Hong Kong Cemetery - Do not despair if your ancestor had no headstone !!

Less than 50% of the persons buried at the Hong Kong Cemetery, Happy Valley, had headstones erected to their memory. Even if they were a prominent and highly respected member of the community it did not mean that they would ever get a headstone. More often than not immediate family members were back in the UK and arranging for a stone was not a viable option in days long ago. Take the case of Mr. G.W. Avenell who died on 12th. February 1927 of Typhoid Fever.

Mr. Avenell had been born in Farnham, England on 9th. March 1880 and as a young man saw service in the South African Wars where he was awarded the DCM. He first arrived in Hong Kong in 1902 with the Sherwood Forresters and then went with his regiment to Singapore. On leaving the military he returned to Hong Kong as Armourer Staff Sergeant to the Police and Hong Kong Volunteers. In 1918 he joined Messrs. Lane Crawford as manager of the Ship Chandlery Department.

He was a member of the Kowloon Cricket Club and also took a keen interest in lawn tennis having at one time been a member of the Wigwam Tennis Club. He was an enthusiastic worker for the YMCA and the Philharmonic Society. Mr. Avenell was also a Freemason being a member of the Zetland Lodge.

He was survived by a widow and child who were At Home in the UK.

Mr. Avenell was accorded a funeral with full military honours – but no headstone was ever erected to his memory.

Those of you who have read my earlier posts on this Blog will know that large exhumation projects were carried out at the Hong Kong Cemetery in 1969 and 1975. As Mr. Avenell had no headstone his grave was first exhumed in 1969 and his remains moved to the Ossuary. In 1975 the Ossuary had to be removed to make way for the approach roads to the Aberdeen Tunnel. A new ossuary was built and eventually all the remains which had been held in the old ossuary were moved into the new. Although Mr. Avenell, like many others, has been moved around the cemetery perhaps it is all for the good because at least now he has a plaque within the cemetery which shows his name.

If you would like a search of my Hong Kong Cemetery Burial Index please contact me. More often than not I am also able to provide a synopsis of the persons life in Hong Kong as illustrated above with the case of Mr. Avenell.

Sai Wan War Memorial, Hong Kong

The Sai Wan War Memorial, Hong Kong was unveiled by H.E. The Governor Sir Alexander Grantham GCMG on Sunday 20 February 1955. The names of 79 Police Officers are included on the memorial.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission should have details of all those remembered within the Sai Wan Military Cemetery http://www.cwgc.org/

But remember, if your ancestor was buried in the Hong Kong Cemetery (formerly the Colonial Cemetery) then there is a fair chance that I will have details in my Hong Kong database of burials. It does not matter if there is no headstone because much of the information was extracted direct from the burial registers. I also have 7,000 photos so if your ancestor was one of the lucky ones to have a headstone then there is a fair chance that I will be able to provide you with a picture.

For a search of my Hong Kong Cemetery Burial Index please contact:

Twiglet is now Tweeting !!

Much of my twittering will be about Hong Kong research or cemeteries in general:

http://twitter.com/TwigletThomas

Remembered in Kensal Green Cemetery

I recently visited Kensal Green Cemetery in search of the burial plot of William Barnicot’s father. William has a lovely old stone in the Hong Kong Cemetery and having researched the whole of William’s life I was keen to find where his father lay. However, that is a whole different story and one that is far too long to relate in a short blog. Having found the site I was looking for I took myself off around this famous West London cemetery fascinated by the wonderful old tombs many of them to individuals with connections to the East – Alexander Nesbitt Shaw of the Bombay Civil Service, Sir William Casement of the Bengal Army etc. etc. Then I remembered that there was an inscription here honouring a man who has been on the periphery of my research for many, many years – Charles MAY.

The Hong Kong Police was established in 1845 by three Metropolitan Police officers from the East End of London – Charles MAY, Thomas SMITHERS and Hugh McGREGOR. Charles spent some 34 years in Hong Kong and is mentioned in all the history books - so being rather “famous” I always felt there would be nothing further to find on him. My attention has always focused on Thomas Smithers and Hugh McGregor and after years of research I feel as if I know the Smithers family inside out. But before I get side tracked let’s return to Charles MAY.

