Police Station, TST [c.1865-c.1882]

Submitted by Admin on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 21:53
Current condition
Demolished / No longer exists
Date completed
(Day, Month, & Year are approximate.)
Date closed / demolished
(Day, Month, & Year are approximate.)

Dates are guesses, based on notes from Mike Watson:

 The original Water Police Station in TST was constructed in the mid-1860s and was superceded by the existing building, first occupied on 19 September 1884.

Photos that show this Place

Comments

I haven't found anything in HKGRO or the online newspapers about this first building, but may well be using the wrong searches. Does anyone have any more information about this building they can share?

The only extra detail I've found is a map in the UK National Archive (their ref: WO 78/2362) that is dated "with corrections and additions to 1875" and shows a building at this location marked "Police Station".

Yes, not much helpful information from primary sources. A photo of early TST and the building on the hill here 

The following information so far unearthed:

History of the Police - The First Century - See here

"In 1862, the first ‘floating police station’ for the Water Police (renamed as Marine Police in 1948) was moored in the harbour. Subsequently the barque 'John Adams' was commissioned for use as Water Police Headquarters in 1868. In 1884, a new Water Police Station at Tsim Sha Tsui was opened...."

Sui Geng - The Hong Kong Marine Police 1841-1950

"After the occupation (of Kowloon), the southern half of the headland was remodelled to form a broad wedge upon which a small police post was built. This continued in use until it was displaced by the new Water Police Station."

Police Report, 1870 - See here from HKGRO

In Appendix H,  a mention is made of a police station in Kauloong (sic) and the distribution of staff. (Location of the station is not known)

Thanks Moddsey. I've changed the title from "Water Police Station, TST" to just "Police Station, TST" as the notes above don't suggest this first building was used by the Water Police.

There are several copies of the photo below on the internet, but I'm not sure of the original source:

I think the group may include several West Indian policeman by the look of their uniforms. That would suggest the photo was taken before 1874:

An annual report, submitted in the early 1870s by Captain Superintendent Deane to the Colonial Government, recorded the existence of African and West Indian members in the Police Force. They were likely to be sailors who had landed in Hong Kong and who subsequently joined the Police Force. However, according to Mr Deane's 1873 report, the West Indians were inept policemen and the Police Force stopped recruiting West Indians in 1870. According to the 1874 Blue Book, there were only three West Indian policemen left in the Hong Kong Police Force.

Source: https://www.police.gov.hk/offbeat/777/eng/f03.htm

A search for kowloon police station in Google Books shows that on page 46 of Parliamentary Papers, Volume 38 there's a sum of $3,000 for 'Police Station, Kowloon' in the estimates of expenditure for 1865.

Then on page 110 of The treaty ports of China and Japan, a guide book & vade mecum, by W.F ..., there's a summary of entries in the Government Gazette for 1st April 1865: "Tenders were at this time invited for the erection of a Police Station at Kowloong. (sic.)"

 

"The Colonial Police station is a handsome building resembling a castle in miniature."

From an article by a 'Military Exile' on the City of Kowloon. (From other articles published, he appears to have resided in Hong Kong in the early 1870s). See here for the full article. Source: Straits Observer (Singapore) 29 March 1875