Hong Kong Cemetery, formerly Hong Kong (Happy Valley) Cemetery and before that Hong Kong Colonial Cemetery, is one of the early Christian cemeteries in Hong Kong dating to its colonial era beginning in 1845. It is located beside the racecourse at Happy Valley, along with the

Jewish Cemetery A Jewish cemetery ( he, בית עלמין ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Halakha, Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit k ...

, Hindu Cemetery, Parsee Cemetery,

St. Michael's Catholic Cemetery St. Michael's Catholic Cemetery is a private cemetery located in Happy Valley, on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is managed by The Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong together with Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, Cape Collinson and St. Raphael's C ...

and the Muslim Cemetery. Hong Kong Cemetery is a public cemetery managed by the

Food and Environmental Hygiene Department The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) is a department of the Hong Kong Government, reporting to the Environment and Ecology Bureau. It is responsible for food hygiene and environmental hygiene. It replaced part of the role of ...

. Hong Kong Cemetery contains 79 scattered Commonwealth burials of the First World War and 62 from the Second World War, which are maintained by the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mi ...

. The Protestant Cemetery is built as a series of terraces ascending a hillside. The older graves tend to be at the bottom of the hill; those from the 1930s and 1940s are generally at the top. On a number of occasions, remains in the Protestant Cemetery have been disinterred to make way for road developments, and have been placed in niches in an ossuary, which continues to be used for contemporary cremations. The niches provide basic information on each individual.

Types of graves

Some sections of the Protestant Cemetery tended to be reserved for particular groups of deceased, e.g., army, navy, Hong Kong Police. There are two main categories of graves that can be found in Hong Kong Cemetery:

Military graves

Military grave WW1 in the Hong Kong Cemetery

As the name states, this category of graves for British military dead, spanned from the late 19th century until the early 1960s (when the Government of Hong Kong established another

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bu ...

near

Sai Wan Sai Wan, also known as Western district, or simply Western, is an area in Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong that corresponds to Sai Ying Pun, Shek Tong Tsui, Belcher Bay and Kennedy Town. It formed part of the City of Victoria. West Point, ...

for military dead in 1965). At the beginning of the colonial era, the British garrison force had the same problem as those in

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

: weather. Some of the members of the force could not adapt to the tropical weather of Hong Kong and died owing to tropical disease, while others fell during the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, b ...

– mainly in 1900. At the time being, it is the major cemetery for military dead along with Stanley Military Cemetery. There are about 100 military graves of World War I – 79 of them are in Hong Kong Cemetery, mainly the soldiers who died in Hong Kong and Kowloon Military Hospital, which received the sick and wounded from the German-leased territory of

Tsingtao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means "azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Bel ...

, on the Shandong peninsula in north-east China.
CWGC Cemetery Report. Evidence shows that most of them are naval personnel. Grave HKV in the Hong Kong Cemetery

Before the Japanese Battle of Hong Kong, invasion of Hong Kong in 1941, Britain had sent two battalions from the

Royal Scots The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of Scotland. The regime ...

and

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Ref ...

s to Hong Kong for garrison duty. This cemetery provides evidence of the presence of these two battalions. There are in all 62 military graves of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Commonwealth service personnel – mainly from the year 1941 – maintained by the

. The British force in Hong Kong used the cemetery as their burial ground until 1965. One notable military burial is Driver Joseph Hughes, a recipient of the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has be ...

. There are also two monuments erected by the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in memory of their fallen comrades, which were later moved to the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence.

Civilian graves

The civilian burials in the cemetery are diverse and exemplify the social structure at the early stage of the colonial era. It is widely understood that the cemetery is for the burial of the privileged group of the society, mostly British. Notable people of that era buried in the cemetery include Sir Robert Ho Tung and his first wife, Sir Paul Chater and Sir Kai Ho. Most Christian missionaries to Hong Kong are also buried here, a notable example being

Karl Friedrich August Gützlaff Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austrian ...

, a German Missionary who helped to establish Lutheran churches in Hong Kong, who is considered the first Lutheran missionary to China. Another notable missionary interred here is Henrietta Hall Shuck, the first American female missionary to China. There are also a number of Chinese burials, all of them Christians, some of them were involved in the late Qing revolution and uprisings led by Sun Yat-sen, including Yeung Ku-wan, who was assassinated by the Qing Government in Hong Kong. A number of Japanese were buried in the cemetery, mostly those who resided in Hong Kong during the early colonial era. Some of them were Christian, but most were followers of

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintoist ...

