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that destitute or disreputable Chinese were shipped back to their homeland without expense to the British taxpayer. All in all, a model citizen of his adopted country.
One surmises that Lock settled down in England in 1895 without experiencing an acute degree of cultural ‘dislocation'; it was after all his elected country and must have appeared a land of opportunity to the young Cantonese. But he remained Chinese, enmeshed in the themes of Chinese society and culture — a migrant, a marginal man. Since wealth and status are closely linked in Chinese society, particularly so in overseas Chinese communities which then lacked a Chinese scholar class, once his fortune disappeared as a result of injudicious speculation, he must have experienced a shameful loss of 'face', a loss of standing within the Chinese Liverpool community. His bankruptcy was temporarily masked by maintaining a high degree of conspicuous consumption (how did he do it?). Lock was 52 in 1925, and to recoup his finances would have been difficult at that time, when the British economy was listing and shipping trade with China interrupted by the great strike and boycott of Hong Kong and the Treaty Ports. It is plausible to suggest, then, that Lock felt disgraced, ashamed of what the future might bring his wife and three grown-up children, victims of his middle-aged ineptitude, or bad luck. It is possible to point to a number of English, let alone Chinese murders, motivated by the same impulse: fear of the future.19
All this is speculation, need it be said. The writer has not seen the transcript of the trial — has it survived? — and Lock's case is not included in the eighty-three volumes of the Notable British Trials Series.20 It seems sensible, though, to argue that Lock's friends, all those giving evidence for the defence, would tend to over-emphasise his bouts of ill-temper and any episodes which might suggest he was mentally sick. This type of retrospective interpretation or evaluation is common in many murder trials. We do not know what precisely triggered off Lock's murderous assault in the early hours of December 2, 1925. Did some chance remark made by his wife drive him into a frenzy? Did she, perhaps unwittingly, make him aware of the shame he had brought upon his family — did she awaken the tiger? That,
124
H. J. LETHBRIDGE
that destitute or disreputable Chinese were shipped back to their homeland without expense to the British taxpayer. All in all, a model citizen of his adopted country.
One surmises that Lock settled down in England in 1895 without experiencing an acute degree of cultural ‘dislocation'; it was after all his elected country and must have appeared a land of opportunity to the young Cantonese. But he remained Chinese, enmeshed in the themes of Chinese society and culture
a migrant, a marginal man. Since wealth and status are closely linked in Chinese society, particularly so in overseas Chinese communities which then lacked a Chinese scholar class, once his fortune disappeared as a result of injudicious speculation, he must have experienced a shameful loss of 'face', a loss of standing within the Chinese Liverpool community. His bank- ruptcy was temporarily masked by maintaining a high degree of conspicuous consumption (how did he do it?). Lock was 52 in 1925, and to recoup his finances would have been difficult at that time, when the British economy was listing and shipping trade with China interrupted by the great strike and boycott of Hong Kong and the Treaty Ports. It is plausible to suggest, then, that Lock felt disgraced, ashamed of what the future might bring his wife and three grown-up children, victims of his middle-aged ineptitude, or bad luck. It is possible to point to a number of English, let alone Chinese murders, motivated by the same impulse: fear of the future.19
All this is speculation, need it be said. The writer has not seen the transcript of the trial has it survived? and Lock's case is not included in the eighty-three volumes of the Notable British Trials Series.20 It seems sensible, though, to argue that Lock's friends, all those giving evidence for the defence, would tend to over-emphasise his bouts of ill-temper and any episodes which might suggest he was mentally sick. This type of retro- spective interpretation or evaluation is common in many murder trials. We do not know what precisely triggered off Lock's murderous assault in the early hours of December 2, 1925. Did some chance remark made by his wife drive him into a frenzy? Did she, perhaps unwittingly, make him aware of the shame he had brought upon his family — did she awaken the tiger? That,
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