Patricia O'Sullivan and Dennis Clarke - great niece and grandson respectively of two officers killed by gunmen in the Gresson St. Affray, Wanchai, Hongkong 1918
Policing Hong Kong:
an Irish History
Irishmen in the Hong Kong Police Force 1864-1950
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Hong Kong, 1918. Tranquil compared to war-torn Europe. But on the morning of the 22nd January, a running battle through the streets of Wanchai ended in "The Siege of Gresson Street". Five policemen lay dead, so shocking Hong Kong that over half the population turned out to watch their funeral procession.
One of the dead, Inspector Mortimor O'Sullivan, came from Newmarket, a small town nestled deep in rural Ireland. He, along with a dozen and more relatives, had sailed out to Hong Kong to join the Police Force. Using family records and memories alongside extensive research in Hong Kong, Ireland and London, this book tells the story of these policemen and the criminals they dealt with.
It also gives a rare glimpse into the day to day life of working class Europeans at the time, as it follows the Newmarket men, their wives and families, from the first arrival in 1864, through to 1941 and beyond.
Who were the Newmarket men of Hongkong?
Meet them here and see how they were connected.
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Read the stories about the others caught up in the raid that January morning
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And where is Newmarket, anyway?
Buy the book
Second printing (June 2018)
In Hong Kong, USA, Canada and UK through major bookshops
or worldwide from
blacksmithbooks
In the UK at blackwells.co.uk or hive.co.uk - proper, bookshop-supporting UK companies, and in US
bookshop.org
(both UK & US are B-corp not-for-profits).
or email
Patricia O'Sullivan
And if you live within striking distance of Newmarket, Co. Cork, Ireland, head to Terry Eddie's Newsagents - next to the Post Office ... he has them there!
