I found Allen McKenzie mentioned in my Dad's journal dated Sept 3, 1936; "Our late sleep was broken by Allen McKenzie (Cheung Chau's bachelor) pounding at the door, shouting insanely asking if anybody were home. He had flowers for the celebration of our wedding anniversary. Remembered it from last year, Sept. 2nd, when were together at Arthur Hay’s birthday and Grace and I let the news out. Later in the morning Allan returned to say he had a cup of boiled ginger for us.” It sounds like Allen was a compassioned man.
Came across Mackenzie's name in Chaloner Grenville Alabaster's book "More than 1001 Days and Nights of Hong Kong Internment".
Professor Brownell of Lingnan University "told me that Alan Mackenzie of Cheung Chow (sic) had been driven from his cottage there when the Japanese landed in December and had taken refuge for a time with Chinese Christians on that Island, but had finally died of neglect in a cave on Lantau to which they had transported him. All other Europeans, (Mrs. Franklin, Miss Potter and Captain Lossius) had left Cheung Chow before the Japanese landing there."
In the diaries of Rose Reiton(1930-34), 'Mr MacKenzie' appears fairly regularly. His character appears steady, thoughtful and generous, and in keeping with Scott’s post above. Similar dates as well.
He was a regular presence in Albert and Rose Reiton’s household in Kowloon, visiting, staying overnight, sometimes two nights, and taking part in family milestones and church events.
His generosity is evident: he offered substantial financial help when needed, lending $2000 to the Reitons on one occasion, which they paid back at this time.He marked Reiton family birthdays with thoughtful gifts such as books and sums of money; $50 once on the occasion of Albert’s birthday.
His movements — from the Island, and on an extended trip to Australia — were noted by Rose, reflecting a value placed on his presence.
Certainly in the early 1930s, MacKenzie was a familiar and trusted figure: independent yet connected. Scott's father's take on him in 1936 sustains this impression but Don Ady's take on him in 1939 is quite different (see below).
Several more overnights in July, September, and December.
One visit during typhoon signals.His house (House #13) on top of Fa Peng was very exposed. Possibly the Reitons' house in Kowloon was more secure.
-----------------------
Don Ady'saccount of him in 1939 has him as a 'cranky mean old miser,' who was not popular, living alone in his stone house. In the same paragraph he says that in this year he got some new boarders, a missionary family named Thompson, whom he treated meanly. He may have lived in the cottage at #13 and put lodgers in the house.
Ady's account of Mackenzie and Scott's 'shouting insanely' (above) would indicate a character with some eccentricity. He died in 1941 at the beginning of the war, at the hands of bandits demanding a ransom, whom he refused to humour. Clearly he had a very uncompromising side to him.
I'm finding A H Mackenzie very difficult to trace on Ancestry etc because of the different spellings of Alan/Allan/Allen and Mackenzie/ Mckenzie.
Related to offices and agents of biblical publications sold in Hong Kong, I assume the same "M'Kenzie" is listed below as having his office-cum-residence at 13 Cheung Chow (sic) Island.
What a fascinating connection if it is our Allan Mackenzie, to think they went back together this far, and that they both served with the CMS and then went independent.
(1) Alan Mackenzie was listed together with Norman Mackenzie under the Pakhoi Mission of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in 1903. (Source: 1903 Directory_Chronicle_for_China_Japan etc.,)
(2) In 1902/03, Rev. Ernest Judd Barnett and wife joined the South China Mission. Barnett was posted to Hong Kong from Australia to undertake the establishment of St. Stephen's College. He would later be elevated to Archdeacon of Hong Kong. (Source: https://grokipedia.com/page/judd_barnett)
(3) Mention made of Norman Mackenzie being the Australian stepson of Rev. E. J. Barnett. (Source: Daily Telegraph (Sydney, Australia), 25 August 1917, see here)
(5) In February 1902, Norman Mackenzie accompanied by his brother (name not mentioned) who was not a missionary of the CMS took up residence at Liem Chau, 20 miles from Pakhoi and established schools for boys and girls. (Source: Proceedings_of_the_Church_Missionary_Society for Africa and the East 1902-1903 See Page 336 for Pakhoi Mission).
Query: Would Alan Mackenzie be the brother of Norman Mackenzie and also related to E. J. Barnett?