After spending the majority of his life in Hong Kong Charles died on his passage back to England in 1879. He had been accompanied on the voyage by his daughter and no doubt it was she who had to watch as her father was buried at sea just before the ship reached Singapore. The MAY family were highly respected in London for Charles’ father, John MAY, had been appointed to the Metropolitan Police at the time of its establishment way back in 1829 and held the prestigious position of Superintendent “A” Division. He worked alongside the two Commissioners of Police – Sir Charles Rowan and Richard Mayne who had their offices in a private house at No. 4 Whitehall Place.

I knew that the MAY family tomb was somewhere within this West London cemetery and I had a very rough recollection of what it looked like but with thousands of graves, and much of the cemetery overgrown, what was the chance of finding it? I would say virtually nil. However, I have always been of the very firm belief that if somebody wants to be found then they will call me to them – or at least allow me to find the historical documents that tell their life stories. In this instance I needed to be led to some specific spot within the cemetery so I continued to meander first down the central avenue and then up a side path here or a side path there. I had no idea where my feet were leading me. After a while I rested on a handy parapet, relaxing and savouring the awe inspiring architecture of the Victorian tombs around me. Suddenly I was aware that the inscription on the side of a tomb right in my line of vision contained the words “Charles” and “John May”. Would you believe it – there was the very tomb I was hoping to find.

Charles, son of the above John May/ Chief Magistrate of Police, Colonial Treasurer and for 34 years in HM Civil Service in Hong Kong China/ died on his homeward passage 25 April 1879 aged 61 buried at sea.I can only say that Charles certainly wanted me to find him!!!!

The earliest surviving headstone to a Hong Kong Police Constable ?

Atop a hillock right in the centre of the cemetery can be found what I believe to be the earliest surviving headstone to a Hong Kong Police Constable. The stone stands firm but leans slightly to one side reminding me of a member of the constabulary who has perhaps had one too many drinks!!

The headstone is now weatherworn and very few details are discernable but the name stands out clear and proud:

Sacred to the memory of Wm. SOUTHWELL, a native of Louth, Lincolnshire

There is no indication here to show that William was in any way connected with the Police but the burial register shows William to be a Police Constable aged 41, buried on 16 July 1858 in Grave Number 1700

William was not the normal poverty stricken police constable of the time for he smoked a meerschaum pipe and carried a silver watch & chain in his pocket. As he lay dying in the Government Civil Hospital one of his last wishes was that he be respectfully buried and that a stone be erected over his grave.

As I look at the old stone still standing on its hillock after 150 years I think to myself that William would have been pleased with the result.

Indexing the Inscriptions 1986 - 1995

In November 1975 a Hong Kong Government Gazette announced the “Intention to Remove and Dispose of Human Remains at the Colonial Cemetery”. In effect this meant that over 3,000 graves were to be exhumed. Over a thousand headstones were to be re-sited within the cemetery whilst the remains from 2,285 graves without headstones were to be deposited in a new ossuary. The reason for this massive exercise was to free up space for the construction of the approach roads to the Aberdeen Tunnel. I must admit that although I was aware of this notification I let it pass with little thought - I was newly arrived in Hong Kong and was trying to adapt to a new job in a new country. Little did I know that ten years down the road the Colonial Cemetery was going to play a major role in shaping my future life.

One Saturday in 1986 having some free time on my hands I decided to take a stroll through the old cemetery. As soon as I entered the gates I left the hustle and bustle of the busy city behind me. I was transported back to the earliest days of the Colony and found that each gravestone had its own tale to tell. A midshipman killed under the walls of Canton in 1857; a fireman killed “by the falling of a house” in 1882; a captain who was murdered by Chinese pirates in 1890; and a Police Constable from Lincolnshire who died in 1858 and who stated in his will that he wished a stone to be placed over his grave - the stone is still there and is one of the earliest for a British police officer in the Colony.

I suddenly became very concerned. What was the fate for this cemetery after 1997? Would it be preserved or would the constant demand for land or the cost of upkeep condemn it. There and then I decided to embark on the very ambitious project of recording and indexing all the legible inscriptions. August 1985 had seen the grave numbers reach 12,000 but thankfully I had no idea about the statistics at the time.

