John, I’ve mentioned this to you before but at the time could not recall the details: Your mum’s bother Edmund married my 1st cousin 3x removed, Hilda Richards. Hilda is a descendent of my great great Uncle Henry Caldwell. Henry was born in St Helena (south Atlantic) and raised in Singapore where he became Senior Court Clerk. He was much admired for his administrative talents, his linguistic abilities and his affable nature. He built a grand home in what is now downtown Singapore (still there) but ran out of money. To avoid debtors prison, he made a hasty move — he, wife and 4 kids slipped out of Singapore loaded with the court’s trust funds, bent on starting a new life elsewhere. Not surprisingly, they turned up in Hong Kong where they lived with Henry’s brother Daniel (my great great grandfather). Well, the authorities caught up with Henry soon enough but Daniel, an influential member of the HK colonial government, appears to have negotiated a deal to repay the funds over time. Henry stayed on in HK, became a lawyer, made lots of dough, repaid the money and retired comfortably to England.

 

Singapore-born Louisa Caldwell is the connection to Richards (1839-1874). She married William M Richards, probably met him in school in England, No sign of the Richards actually living in Singapore. The Richards base was Devon and Hampshire. A fun tidbit. Love, Peter