Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
William Henry Brereton QC (born Dublin & died at his home on Mount Gough, The Peak, Hong Kong 24 Oct 1887) was buried in Happy Valley cemetery. He was the only son of Francis Frederick Brereton (Solicitor of Dublin) & was baptised in St. Mary's, Dublin on 23 July 1824 (his birth date is given as 26 May 1824). The Death Notice in The China Mail 25 Oct 1887 gives his age as 59.
He married twice -1) In Dublin 1846 to Eliza Jane Percy nee Scholes. 2) In Kensington 1878 to Annie Louisa Latimer Collins. There were children from both marriages. Both of his sons died in childhood.
Children from 1st marriage:1) Georgina Elizabeth born Dublin 1847. 2) Emily Charlotte born Dublin 1860. 3) Laura Frances born Dublin 1854 (died HK 1871). 4) Anna Maria born Dublin 1856. 5) Thomas William born Dublin 1860 (died as a child). 6) Henry William born Dublin 1863 (died as a child in Dublin). 7) Mary Anne born Dublin 1849. 8) Eliza Jane born Dublin 1852.
Children from 2nd marriage: Ethel Latimer Brereton born Hong Kong 13 June 1879 & Beatrice Fisher Latimer Brereton born HK 1881 (Ethel was baptised 06 Aug 1879 St John's Cathedral HK). According to his daughter Ethel's birth & baptism certs. he was living at 'Beauregard' Victoria in 1879.
Only 2 daughters married -
1) Emily Charlotte Brereton married twice -in 1876 in Hong Kong to Count Hans Kiaer/Kioer http://gwulo.com/node/21962 who died in HK 28 June 1884 (their only son died in infancy). Next, Emily married in Dublin to Thomas Ponsonby King Kennan & they had 2 sons. Emily died in 1938 in Basutoland.
2) Ethel Latimer Brereton married in 1907 in Hackney Middlesex to Capt. Henry Barnard Stoton (a widower born Ootacamnund India 1867 he died Cologne 1922). They had 3 children.
In 1867 WH Brereton joined the law firm in Hong Kong of Henry Charles Caldwell http://gwulo.com/node/21991 & became a partner by 1870 ('Caldwell & Brereton'). After 1871, the firm became known as 'Brereton & Wootton'. In 1880 the firm was joined by Victor Hobart Deacon & became 'Brereton, Wootton & Deacon'. The firm exists today in Hong Kong as Deacons http://gwulo.com/node/21983 .
In 1877 his book 'Tales Of Irish Life' was published.
in 1886 William Henry Brereton was called to the Bar in Middle Temple, Kensington (17 June) & was also appointed Queens Standing Counsel in London to the Chinese Government (30 March).
His will (with codicil) was proved in the Supreme Court of Hong Kong on 16 Oct 1887.
See obituary in The China Mail 24 Oct 1887- As a lawyer he was remembered as "a shrewd adviser and a ready speaker".
Comments
A few other related pages
The 1887 Ladies Directory lists a Miss A Brereton.
The Inscriptions for cemetery sections 01-09 shows:
And the Inscriptions for cemetery sections 10-16 shows:
Regards, David
Portrait & obituary
"AT a general examination of
"AT a general examination of the students of the Inns of Court, held at Lincolns Hall between the 14th and the 22nd May, the Council of Legal Education awarded to Mr William Henry Brereton, well known in Hongkong, a certificate that he had satisfactorily passed a public examination. In the ordinary course, Mr Brereton would be called to the Bar about the middle of last month."
Source: The China Mail, page 2, 20th July 1885
“Mr. W.H. Brereton, of…
“Mr. W.H. Brereton, of Hongkong gave a lecture on the 9th inst., at St. James’s Hall, on the subject of “Opium Smoking in China.” He said he knew the reality of opium smoking, having been advisor in his avocations as solicitor to the recent opium farmer in Hongkong. This lecture, Mr. Brereton explained, was only preparatory, as it were, for his second, which will be held on the 16th inst., and in the meantime we withhold our report. We may mention, however, that Mr. Brereton stated his opinion was that opium smoking carried on by the Chinese, was perfectly innocuous. He denied that the use of opium was demoralising, or was ruining and sapping the manhood of the whole nation, a proposition which involved a charge of the greatest wickedness on the part of England. Opium smoking in China, so far from being of comparatively recent growth, as alleged, must have been a habit indulged in by the Chinese for the last thousand years. He had known men of all degrees and of all ages, who had been opium smokers from their youth, and found them to be healthy and remarkably acute and sharp men. They were the most astute nation under the sun, and for cunning, craft, and subtlety they might be safely backed against any Europeans. They were, after their kind, a highly civilized nation, and it was not likely that such a vast people would allow this opium trade to be forced upon them by England if they did not want it.”
Source: Hong Kong Daily Press, page 2, 18th March 1882