Policing Hong Kong An Irish History: Irishmen in the Hong Kong Police Force, 1864-1950

by O'sullivan, Patricia

• ISBN13: 9789887792734
• ISBN10: 988779273X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2018-03-31
• Publisher: Blacksmith Books

Summary

Hong Kong, 1918. A tranquil place compared to war-torn Europe. But on the morning of the 22nd January, a running battle through the streets of Wanchai ended in “The Siege of Gresson Street”. Five policemen lay dead, so shocking Hong Kong that over half the population turned out to watch their funeral procession.

One of the dead, Inspector Mortimor O’Sullivan, came from Newmarket: a small town nestled deep in rural Ireland. He, along with a dozen and more relatives, had sailed out to Hong Kong to join the Police Force.

Using family records and memories alongside extensive research in Hong Kong, Ireland and London, Patricia O’Sullivan tells the story of these policemen and the criminals they dealt with. This book also gives a rare glimpse into the day-to-day life of working-class Europeans at the time, as it follows the Newmarket men, their wives and families, from their first arrival in 1864 through to 1941 and beyond.

Author Biography

Patricia O'Sullivan is a writer and researcher on the lesser-known aspects of Hong Kong's social history prior to 1941.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 7
Introduction 9
Chapter 1 An inauspicious beginning 26
Chapter 2 Down in the Yard 63
Chapter 3 Inspector Hennessy's world 92
Chapter 4 Pride before the fall – a respected force 113
Chapter 5 The really enterprising Inspector Lysaught 139
Chapter 6 Departures and arrivals 159
Chapter 7 Family life at the turn of the century 189
Chapter 8 Policing the growing colony 207
Chapter 9 The three Inspectors O'Sullivan 240
Chapter 10 One morning in Wanchai 274
Chapter 11 A changing world: the interwar years and beyond 312
Epilogue 346
Bibliography 347
Index 353