(6) Re (5). Mentioned in Church Missionary Society extracts from annual letters for 1903 etc., (type in "Allan" here in search to obtain snippet view) that Messrs. Allan (sic) and Norman Mackenzie had occupied a house in Lim-chau seventeen miles from Pak-hoi.
Inference: Appears a connection exists between Allan/Alan and Norman Mackenzie.
(7) In June 1903, Rev. E.J. Barnett wrote a letter to W. J. Byrne, M. A. in Australia. In the letter both Allan (sic) and Norman McKenzie (different spelling of surname) are mentioned. "Allan" was appointed by conference (CMS) and provided assistance at St. Stephen's College whilst "Norman" was selected by the CMS to superintend rice distribution in "Kwong Sai" during the famine.(Source: The Port Pirie Recorder, 8 July 1903. See: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/95301892?searchTerm=E.%20J.%20Barnett%2C%20hong%20kong
Inference: Appears a connection exists between E. J. Barnett and to Alan/Allan and Norman Mackenzie/McKenzie.
ALLAN HENDERSON MACKENZIE, late of 12A Cheung Chau, minister of religion, deceased. Date of death on or about 28 December 1941. Dated 10 November 1947.
Not sure if Mackenzie was an assistant master at St. John's College, University of Hong Kong. He was certainly a resident master at St. Stephen's College in its formative years.
I've put this together from the various bits of information above and elsewhere that we have on A H Mackenzie.
Allan Mackenzie was a Tasmanian by birth and first-born son of Anne Shekleton and Walter Joseph Mackenzie, a pioneer farmer in Tasmania. They married in 1873 and Allan was born c1875, closely followed by brother Norman. There were other siblings.
When Walter Mackenzie died suddenly, Anne moved to Melbourne and in 1898 marriedRev Ernest Judd Barnett.
Brothers Allan and Norman were educated in reputable schools, and both did lay missionary service with the Church Missionary Society in South China early in the 20th century. They were not reverends at this stage. They seem to have been gifted teachers who served in education in different capacities.
In 1903 the brothers were serving in Pakhoi, south Kwangtung. They established schools for boys and girls at Liem Chau, an island 17 miles from Pakhoi.
In 1905, Allan Mackenzie was serving in Hong Kong as resident-master of St. Stephen's College, under its firstheadmaster, his step-father Rev E J Barnett.
In 1911, Mackenzie was still a resident-master at St. Stephen's College. This seems to have been his final year. He became a book agent and left the CMS at this point possibly.
In 1917 he was listed in the Directory of Protestant Missionaries as an agent of the Bible, Book and Tract Depot, London, selling biblical publications in Hong Kong.
In 1918, like many South China missionaries, Mackenzie purchased a residence on nearby Cheung Chau, House 13at the top of Fa Peng. He planted trees and shrubs around the house and lived here for the next 20 years or so.
In 1923 fellow islanderEthel Olson said of him, ‘He sort of superintends the island.’This may have been because most of the islanders were visitors, and by this time he had become a permanent resident.
In 1929 he was again listed as an agent of biblical publications sold in Hong Kong, having his office-cum-residence at 13 Cheung Chau, Hong Kong.
He seems to have retired circa 1933, when he took the opportunity to make a long trip to Australia and New Zealand from 1933-34. His comments on mission work in South China appeared in the New Zealand newspapers in February 1934.
On his return, he enjoyed a period of retirement on Cheung Chau.
In 1938 he appeared on a list of European owners of houses on Cheung Chau asthe owner of House 13.House #13 consisted of a house, a small cottage and servants' quarters. It seems Mackenzie used the cottage and rented the house out to missionary families.He flew an Australian flag above its roof.
He remained single throughout his life and was known as ‘Cheung Chau’s bachelor’.Although single, he associated with fellow missionaries on the island and in Hong Kong.He was a particular friend of the Reiton family in Kowloon.From their, and other records of him, we find a man who cared deeply for the people around him, and remembered birthdays and anniversaries, marking them with thoughtful gifts.Later on, however, the young Don Ady thought he was ‘a cranky, mean old miser.’
This mix of impressions is typical of long‑term expatriate bachelors in missionary communities: eccentric to some, deeply kind to others.
