Sheriff of Wan Chai: How an Englishman helped govern Hong Kong in its last decades as a British colony

In 1976, Peter Mann left a gloomy England for the last corner of the British empire: Hong Kong.

As a police inspector, he commanded a sub-unit and led a district vice squad in Kowloon, before joining the colonial government’s Administrative Service and working in the fields of transport, housing, security, environment and tourism. He also served as District Officer for Wan Chai. From raids on gambling dens to organising Governors’ visits, his work involved him in all levels of Hong Kong soc...