I started out with pen and paper recording the inscriptions section by section and then back at home indexing the individual entries on slips of paper - this was long before every home had a computer! During the summer months when it was too hot to spend hours under the glare of the sun, or too dangerous to kneel on the ground near the gravestones for fear of snakes, I would spend my time collating details from other sources such as burial records, newspapers - and even that Gazette that had been issued in 1975 which had details of over 3,000 burials. Many of the early inscriptions were difficult to decipher by the 20th. century and where only partial names or dates could be determined these additional sources provided much needed identification.

As the years wore on a hand-held tape recorder took over from pen and paper and eventually in June 1995 – just a few weeks before my final departure from Hong Kong – I finished the very last section. Since my return to the UK I have spent my time inputting details from the manual index into a computer database – and supplementing it with details of deaths & burials in China !!

The question I know many will be asking is “Why did I do this all on my own?”. Quite simply because I knew of no-one else who had the same very strange interest as myself. Once I retired and set up my own research business I published details of the project on the internet and now, month by month, the enquiries are coming in and I am slowly beginning to link people up with their ancestors who lay buried in that very peaceful spot - but so far away from their homeland.

In future blogs I hope to bring you stories of some of the people who lay buried in the former Colonial Cemetery in Happy Valley.

If you would like a search of my Hong Kong Burial database / Hong Kong Cemetery Index please contact me at

Rest In Peace - or maybe not !!!

The Hong Kong Cemetery in Happy Valley has seen more than its fair share of exhumation projects over the years. Not only has space been at a premium but road widening schemes have also encroached on what should have been a peaceful haven. A few poor souls - having been buried - found that a some years later their remains were dug up and moved to another spot within the cemetery. Then, a few years on, yet another project threatened their resting place and they were dug up and moved for a second time. So much for that “Last Resting Place” !

Alfred Gordon Ursell was 49 years of age, married with two sons and the family lived at 19 Fung Fai Terrace in Village Road, Happy Valley. Alfred worked as a Chargeman in the Fitters Department at the Royal Naval Yard and his sons were apprentices in the Dockyard. Alfred had been in Hong Kong for ten years and was shortly due to transfer back to Portsmouth. On Friday 16th. March 1934 he was working at the west side of the dry dock when suddenly at 3.55pm he tripped. He fell 35ft into the dock before striking his head and then rolled the remaining 10ft. to the bottom dying instantly. His body was taken to the Royal Naval Hospital to await burial the following day.

Fung Fai Terrace was just a short walk from the Colonial Cemetery in Happy Valley where Alfred’s body was laid to rest on Saturday afternoon. His eldest son was the chief mourner but many friends and colleagues were present at the graveside. The Royal Navy Chaplain officiated. Alfred was buried in Grave No. 9426 in Section 7.

A few weeks later Alfred’s widow returned to England with her sons.

Normally this would be the end of the story but not in Alfred’s case. Thirty five years later HK Government Gazette GN 2524 dated 19th. December 1969 notified that 460 graves were to be exhumed from the Colonial Cemetery on 24th. June 1970. Any remains not claimed by relatives before that date would be moved to an Ossuary within the cemetery – “or will be otherwise disposed of as the Director may think fit”. Presumably Alfred’s body was not claimed for his remains were exhumed and placed in the Ossuary on 7th. June 1971.

Just over four years later in November 1975 Government Gazette No 48/1975 announced “Notice of intention to remove and dispose of human remains at the Colonial Cemetery”. Surely Alfred would be safe on this occasion. But no – the 1975 Gazette listed a staggering total of 3467 graves for removal - plus 187 sets of exhumed remains which were deposited in the existing Ossuary (Alfred was one of these). Work was to start within the month and the remains were to be temporarily deposited in a bone store until the new ossuary had been built. It was 1983 before Alfred’s remains came out of the “bone store” and were laid to rest in his niche.

His last resting place? One can only hope.

I use this story as an example to show that even if you know that one of your ancestors was buried in a certain grave in a certain section of the Hong Kong Cemetery in Happy Valley that there is no guarantee that he or she will still be in that location. As far as I am aware my Hong Kong Cemetery Burial Index is the only resource which actually tracks the movement of these graves. If you want to find a Hong Kong grave then please contact me – I may be able to assist.