When the Japanese invaded Hong Kong in December 1941, it seems Mackenzie foolishly refused to leave the island when his fellow islanders left.It proved to be his undoing as, according to Don Ady’s account, after the police left the island, Mackenzie and fellow resident Marion Potter were taken captive by bandits demanding a ransom.Unfortunately, this brought out Mackenzie’s stubborn side.He upset the bandits and they killed him. Marion Potter turned up later in Stanley Camp.
Allan Mackenzie was a teacher‑missionary who made South China his home, and invested his life in education, friendship, and the island community on Cheung Chau. He was remembered for his thoughtfulness as much as his solitude.
Thank you for consolidating all the bits of information and sight of the overview. My comments:
I think his teaching career at St. Stephen's may have ceased after 1911 after he went into selling biblical publications. The year of transition is not known. The Directory & Chronicle from 1911-16 may hold the answer.
The 1941 Hong Kong $ Directory listed his residence at 13 Cheung Chau which does not tally with his final address at 12A. It may well be the $ Directory's information was compiled in 1940 and later published in 1941 (date of publication not given). See: https://archive.org/details/31761120250378/page/336/mode/2up?q=mackenzie
Thanks for those pointers moddsey. I've made adjustments to the overview.
In doing so I have found that Ernest Judd Barnett and Allan Mackenzie are not related!
Because Allan Mackenzie went to Hong Kong as a missionary under the wing of Archdeacon Ernest Judd Barnett, people trying to work out Mackenzie's family tree saw the name "Ernest Judd Barnett" all over Mackenzie's Hong Kong records. They incorrectly assumed that the Archdeacon was Mackenzie's stepfather (marrying his widowed mother, Anne Mackenzie) rather than his missionary mentor and colleague.
This is why online databases are confused.
That's why I was confused! I think I have now set the record straight, but it would be good to have confirmation.
Good find. Thanks for clearing it up. I think the confusion was further exacerbated by the fact that Rev. E. J. Barnett had married Annie Mackenzie, widow of the late W. J. Mackenzie on 1 September 1898. Posting of Family Notice in The Age (Melbourne) 1 October 1898.
A. H. Mackenzie's name does not appear in the 1912 and 1913 Directory & Chronicle under St. Stephen's College nor as a foreign resident.
So E J Barnett DID marry the widowed Annie Mackenzie in 1898? And he WAS stepfather to Allan and Norman Mackenzie.
Apparently the Barnetts, Sheckletons, Mackenzies and Judds were among several missionary families in Tasmania who intermarried, producing possible name similarities/conflicts. I need to revise my earlier posts.
Comments
Allen McKenzie
I found Allen McKenzie mentioned in my Dad's journal dated Sept 3, 1936; "Our late sleep was broken by Allen McKenzie (Cheung Chau's bachelor) pounding at the door, shouting insanely asking if anybody were home. He had flowers for the celebration of our wedding anniversary. Remembered it from last year, Sept. 2nd, when were together at Arthur Hay’s birthday and Grace and I let the news out. Later in the morning Allan returned to say he had a cup of boiled ginger for us.” It sounds like Allen was a compassioned man.
Scott
re: Allen McKenzie
Thanks Scott, good to hear a different side to him.
Regards, David
Re: A H. Mackenzie
Came across Mackenzie's name in Chaloner Grenville Alabaster's book "More than 1001 Days and Nights of Hong Kong Internment".
Professor Brownell of Lingnan University "told me that Alan Mackenzie of Cheung Chow (sic) had been driven from his cottage there when the Japanese landed in December and had taken refuge for a time with Chinese Christians on that Island, but had finally died of neglect in a cave on Lantau to which they had transported him. All other Europeans, (Mrs. Franklin, Miss Potter and Captain Lossius) had left Cheung Chow before the Japanese landing there."
A different version at: https://gwulo.com/node/16175
'Mr Mackenzie' in Rose Reiton's diaries
[Updated 7/Sept/2026]
In the diaries of Rose Reiton (1930-34), 'Mr MacKenzie' appears fairly regularly. His character appears steady, thoughtful and generous, and in keeping with Scott’s post above. Similar dates as well.
He was a regular presence in Albert and Rose Reiton’s household in Kowloon, visiting, staying overnight, sometimes two nights, and taking part in family milestones and church events.
