West Point Barracks [????-1843] | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

West Point Barracks [????-1843]

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Submitted by David on Fri, 2020-01-31 16:08
Current condition: 
Demolished / No longer exists
Date Place demolished: 
c.1843-08-31 (Month, Day are approximate)

Position of marker is approximate.

They are marked on the 1845 map as "West Point Barracks. Abandoned & Pulled down.", see https://gwulo.com/map-of-places#18/22.28582/114.13755/Map_by_ESRI-1845_HK/100

Tags: 
barracks
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Comments

Submitted by David on Sat, 2020-02-01 15:18.
  • 1842: [Chasing a group of pirates ...] M Challaye landed in pursuit. He discovered a man hiding on shore and captured him. He then reported to West Point barracks and a party of men was sent off in pursuit.
    Friend of China 7.7.42 edition
     
  • 1843: No. 26.—West Point Barracks. The most extensive on the island. They have a wide colonnade round them affording protection from the powerful rays of the sun. The naval commissariat, and the residence of the commissary of the navy, is situated on the beach below the barracks; beyond is the western passage into the bay.
    Taken from a key to a panorama, based on Drawings, taken by Lieut. F. J. WHITE, Royal Marines, In 1843.
     
  • 1843: Sailing into Hong Kong again in May 1843, Cree reports: “A great deal of sickness: disease is carrying off three men a day from the 55th Regiment at West Point Barracks. The sickness is attributed to turning up the new soil for building and road making and the quantity of disintegrating granite. There are no efficient drains made yet.”
    Plague, SARS and the Story of Medicine in Hong Kong
     
  • 1843: Hitherto the western and eastern extremities of Victoria Bay seem to have proved most unhealthy to Europeans, the centre being less so. The left wing of the 55th, quartered at West Point barracks, lost one hundred men between June and the middle of August last ; and at length the place was abandoned, and the rest of the men sent on board ship.
    NARRATIVE OF THE VOYAGES AND SERVICES OF THE NEMESIS, FROM 1840 TO 1843.
     
  • 1843: Between May 20 and July 15, Major-General Saltoun launched an investigation into the 294 cases of fever counted at the barracks of which twenty five cases proved fatal. [...] Saltoun’s investigation concluded on 15 July. [...] With no other options, Saltoun ordered the evacuation of the 55th Regiment, the destruction of the West Point barracks, and burial of the dead nearby. Two ships moored in the harbour, the Judith Allen and the Sappho, received displaced but healthy soldiers while the hospital ship Minden received the sick.
    Fever Dreams: Infectious Disease, Epidemic Events, and the Making of Hong Kong, by Meaghan Marian

I've set the demolition date to be approximately the end of August, 1843.