Michael Edward Parsons, chandler, was recorded as a resident of Hong Kong in 1842.
Parsons was a victim of probably Hong Kong's first known counterfeit-money case that took place in December 1842. The December 8, 1842 issue of the Friend of China had the following report on the case:
The prisoner [Ah Gee, the Chinese steward on the transport ship Gertrude] agreed to buy a clock from Parsons for $11. On examining two of the first three dollars proffered in payment, Parsons found them bad. ‘I found Ah Gee had 35 dollar coins on him and fifteen appeared bad.’ Some dollars were sawn in two in front of him revealing their copper cores. The prisoner acknowledged that 14 coins were bad and offered me $10 to let him go.
Parsons took Ah Gee to the police and as it went Parsons was not the only victim. The counterfeiter paid $6, all counterfeit coins, to Ah Po, Gertrude's butcher for clothes he bought from his shipmate. Ah Gee's defense that was built on his claim that he received the coins from HMS Childers so he thought they must be good did not stand up; he was sentenced to six months hard labor, fined $100 and repay $6 to Ah Po.
Since I do not know whether Ah Gee was a resident of Hong Kong, a separate post was not assigned under his name for now.
Selected Bibliography: Hong Kong's Frist [online]. Tarrent, William, The Hong Kong Almanack and Directory for the Year 1846, 1848, 1850, Hong Kong: China Mail, resp. 1846, 1848 and 1850.
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