William CAINE [1799-1871]

Submitted by David on Thu, 05/02/2013 - 17:16
Names
Given
William
Family
Caine
Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
Born
Date
Birthplace (country)
Ireland
Died
Date

Dates of birth & death given by Christopher Munn in the Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography.

He was Hong Kong's first Chief Magistrate. He founded Hong Kong's Police force, and had several other important roles in Hong Kong's government between 1841 and his retirement (and departure from Hong Kong) in 1859.

I'm looking for an image of him to include in the JCCPS project. Has anyone seen one? Photos may not be available, so sketches / engravings / cartoons / paintings are also welcome.

There are four related photos in the Hong Kong Public Records Office (HKPRO).

The first one is often shown as a photo of William Caine:

"Lt. Col. William Hull Caine, 1857."

But the HKPRO note it is of "Lt. Col. William Hull Caine, 1857." He was one of William Caine's four sons.

Here's the next photo, titled "Sons of Lt. Col. William Caine":

"Sons of Lt. Col. William Caine"

Then the last two photos are titled "William Caine, Chief Magistrate and sons (?), 1841-1846. ":

"William Caine, Chief Magistrate and sons (?), 1841-1846."

"William Caine, Chief Magistrate and sons (?), 1841-1846."

I think at least some of those captions are incorrect. Christopher Munn writes that William Caine's first son, George Whittington, was born in 1832, while the youngest son, Charles Henry Fearon, was born in 1846. That's a 14-year gap, but I can't see such a wide difference in ages in the group photo shown above.

How about the last two? Do they show William Caine? If he is holding his youngest son, the photo would have been taken around 1846, and Caine would have been 47 years old.

Any information to confirm / deny the above titles will be very welcome. I'd also be interested to hear from anyone who has done family-tree research on this family.

Regards, David

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