His generosity is evident: he offered substantial financial help when needed, lending $2000 to the Reitons on one occasion, which they paid back at this time. He marked Reiton family birthdays with thoughtful gifts such as books and sums of money; $50 once on the occasion of Albert’s birthday.
His movements — from the Island, and on an extended trip to Australia — were noted by Rose, reflecting a value placed on his presence.
Certainly in the early 1930s, MacKenzie was a familiar and trusted figure: independent yet connected. Scott's father's take on him in 1936 sustains this impression but Don Ady's take on him in 1939 is quite different (see below).
These were some of the events noted:
Year 1930
First mention Sunday, February 9 - Mackenzie here from Island.
Year 1931
Year 1932
Year 1933
Year 1934
One visit during typhoon signals. His house (House #13) on top of Fa Peng was very exposed. Possibly the Reitons' house in Kowloon was more secure.
-----------------------
Don Ady's account of him in 1939 has him as a 'cranky mean old miser,' who was not popular, living alone in his stone house. In the same paragraph he says that in this year he got some new boarders, a missionary family named Thompson, whom he treated meanly. He may have lived in the cottage at #13 and put lodgers in the house.
Ady's account of Mackenzie and Scott's 'shouting insanely' (above) would indicate a character with some eccentricity. He died in 1941 at the beginning of the war, at the hands of bandits demanding a ransom, whom he refused to humour. Clearly he had a very uncompromising side to him.
I'm finding A H Mackenzie very difficult to trace on Ancestry etc because of the different spellings of Alan/Allan/Allen and Mackenzie/ Mckenzie.
Directory of Protestant Missions 1940
The Directory of Protestant Missions 1940 has AH Mackenzie as an independent missionary on Cheungchow (sic) in this year.
A. H. Mackenzie
I think A. H. Mackenzie was a long time Hong Kong resident.
The 1905 Directory and_Chronicle_for_China Japan etc., has an A. H. Mackenzie as resident-master of St. Stephen's College, Bonham Road and a member of the Church Missionary Society.
Page 114 of the Directory of…
Page 114 of the Directory of Protestant Missionaries in China for 1917 lists an Alan H. Mackenzie with the Bible, Book and Tract Depot at 2 Wyndham Street.
Related to Sellers/Agents of Biblical Publications
Related to offices and agents of biblical publications sold in Hong Kong, I assume the same "M'Kenzie" is listed below as having his office-cum-residence at 13 Cheung Chow (sic) Island.
Source
1903 Directory & Chronicle
The 1903 Directory_Chronicle_for_China_Japan etc., lists an Alan Mackenzie in Pakhoi in China together with H. Lechmere Clift and wife and Norman Mackenzie.
Interesting connection
What a fascinating connection if it is our Allan Mackenzie, to think they went back together this far, and that they both served with the CMS and then went independent.
Similar ages?
If Mackenzie and Dr Clift were similar ages, that would give us a birthdate for Mackenzie around 1875?
Alan/Allan/A. H. Mackenzie 1902-1903
Convoluted connections noted so far:
(1) Alan Mackenzie was listed together with Norman Mackenzie under the Pakhoi Mission of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in 1903. (Source: 1903 Directory_Chronicle_for_China_Japan etc.,)
(2) In 1902/03, Rev. Ernest Judd Barnett and wife joined the South China Mission. Barnett was posted to Hong Kong from Australia to undertake the establishment of St. Stephen's College. He would later be elevated to Archdeacon of Hong Kong. (Source: https://grokipedia.com/page/judd_barnett)
(3) Mention made of Norman Mackenzie being the Australian stepson of Rev. E. J. Barnett. (Source: Daily Telegraph (Sydney, Australia), 25 August 1917, see here)
(4) In 1902/03, Norman Mackenzie who had previously worked independently at Pakhoi became a missionary of the Church Missionary Society and worked at its local mission there. (Source: Proceedings_of_the_Church_Missionary_Society for Africa and the East 1902-1903 See Page 330 for South China Mission)
(5) In February 1902, Norman Mackenzie accompanied by his brother (name not mentioned) who was not a missionary of the CMS took up residence at Liem Chau, 20 miles from Pakhoi and established schools for boys and girls. (Source: Proceedings_of_the_Church_Missionary_Society for Africa and the East 1902-1903 See Page 336 for Pakhoi Mission).
