in the Central Police Station mess?
***
centralpolicestationhongkong.blogspot.com
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