Robert Andrew Dermod Forrest was born on 21 Feb 1893. In the family he was known as Robin.
So far I have found very little information about him via Ancestry.com. I have had no idea who his parents were or even where he was born. The standard searches only reveal his death in Cornwall and marriage to Lúcia towards the end of his life.
Family tradition is that he had a first wife Dorothy or Doy who had apparently migrated to Australia and lived out her days in Melbourne.
The Gwulo site has a page about him which I should contribute info to, and pointed me to fruitful sources of information about his career via the HK Government Records Online site.
This page mentions a brief biographical note about Forrest included in an article about Hong Kong Cadets, 1862-1941, published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch Volume 10 (1970) by H. J. Lethbridge and available online via the link from HKU.
Robert Andrew Dermod Forrest (born 1893). Educated at Aberdeen University. Hong Kong Civil Service 1919; Inspector of vernacular Schools; Immigration Officer 1940. Lecturer in Tibeto-Burman Linguistics at the School of Oriental and African Studies at London University.
This prompted me to check what information his alma mater University of Aberdeen might have about him.
Conveniently they have published a relatively detailed roll of graduates since 1860. It is now digitised and freely available. I found RAD Forrest in the 974pp document.
FORREST, Robert Andrew Dermod *M.A. 1914
S. of Robert C. F., engineer ; b. Leytonstone, London, 21 Feb. 1893 ; Rosebank, Longside, Aberdeenshire. Appointed to Hongkong Cadet Service, 1919: assistant treasurer and deputy estate duty commissioner, 1931. R. of S. p. 195.
M. Kinross, 27 June 1916, Georgina, d. of Thomas Robertson [M.A. 1862, q.v.], schoolmaster, Lower Cabrach, Banffshire.
Suddenly I have the name of his father and where he was born! And a wee bit more!
(I can understand a university following up a graduate’s career, but I’m surprised in this privacy-conscious world that they would also attempt to keep track of their marital status as well! A project doomed to failure if ever there was.)
Using the guidance notes in the Roll of Graduates this entry tells me he obtained his M.A. with Honours in a subject or group of subjects in 1914. He was the son of Robert C Forrest, engineer and he was born in Leytonstone, London on 21 Feb 1893. The next section of the entry inidcates he was living at Rosebank, Longside, Aberdeenshire when he was started his studies. The next part records part of his career as a Cadet with the Hong Kong Civil Service. “R. of S. p. 195.” was a clue that there was more information to be gleaned from the University’s published “Roll of Service” of which more soon.
The next part of this entry was a real shock. I interpret it to mean that on 27 June 1916 (he would have been 23 years old and she just turned 25) at Kinross (midway between Perth and Edinburgh) he married Georgina Robertson, the daughter of Thomas Robertson M.A., the schoolmaster at Lower Cabrach, further north in Banffshire. According to a page transcribing a WW1 memorial in the Upper Cabrach church, her brother Corporal Norman John Robertson of the 4th Gordon Highlanders was killed at Aubigny only weeks earlier, on the 30 May 1916.
Using the scotlandspeople.gov.uk website I’ve been able to confirm that a Robert A Forrest did marry a Georgina Robertson in Kinross in 1916. But there would be more certainty if there was more of RAD Forrest’s name associated with the union. (And I’m too mean to spend £1.50 to view the document online to confirm what I suspect – that it’s a confusion with someone else, perhaps a Robert Archibald Forrest.)
The University of Aberdeen’s roll of service is also available online, now called the “Roll of Honour” and can be searched here.
Biography: Son of Robert C Forrest; born Leytonstone, 21 February 1893. M.A. (I Lat.-Fr.), 1914. Private, U Company, 4th Gordon Highlanders, 1910. Mobilized, August 1914. 2nd Lieutenant, 11th Gordon Highlanders, January 1916; attached King’s African Rifles. Served-Home, 1914-15, 1916-17, 1918-19; Flanders, February-December 1915 ; East Africa, July 1917-September 1918. Final rank, Lieutenant. source
This adds a bit more information about his M.A. It was in Latin and French. He also seems to have joined the 4th Gordon Highlanders in 1910 at the age of 17. (I have subsequently seen a copy of his enlistment form.) He was mobilised in August 1914. He seems to have spent a period from late 1914 to January 1915 in Britain, and then was sent to Flanders and stayed there from February to December 1915. He has a period back at home from the beginning of 1916 until July 1917. In January 1916 he is a 2nd Lieutenant in the 11th Gordon Highlanders, and he got married on the 27 June 1916. In July 1917 he is attached to the King’s African Rifles and sent to East Africa until September 1918. His final rank is Lieutenant.
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His book “The Chinese Language” was published by Faber in 1948.
Via the Gwulo site I found a link to a periodical which listed an address for Robin in 1928 as 513 The Peak, Hong Kong. There would have been delays in postage and publication etc so this date needs to be taken with grain of salt. The page is here. It’s a list of subscribers to the journal “Le Maître phonétique: organe de l’Association phonétique de professeurs de langues vivantes” which reflects his interest in modern languages, even if he wasn’t a teacher.
Via HKGRO I found the Hong Kong Government Gazette announcing RAD Forrest’s appointment as a cadet on 19 December 1919. GA 1919 no. 576.
A search at the Hong Kong Government Records Online for “Robert Andrew Dermod Forrest” yields 42 documents whose titles outline his career and progress as a HK Cadet and administrator from 1919 to 1941. They are brief announcements that appeared in the HK Government Gazette.
To summarise his career:
1919 Appointed as a Cadet in the Hong Kong Civil Service
1924 Act as an Assistant to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs
1925 Act as an Assistant to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs and a Deputy Registrar for Marriages, act as a Police Magistrate, and to be Assistant Head of the Sanitary Department and Secretary to the Sanitary Board.
1926 To be Secretary to the Sanitary Board
1928 Act as Chief Assistant to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs
1933 A member of the Board of Examiners
1934 Head of the Sanitary Department, and a Director of the Widows’ and Orphans’ Pensions
1935 Superintendent of Imports and Exports, Deputy Estate Duty Commissioner, a Commissioner to administer oaths, etc., Deputy Clerk of Councils, Principal Assistant Colonial Secretary and Clerk of Councils, act as Colonial Secretary, to be Principal Assistant Colonial Secretary and Clerk of Councils, to be Deputy Clerk of Councils
1836 to be Principal Assistant Colonial Secretary and Clerk of Councils, act as Colonial Secretary, resumed duty as Principal Assistant Colonial Secretary and Clerk of Councils,
1937 to be Cadet Officer Class 1, act as Secretary for Chinese Affairs, act as First Police Magistrate,
1938 to be First Police Magistrate
1940 to be Postmaster General, to be Assistant Censor
1941 to be Immigration Officer (15 Jan 1941), Chairman of the Board of Examiners, ceases to be Director of Widows’ and Orphans’ Pensions (7 Jun 1941)
According to the Civil Establishments list for 1934 his salary was £1150 and his position was Senior Assistant Colonial Treasurer which doesn’t appear in the HKGG so far indexed on the HKPRO site. (It’s interesting how the amahs and house boys at the Governor’s residence have a form of precedence before the Cadets. Their page highlights their rank, seniority and salary from £575 up to £1850. )
I presume different searches on the HKGRO website may yield more results.
As well there are quite a number of newspaper reports available online, particularly from around the time of the inquiry into his administration of Hong Kong Immigration in 1940-1. The papers read like Hansard reporting much of the evidence and findings.