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William
Joseph Kenny was appointed Consul at Tainan on 28 December 1896 to
succeed Consul Joseph Henry Longford. Consul Kenny took charge of the
Tainan Consulate on 5 February 1897 from First Assistant and Pro-Consul
Ernest Alfred Griffiths. After a prolonged absence due to illness during
which he served as Acting Consul-General in Honolulu, Consul Kenny
returned to Tainan in 1900. Consul William Joseph Kenny handed over
charge of the Tainan Consulate to First Assistant Ernest Alfred
Griffiths on 29 January 1902.
William Joseph Kenny was born on 29 August 1859
at Kilkenny, the eldest son of Patrick Joseph Kenny, J.P., of
Kingsmeadow House, Waterford, and his wife Elizabeth Williams. Kenny was
educated at the Christian Brothers’ School, Waterford; the French
College, Blackrock, County Durham; Germany; and obtained a Senior
Scholarship to Blackrock College, which had courses to prepare students
for the Civil Service entrance examinations. Kenny left Blackrock
College in February 1880 to take the Civil Service Commission
examination. In March 1880 Kenny was appointed a Student Interpreter in
Japan, where he arrived on 24 May 1880. By 1885 Kenny was a Second
Assistant at Yokohama [横浜]. From 1890 to 1893, Kenny took leave and
studied law in London. In 1894 Kenny was Registrar at the British
Supreme Court in Yokohama until 1895, when he returned to England,
completed his studies, and was called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn on 17
June 1896. Upon his return to Japan Kenny was appointed Consul at Tainan
[臺南] on 28 December 1896.
Consul William Joseph Kenny took charge of the
Tainan Consulate on 5 February 1897 from First Assistant and Pro-Consul
Ernest Alfred Griffiths. After a prolonged absences, first to serve on
the Diplomatic Consular Commercial Treaty in 1898, and then, due to
illness, as officiating Consul at Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1899, Consul
Kenny returned to Tainan in 1900. Consul William Joseph Kenny handed
over charge of the Tainan Consulate to First Assistant Ernest Alfred
Griffiths on 29 January 1902, and departed on Home Leave to his family
home of Kingsmeadow House, Waterford, Ireland.
Before his return to the East Kenny passed
through London, where he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical
Society (F.R.G.S.) on 11 May 1903, his record stating that he was H.M.
Consul Taiwan, South Formosa, with home address of
Kingsmeadow House, Waterford. After returning from Ireland in August 1903
William Joseph Kenny took up his new rank of Consul-General of the
Philippine Islands, to which he had been officially appointed on 21 May
1903, residing at Manila. Kenny remained at Manila until his retirement
on 1 June 1908.
Upon retirement Joseph Kenny, F.R.G.S., returned
to Ireland to live at Kingsmeadow House. Kenny was also a member of the Asiatic Society of
Japan (on the Council 1884 - 1898) and of the Polynesian Society. William Joseph Kenny,
F.R.G.S., died in 1910, most probably at Kingsmeadow House, Waterford,
Ireland. |
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Sources: |
The National Archives, British
Foreign Office Files, series FO
262 (Japan).
Oakley, David Charles; The Story of
the British Consulate at Takow; Privately published,
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 2007.
Ruxton, Ian; The
Semi-Official Letters of British Envoy Sir Ernest Satow from
Japan and China (1895-1906); and, Correspondence of Sir
Ernest Satow while he was British Minister in Japan
(1895-1900); Lulu Press.
Who's Who in the Far East, 1906-07 June Edition, China Mail,
Hong Kong, 1907. |
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