Stanley Prison Cemetery [1947- ]
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Submitted by gw on Wed, 2018-02-07 18:49
Current condition:
In use
Date Place completed:
c.1947-01-01 (Month, Day are approximate)
Photos that show this place
 2018 |
 2018 |
 2018 |
Comments
Stanley Prison Cemetery
Stanley Prison Cemetery was established in 1947(1) and is located in St. Stephen's Bay, Stanley. In the photo below its the patch of flatish greenery behind the long, low building with the silver coloured roof which is part of the Hong Kong Sea Cadet Corp Jubilee Centre.
It's surrounded by a wire mesh fence with this entrance.
The sign identifies the enclosure as a CSD cemetery, but doesn't say its the Stanley Prison Cemetery. Here's a close-up.
Looking over the gate reveals that there are no gravestones, at least none that I could see.
Here's the reverse view from outside the opposite top corner. Again no trace of any graves.
Presumably the reason why no graves are visable is because they are unmarked. I've heard, but not confirmed, that only executed convicts were buried in unmarked graves. I'm not sure if this was a requirement of the law or just custom. Some sources claim that only those executed for murder were buried in unmarked graves. The bodies of prisoners who died in prison from causes other than execution could be collected by their relatives and buried in marked graves, but if nobody claimed the body it would be buried in a marked grave in the prison cemetery.
The last death sentence in Hong Kong was carried out in Stanley Prison in 1966 (2). Until then I think anyone executed (or perhaps only executed murderers) in Stanley Prison would have been buried in an unmarked grave in the Stanley Prison Cemetery. I wonder how many there were? In addition to domestic criminals, some War Criminals were also executed in Stanley Prison (3). Were they too buried in the Prison Cemetery?
Apologies if the above is a bit vague. Grateful to anyone who can supply more details.
References
1. "A Review of Development of Cemeteries in Hong Kong", by KO T.K. Pages 259 & 279, (www.cultus.hk/cemetery_lecture/KoTK.pdf)
2. WONG Kai-kei, hanged in Stanley Prison for murder on 16th November 1966 (www.truecrimelibrary.com)
3. For example, the execution of Major Uete Taichi and two co-defendants in Stanley Prison on 7th April 1948, as reported at Page 90, "Hong Kong's War Crimes Trials", edited by S. Linton (ISBN 978-0-19-964328-8).