Gerald Frederick Conyngham CORFIELD ^{1 2}

  General Notes:

Gerald was nicknamed TD after the Tasmania Devil which was aquired by London Zoo in the same year as his birth and the name stuck for the rest of his life. TD was educated privately and served in the First World War where he was awarded the DSO in 1918.
By the late 1920s he was working in Kiukiang on the Yangtse River in China. It was a treaty port with a population of 44,000 and was connected to the provincial capital Nanchang, by rail. It was the distributing centre for the large tea trade and was where the Government was trying to nationalise foreign owned concessions.
Having been a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Engineers, TD became an official in the Chinese Maritime Customs, an international service which at that time controlled all shipping on the Yangtse River and the surrounding area, collecting customs dues. From 1938 he was River Inspector for Chinese Maritime Customs in Shanghai which at that time was an international city. In 1941 the Corfields were still living in Shanghai which was crowded due to the invasion of China by Japan. Although Shanghai was comparatively safe TD decided to evacuate his wife and daughter Gill before the Japanese decided to attack . However although TD got out his wife and daughter were captured by the Japanese. He was only re-united with them in 1945 when they made it back to Liverpool.
TD had been Chariman of the River Conservancy Board in Calcutta 1944-45 and then settled in London. In 1952 the Corfields lived at 66 Maida Vale, London and by 1959 18 Hornton Court, London, W8.

  Notes:

• Census: Pupil, 31 Mar 1901, Little Waltham, Essex, England. ³

Gerald married Isla HARTLEY, daughter of Leopold HARTLEY and Unknown, on 4 Jan 1919. (Isla HARTLEY died on 30 Apr 1992.)