Updated October 19, 2014
Robert Neil, tavern-keeper, was listed as a resident of Hong Kong in 1850. He ran a tavern named Albion.
Selected Bibliography: Hong Kong's First [online]. Tarrent, William, The Hong Kong Almanack and Directory for the Year 1846, 1848, 1850, Hong Kong: China Mail, resp. 1846,1848 and 1850.
temp.notes:
Neil, Richard
Hotelier
Richard Neil (b.1830, Leicester – d. May 25, 1857, Hong Kong), together with his family, was listed as owners of the Albion House, a hotel, in Hong Kong in 1850 and 1851. Neil was in the army sent to China during the Opium War conflict and in 1841 was recruited to become one of the first policemen in Hong Kong [1]. He was said to have left the police force in 1847 to run the Albion House with partner James McLaughlin. When the partnership dissolved, he became the owner of a livery stable.
Neil was married to Elizabeth (maiden name unknown)(b.1826 – June 23, 1855, Hong Kong). Neil's sister, Annie, also lived in Hong Kong. She had three marriages: First, to a police sergeant Hogan, who died after being wounded in an attack; James Corrigan (d. October 24, 1858, Hong Kong) who was the engineer on the P&O steamer Sir James Forbes; John Patrick Martin, who was a hotelier. It was said that Annie rose from a very humble background to become a respectable manager of a family hotel, by way of these three marriages. There were a few questions remain unanswered. Was Albion House the hotel Annie Neil managed? If so, how did Richard Neil fit in to these marriages? I found no information on James McLaughlin, and no information regarding whether the Albion House was related to the hotel with the same name which was owned and run by Captain A.H. Fryer in Macau.
[1] The pre-police force put together by Captain William Caine of the 26th of Foot (Cameronians) Regiment, who was appointed Hong Kong's first Chief Magistrate in 1841, consisted of soldiers, described by one source, unfit for regular army duties. There were several versions of the strength of the initial police force; it varied from thirty to ninety, all Europeans. A formal police force won't come into existence until 1845.
Don't forget to add “HKR 1841-50” to your subject blank when you email me. I have a habit of deleting messages from people I don't know, and I don't want to throw away yours. Thank you.
The most boring task of compiling a biographical dictionary, speaking from my very limited experience, is to list up all the names and attach the most basic of information in each entry. My bases for this phase of the project lie upon three volumes of “The Hong Kong Almanack and Dictionary” viz. 1846, 1848 and 1850, which were compiled by William Tarrent, editor of The Friend of China. I hope I am able to get this done say within a couple of weeks and move into the next, and clearly a much more interesting, phase in which I will begin researching the individuals. (8/3/2014)
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