Query: Would Alan Mackenzie be the brother of Norman Mackenzie and also related to E. J. Barnett?
(6) Re (5). Mentioned in Church Missionary Society extracts from annual letters for 1903 etc., (type in "Allan" here in search to obtain snippet view) that Messrs. Allan (sic) and Norman Mackenzie had occupied a house in Lim-chau seventeen miles from Pak-hoi.
Inference: Appears a connection exists between Allan/Alan and Norman Mackenzie.
(7) In June 1903, Rev. E.J. Barnett wrote a letter to W. J. Byrne, M. A. in Australia. In the letter both Allan (sic) and Norman McKenzie (different spelling of surname) are mentioned. "Allan" was appointed by conference (CMS) and provided assistance at St. Stephen's College whilst "Norman" was selected by the CMS to superintend rice distribution in "Kwong Sai" during the famine.(Source: The Port Pirie Recorder, 8 July 1903. See: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/95301892?searchTerm=E.%20J.%20Barnett%2C%20hong%20kong
Inference: Appears a connection exists between E. J. Barnett and to Alan/Allan and Norman Mackenzie/McKenzie.
(Note 1: In Directory of Protestant Missionaries in China etc., for the year 1905, A. H. Mackenzie is listed under Church Missionary Society in Hong Kong and in The_Directory_and_Chronicle_for_China_Japan etc., for the year 1905 as resident-master under St. Stephen's College.)
(Note 2: In other articles in the Australian papers in 1903/04, Norman McKenzie appears as "Norman Mackenzie" working for the CMS in China).
(8) Mention made in The Advertiser, Adelaide 29 April 1911 (see: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5270552?searchTerm=Rev.%20barnett%2C%20st.%20stephen%27s%20college%2C%20hongkong) that "All the members of the teaching staff of St. Stephen's College are graduates of Adelaide or Melbourne Universities." In 1911, A. H. Mackenzie was still a resident-master at St. Stephen's College. Source: Directory & Chronicle for China, Japan etc., for the year 1911 (see page 1137).
Inference: Allan McKenzie/A. H. Mackenzie/Alan H. Mackenzie was likely the same person and had his origins in Australia.
Allan Henderson Mackenzie
Obituary noted in The Argus, Melbourne, Victoria 11 November 1947 (see: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/22519103?searchTerm=cheung%20chau%2C%20hong%20kong) :
ALLAN HENDERSON MACKENZIE, late of 12A Cheung Chau, minister of religion, deceased. Date of death on or about 28 December 1941. Dated 10 November 1947.
Further information
House move 1940?
The Directory of Protestant Missions 1940 says that in that year, Rev L A and Mrs Buuck, staff of the American School of Kikungshan, Henan, lived in House #13 after the school moved to Cheung Chau in 1938.
It may well be that by this time Allan Mackenzie had moved from #13 to House #12A. (Is it now looking like Allan Mackenzie?)
Great finds on Mackenzie btw, Moddsey.
1934 Article on A. H. Mackenzie
Trip to Australia and New Zealand in 1933/34. His comments on mission work in South China appeared in the New Zealand newspapers on 26 February 1934, see: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19340226.2.45?items_per_page=25&query=cheung+chow&snippet=true&sort_by=byTY.rev#image-tab
Observations:
Allan Mackenzie overview
I've put this together from the various bits of information above and elsewhere that we have on A H Mackenzie.
Allan Mackenzie was a Tasmanian by birth and first-born son of Anne Shekleton and Walter Joseph Mackenzie, a pioneer farmer in Tasmania. They married in 1873 and Allan was born c1875, closely followed by brother Norman. There were other siblings.
When Walter Mackenzie died suddenly, Anne moved to Melbourne and in 1898 married Rev Ernest Judd Barnett.
Brothers Allan and Norman were educated in reputable schools, and both did lay missionary service with the Church Missionary Society in South China early in the 20th century. They were not reverends at this stage. They seem to have been gifted teachers who served in education in different capacities.
In 1903 the brothers were serving in Pakhoi, south Kwangtung. They established schools for boys and girls at Liem Chau, an island 17 miles from Pakhoi.
