William Caine (17 March 1799 – 19 September 1871) was the first head of the Hong Kong Police Force (1841–1844 as Chief Magistrate), Colonial Secretary of

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

from 1846 to 1854. He attained the rank of

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colon ...

prior to his secretary appointment. Caine was also the acting

Governor of Hong Kong The governor of Hong Kong was the representative of the British Crown in Hong Kong from 1843 to 1997. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and commander-in-chief of the British Forces Overseas Hong Kon ...

between May and September 1859.

Biography

Captain Caine was born in

Maynooth Maynooth (; ga, Maigh Nuad) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, on 17 March 1799. He served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

26th (Cameronian) Regiment of Foot The 26th (Cameronian) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the Scots Army and subsequently a Scottish infantry regiment of the British Army, active from 1689 to 1881. Although the regiment took the name of its first colonel as The Earl of ...

during the Peninsular War against Napoleon in Spain. His regiment was later transferred to Hong Kong and he began his long association with the colony. Caine was

Chief Magistrate Chief magistrate is a public official, executive or judicial, whose office is the highest in its class. Historically, the two different meanings of magistrate have often overlapped and refer to, as the case may be, to a major political and admini ...

, the head of pre-

Hong Kong Police Force The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest disciplined service under the Security Bureau of Hong Kong. The Royal Hong Kong Police Force (RHKPF) reverted to its former name after the t ...

from 1841 to 1844. The then Major Caine was appointed Colonial Secretary and

Auditor General An auditor general, also known in some countries as a comptroller general or comptroller and auditor general, is a senior civil servant charged with improving government accountability by auditing and reporting on the government's operations. Freq ...

from 1846 to 1854. His role was considerably diminished after the arrival in 1849 of the new governor

Sir John Bowring Sir John Bowring , or Phraya Siamanukulkij Siammitrmahayot, , , group=note (17 October 1792 – 23 November 1872) was a British political economist, traveller, writer, literary translator, polyglot and the fourth Governor of Hong Kong. He was a ...

who stamped his authority on Hong Kong after his power struggle with Caine went all the way to the Colonial Office for resolution. He was the Colonial Secretary of

from 1854 to 1859. He was the acting

between May and September 1859. Caine was party to a long-running feud with William Tarrant, who, as Registrar of Deeds in 1847, accused Caine of permitting his

comprador A comprador or compradore () is a "person who acts as an agent for foreign organizations engaged in investment, trade, or economic or political exploitation". A comprador is a native manager for a European business house in East and South East As ...

to extort vendors in Central Market and siphon prostitutes tax into private pocket. An internal government inquiry held Tarrant's claim to be baseless, and Tarrant was sacked from the civil service and effectively barred from future re-employment. Tarrant then became a journalist and after purchasing the '' Friend of China'' newspaper in 1850 repeatedly attacked Caine in its pages until the latter sued Tarrant for libel in 1859, as a result of which Tarrant was sentenced to prison. Caine had four sons: *George Whittingham Caine (1832 – 31 January 1874 in Shanghai); a junior clerk in the Plenipotentiary's Department in 1855. *William Hull Caine *Henry Monteith Caine *Charles Henry Fearon Caine Caine retired and left Hong Kong in 1859. He died on 19 September 1871 in Granville Park, Blackheath, England.

Namesakes

Caine Road Caine Road is a road running through Mid-Levels, Hong Kong. It connects Bonham Road to the west (at the junction with Hospital Road and Seymour Road), and Arbuthnot Road, Glenealy and Upper Albert Road to the east. The road is named after Wi ...

, Mid-Levels, Hong Kong *Caine House, a 29-floor L-shaped building, part of the Hong Kong Police Headquarters, was built in 1987.

Biography

Namesakes

References

Further reading