Inspector William Stanton (1849-1909) served with the Hong Kong Police Force from 1873 to 1897, retiring as Chief Detective Inspector. Born in 1849 in St Cleer, Cornwall, son of a mine labourer, in his youth Stanton became a copper miner, but in January 1869 joined London’s Metropolitan Police. In late 1872 he left London to join the Hong Kong Police Force as a constable. With an exceptional proficiency in Chinese that he acquired after arriving in the colony, Stanton rose steadily within the force, and eventually headed its Detective Department from 1889 onwards. In Hong Kong he married a Chinese woman, with whom he had four children. After retiring under a cloud in the aftermath of a corruption scandal in 1897, Stanton moved to Cornwall with their two daughters. He died on 24 December 1909, age 60, at Liskeard, Cornwall.

The photographs here come from a single album, bought from Woo Cheong Photographer, 146 Queen's Road, inscribed in gold lettering on the front cover: 'Presented to Inspector William Stanton, Hongkong Police. From the Chinese Detectives as a token of esteem and respect. Hongkong, 16th March 1894.'

Stanton brought it back with him to Cornwall in 1897, where it remains in family hands. HPC Ref: DO01, 96 photographs.