In 1905, Allan Mackenzie was serving in Hong Kong as resident-master of St. Stephen's College, under its first headmaster, his step-father Rev E J Barnett.
In 1911, Mackenzie was still a resident-master at St. Stephen's College. This seems to have been his final year. He became a book agent and left the CMS at this point possibly.
In 1917 he was listed in the Directory of Protestant Missionaries as an agent of the Bible, Book and Tract Depot, London, selling biblical publications in Hong Kong.
In 1918, like many South China missionaries, Mackenzie purchased a residence on nearby Cheung Chau, House 13 at the top of Fa Peng. He planted trees and shrubs around the house and lived here for the next 20 years or so.
In 1923 fellow islander Ethel Olson said of him, ‘He sort of superintends the island.’ This may have been because most of the islanders were visitors, and by this time he had become a permanent resident.
In 1929 he was again listed as an agent of biblical publications sold in Hong Kong, having his office-cum-residence at 13 Cheung Chau, Hong Kong.
He seems to have retired circa 1933, when he took the opportunity to make a long trip to Australia and New Zealand from 1933-34. His comments on mission work in South China appeared in the New Zealand newspapers in February 1934.
On his return, he enjoyed a period of retirement on Cheung Chau.
In 1938 he appeared on a list of European owners of houses on Cheung Chau as the owner of House 13. House #13 consisted of a house, a small cottage and servants' quarters. It seems Mackenzie used the cottage and rented the house out to missionary families. He flew an Australian flag above its roof.
He remained single throughout his life and was known as ‘Cheung Chau’s bachelor’. Although single, he associated with fellow missionaries on the island and in Hong Kong. He was a particular friend of the Reiton family in Kowloon. From their, and other records of him, we find a man who cared deeply for the people around him, and remembered birthdays and anniversaries, marking them with thoughtful gifts. Later on, however, the young Don Ady thought he was ‘a cranky, mean old miser.’
This mix of impressions is typical of long‑term expatriate bachelors in missionary communities: eccentric to some, deeply kind to others.
When the Japanese invaded Hong Kong in December 1941, it seems Mackenzie foolishly refused to leave the island when his fellow islanders left. It proved to be his undoing as, according to Don Ady’s account, after the police left the island, Mackenzie and fellow resident Marion Potter were taken captive by bandits demanding a ransom. Unfortunately, this brought out Mackenzie’s stubborn side. He upset the bandits and they killed him. Marion Potter turned up later in Stanley Camp.
Allan Mackenzie was a teacher‑missionary who made South China his home, and invested his life in education, friendship, and the island community on Cheung Chau. He was remembered for his thoughtfulness as much as his solitude.
Sources: Ernest Judd Barnett - Wikipedia
Re: Overview
Thank you for consolidating all the bits of information and sight of the overview. My comments:
Barnett and Mackenzie related?
Thanks for those pointers moddsey. I've made adjustments to the overview.
In doing so I have found that Ernest Judd Barnett and Allan Mackenzie are not related!Because Allan Mackenzie went to Hong Kong as a missionary under the wing of Archdeacon Ernest Judd Barnett, people trying to work out Mackenzie's family tree saw the name "Ernest Judd Barnett" all over Mackenzie's Hong Kong records. They incorrectly assumed that the Archdeacon was Mackenzie's stepfather (marrying his widowed mother, Anne Mackenzie) rather than his missionary mentor and colleague.This is why online databases are confused.Re: Barnett and Mackenzie not related
Good find. Thanks for clearing it up. I think the confusion was further exacerbated by the fact that Rev. E. J. Barnett had married Annie Mackenzie, widow of the late W. J. Mackenzie on 1 September 1898. Posting of Family Notice in The Age (Melbourne) 1 October 1898.
A. H. Mackenzie's name does not appear in the 1912 and 1913 Directory & Chronicle under St. Stephen's College nor as a foreign resident.
Correction
So E J Barnett DID marry the widowed Annie Mackenzie in 1898? And he WAS stepfather to Allan and Norman Mackenzie.
Apparently the Barnetts, Sheckletons, Mackenzies and Judds were among several missionary families in Tasmania who intermarried, producing possible name similarities/conflicts. I need to revise my earlier posts.