According the Eulogy published in the Hong Kong Daily Press of 26 November 1940 Albert Dransfield died suddenly, aged 68, at his home in Broom Street, Happy Valley on 24 November 1940. He is described as a loyal member of the Methodist Church and energetic supporter of the Soldiers and Sailors Home. He was resident in Hong Kong for over 30 years according to the Eulogy. The Jurors Lists give him as Storekeeper and then Timekeeper at the Taikoo Sugar Refinery Company. (Is Timekeeper more complicated than it sounds?} Latterly he founded his own import/export company, A. Dransfield & Co. in partnership with William Maycock. (http://gwulo.com/comment/33609#comment-33609) He was married to Laura Jane Dransfield and had two daughters, Dorothy Olivia Dransfield and Laura Woolnough Campbell (perhaps daughter of a previous marriage.)
Dorothy Dransfield married Eric Russell Walch, an accountant with Lowe, Bingham & Matthews on 20th April 1939. (I can’t now find the SCMP photo). I have only seen a blackened copy.
My information from a Warren cousin was that the Dransfields rented The Towers, 20 Broadwood Road and that my uncle, Leslie Warren, stayed with them after his wife and children went back to England in 1938. I can’t find proof of this. On the other hand, Eric Walch gives 20 Broadwood Road as his address in the jurors lists of 1937-1940 and in 1940 Leslie Warren suddenly changes his address from no 19 to no 20, his old home. Although Leslie left Hong Kong after winding up C.E. Warren & Co. Ltd. in mid-1941, it’s possible that the Walches lived at The Towers up until the war. Lowe, Bingham & Matthews were the accountants for C.E. Warren & Co. and closely involved in its financial management.
Albert Dransfield was an exact contemporary of my grandfather, Charles Warren, also born in 1872, and, after the family members, appears third on the list of mourners at his funeral in the SCMP obituary of 11 June 1923. Dorothy Dransfield became a close friend of Leslie and Cicely Warren and was held in affection by their children. There are several surviving photos of the Dransfields and Warrens together on Stanley beach, that I'll post in due course.
I’d like to find out what happened to Eric and Dorothy Walch and Laura Dransfield after the 1941 invasion. I haven't found them in the Stanley Camp list. It’s possible that Laura and Dorothy had already been evacuated, but I doubt that Eric Walch, who seems to have joined the company around 1936, would have left it so soon.There was a strong tradition of the LBM accountants joining the HKVDC and I would expect him to have done so. Any information about the Dransfield or Walch family or their descendants would be welcome.
Jill
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Dransfield Family Timeline
Timeline
a) Mrs A. Dransfield and child arrived HK on "Kamo Maru" on 18 November 1909 via Europe & Singapore. Source: HK Weekly Press 22 November 1909.
b) Laura Dransfield in Victoria British School (VBS). Source: China Mail 14 February 1921.
c) Mr. & Mrs. Dransfield & Misses L. Dransfield and D. Dransfield departed on the "Kashgar" on 5 March 1921. Source: HK Telegraph 7 March 1921
d) Mr. & Mrs Dransfield (likely with children) arrived HK on "Nellore". Source: HK Telegraph 21 November 1921.
e) Laura & Dorothy Dransfield in VBS. Source: China Mail 18 January 1924
f) Funeral of toddler, Sheila Wilson. Attended by Mr. & Mrs. Dransfield & Mr. & Mrs. Warren. Source: HK Telegraph 29 December 1924.
g) D. Dransfield in Central British School (CBS). Source: China Mail 11 December 1925.
h) L. Dransfield in French Convent. Source: China Mail 25 September 1926.
i) D. Dransfield in CBS. Source: HK Telegraph 16 March & HK Daily Press 3 December 1927.
j) D. Dransfield passed HKU Junior Local Examinations. Source: HK Telegraph 12 January & China Mail 9 March 1928.
k) Local Wedding Announcement: James Campbell, engineer of Butterfield & Swire and Laura Woolnough Dransfield residing at Quarry Point, Quarry Bay. Source: China Mail 27 February 1930. (Actual wedding TBA)
l) Mr. & Mrs. Dransfield, Miss D. Dransfield & Mr. & Mrs J. C. Campbell departed on "Karmala" for London on 11 April 1931. Source: China Mail 13 April 1931.
m) Mr. & Mrs. Dransfield, Miss D. Dransfield arrived on "President Taft" on 1 January 1932. Source: China Mail 4 January 1932
n) Local Wedding Announcement: Eric Russell Walch, chartered accountant of Messrs. Lowe, Bingham & Matthews and Miss Dorothy Olivia Dransfield of 20 Broadwood Road. Source: HK Daily Press 28 March 1939.
o) Walch-Dransfield Wedding at Union Church on 18 April 1939. Source: HK Telegraph 20, 24 & 29 April 1939.
p) Death of Albert Dransfield on 24 November 1940. Source: HK Telegraph 25 November 1940.
q) Funeral of Albert Dransfield on 25 November 1940. L. Warren was one of the pallbearers. Chief mourner, Mrs. Dransfield. Source: HK Daily Press 26 November 1940.
r) Obituary in HK Telegraph 2 December 1940:
Born 68 years ago, Mr. Dransfield came to Hong Kong in 1910 and until 1934 was employed in the time office of the Taikoo Sugar Refinery. After he retired, he founded the firm of Dransfield & Co.. He was a member of the St. George's Society and interested in masonic matters.
Mr. Dransfield leaves a widow and two daughters, Mrs. Dorothy Walch at present in Johannesburg, South Africa and Mrs. Laura Campbell, now at Bexley Heath, Kent.
Dransfield family in Hong Kong
Thank you so much, moddsey, for copying out all the mentions of the Dransfields in the HK newspapers. It seems to me that Albert Dransfield took on a paternal role to Leslie Warren after his father died in 1923. I had been a bit puzzled by the absence of Laura, Dorothy Dransfield's elder sister, from the family photos and wondered why she had the same first name as her mother. I think her husband, James Campbell, was briefly listed with C.E. Warren & Co. but I could be wrong.
Now all we need to do is to find out the identity of the "unknown lady" photographed on the terrace of 98a Wanchai Road and possibly an early girlfriend of Charles Olson, who moreover has his arm round her at his aunt's wedding .....