British men who had elected to make their living in China signed on with an agreement that they would stay for at least 5 years and often 10. As a matter of interest, there were but a handful of Caucasian women in China during this period and those few would have been either missionaries or wives of clergymen. If a man decided to make China his permanent home, he would be given a leave, usually after at least 5 years of service. On this leave he would return home to England and take a wife, or if he already had one, would arrange for her to join him on his return voyage.

With the abundance of Ocean Steamers coming into service, travel time to England had also been greatly reduced. More than 3,000 miles was trimmed from the overall distance and the dangerous passage around the Cape of Africa had been eliminated. Steam powered ships now made the passage in weeks instead of months, making it possible for most British men to return to England almost at will. It seems that WLH was no exception.

Now the question arises. Did WLH return to England and take a wife? It’s possible that he went back to England in the early 1870s, married, and brought his wife back to China. The time frame fits quite conveniently. By 1874 when his first son was born, WLH would have met the terms of his service and would have earned a home leave. As a matter of note, 1874 turned out to be the beginning of the downturn in the Foochow tea trade.)

But there’s another fly in the ointment! On the death certificate of my grandfather Tobias Hunter, WLH’s third son, in the spaces provided for “name of father” is entered “William Leyland Hunter, born in Manchester, England” and for “name of mother, “Catherine Coutes, born in Hong Kong” I’ll add here, that I discovered the name “Coutes” for the very first time, only a couple of years ago. The information on the certificate was given by my mother, and I can’t see any reason to doubt the accuracy of what she attested.

So, what about the name Coutes? It was a totally new name to me; one that had never been mentioned in my lifetime! Further, if WLH had indeed returned to England to marry or to retrieve his existing wife, then who was this Catherine Coutes, who was born in Hong Kong and was the supposed mother of his children?