NOTES AND QUERIES
THE EUROPEAN GRAVE ON SHEK KWU CHAU, HONG KONG
Sacred
To the Memory of Elizabeth Ann The Beloved Wife of
Capt. A. McIntyre
Who Died at Sea
21st of October, 1845
on Board the Ship “Castle Huntly” Aged 23 Years and 9 Days.
These words appear on a granite tombstone situated near the N.W. shoreline of Shek Kwu Chau, an island about two miles west of Cheung Chau. The island was generally barren and uninhabited until 1963, and the existence of the stone and inscription was unknown except, perhaps, to local fishermen. An old name for the island was Coffin Island, and it is tempting to think that the name was derived from this grave.
The island was taken over in 1962 by the Society for the Aid and Rehabilitation of Drug Addicts and it was quite by chance that a member of the staff, while exploring the territory, stumbled on the grave.
Since then several people have made attempts to trace the history of the "Castle Huntly”, but it was not until recently that any firm information came to light. An Australian friend, after visiting Shek Kwu Chau, thought of contacting the Board of Trade in Cardiff and they were able to provide the following details.
The "Castle Huntly” (or “Castle Huntley") was a three-masted wooden carvel of just over thirteen hundred tons, built at the Port of Calcutta and owned jointly by Thomas Garland Murray of London and John Paterson of Castle Huntley, North Britain. John Paterson was her first Master. Later she passed through the hands of various owners and, in 1838, was re-registered at Bombay.