. The Japanese custom of burning incense during memorial rites led to complaints from some Westerners. As a result, a special Japanese section of the graveyard was designated.

Burials

Notable burials at Hong Kong Cemetery include: *

Henry Fletcher Hance Henry Fletcher Hance (4 Aug 1827 – 22 June 1886) was a British diplomat who devoted his spare time to the study of Chinese plants. Born in Brompton, London, his first appointment was to Hong Kong in 1844. In May 1852 in Exeter he married his fi ...

(1827-1886), British diplomat and botanist * Prof Robert Kirk

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This so ...

(1905-1962), Scottish pathologist and parasitologist * Wong Tape (1875–1967), Chinese merchant in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, New Zealand and member of the

Urban Council, Hong Kong The Urban Council (UrbCo) was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon (including New Kowloon). These services were provided by the council's executive arm, the Urban Services ...

* Samuel Cornell Plant (1866 - 1921), first to command a merchant steamer plying on the Upper Yangtze River, First Senior River Inspector for Upper YangtzePeter Simpson, "Hell and High Water," ''South China Morning Post Magazine'', October 2, 2011, p. 24-30.

In popular culture

A scene in John le Carré's novel '' The Honourable Schoolboy'' takes place in the nearby racetrack as well as the cemetery. The cemetery is a popular place for filming movies and TV shows. The UK folk artist Johnny Flynn released a song in 2008 about the cemetery, found on the album ''

A Larum ''A Larum'' is the debut album of London-based folk rock musician Johnny Flynn, released in the UK on May 26, 2008 and in the US on July 29, 2008. On the album, Flynn is backed by his band the Sussex Wit. Background The title of the album ...

''.

Gallery

File:Joseph Hughes grave in the Hong Kong Cemetery.JPG, Grave of Driver Joseph Hughes GC, who won the George Cross due to his warning of bombs to his fellows in Hong Kong Cemetery. File:Hotung grave.JPG, Graves of Sir Robert Ho Tung and his first wife Margaret Mak Sau Ying in Hong Kong Cemetery. File:Chinese grave in the Hong Kong Cemetery.JPG, An example of Chinese grave in Hong Kong Cemetery. File:Hung Chu Fu in the Hong Kong Cemetery.JPG, Grave of

Hung Chuen Fook Hung may refer to: People * Hung (surname), various Chinese surnames * Hùng king, a king of Vietnam People with the given name Hung include: * Hung Huynh, Vietnamese-American chef, winner of the third season of the television show ''Top Chef' ...

, one of the figures of Xinhai Revolution. He is a descendant of Hóng Xiùquán, the major figure of

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It last ...

. File:Japanese grave in the Hong Kong Cemetery.JPG, A traditional Japanese grave in Hong Kong Cemetery5. File:Royal scot before ww2 in the Hong Kong Cemetery.JPG, Graves of the members of Royal Scots, one of garrison battalions at Hong Kong before the Japanese invasion on Hong Kong, in Hong Kong Cemetery. File:Samuel_Cornell_Plant_Headstone_Hong_Kong_Cemetery.jpg, Grave of Samuel Cornell Plant and wife Alice. Plant commanded the first regular steam service on Upper Yangtze.

References

External links

*
Former Protestant Cemetery in Hong Kong, now known as the Hong Kong Cemetery

* ttp://www.fehd.gov.hk/english/cc/introduction.html Information on opening hours at the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, Government of Hong Kong SAR
Lists of civilian burials

NPR Story by Louisa Lim on Patricia Lim (her mother) and the Chronicling the Cemetery, Aired on ''Morning Edition'' Aug. 21, 2012
* * http://www.hkmemory.hk/collections/hong_kong_cemetery/about/index.html *http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/28/world/asia/hong-kong-cemetery/index.html *https://gwulo.com/hong-kong-cemetery#17~22.27157~114.17956~Map_by_GovHK-Markers~100 {{Coord, 22.2702, 114.1816, display=title World War II cemeteries Cemeteries in Hong Kong Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in Hong Kong Happy Valley, Hong Kong