Sir John Pope Hennessy's residence on the Peak was named Mountain Lodge.

Hong Kong's most eccentric governor was Sir John Pope Hennessy, which is not surprising as he was the most eccentric governor of every colony he ever governed - all six of them.

He had somehow managed to get himself elected to the British House of Commons as an Irish Nationalist Conservative. At that time, members of parliament could not be prosecuted for debt. When he lost his seat in the House of Commons, his political friends came to his rescue and he was appointed governor of Labuan, a pestiferous fever-ridden, little island swamp on the north coast of Borneo. It was hardly a prestigious post; but at least he had escaped from his creditors.

Within a year he had married Kitty Low, the beautiful daughter of the local police magistrate. He was soon transferred to the governorship of the West African Settlements, where his misrule seems to have started an Ashanti war.

Hennessy was a flamboyant supporter of the underdog. This made him so popular with the people of Sierra Leone that for many years they celebrated "Pope Hennessy Day" in his honour.

When he was governor of Barbados, he incited the local populace to riot against the government he headed. He was quickly recalled, and by some monumental error of judgement, was sent out to rule Hong Kong.

When he arrived, the Chinese population was still not represented in government, so Hennessy appointed Ng Choi, a lawyer from Singapore, to be Hong Kong's first Chinese member of the Legislative Council, Hong Kong's governing body. Ng Choi persuaded Hennessy to release land reserved for expatriates to the Chinese.

This land included the area surrounding Victoria Barracks in Central. The decision caused a tremendous row between the garrison commander Lieutenant-general EW Donovan, who was responsible for the defence of Hong Kong, and the governor. The rumpus was so bitter that Donovan refused to supply a military band to play at Government House on the Queen's Birthday. It also enabled Ng Choi to become involved in a wild spree of land speculation that caused him to go bankrupt.

Hennessy brought in well-intended laws against flogging and branding that resulted in a crime wave. He stopped building reservoirs because he considered them to be against Chinese tradition. He also tried to ban the importation of flush toilets. Sir John Pope Hennessy believed in the divine right of governors.

Hennessy had his supporters, both Chinese and British. Among them was a lawyer, Thomas Child Hayllar, who was a puisne judge. The friendship ended abruptly when the little governor caught Hayllar with his lovely wife, Kitty Hennessy, in her boudoir at Mountain Lodge, the governor's summer residence, showing her what Hennessy described as "a dirty book". It was a catalogue of the Museo Borbonico that contained a few boring classical nude prints. However, there was no doubt in Hennessy's mind of the judge's evil intentions.

A few days later, Hennessy ran into the judge in the vicinity of Mountain Lodge. In a fit of uncontrollable anger, he attempted to horse-whip the lecherous lawyer with his umbrella. It was a David and Goliath contest, only this time Goliath won. The enormous judge easily disarmed the puny little governor, who could only use one hand because his small child refused to let go of the other. Later, the victor had the remains of Hennessy's umbrella hung over his mantelpiece as a trophy. Below it was a decorative silver plaque on which were engraved the words:

"A Memento of the Battle of Mountain Lodge. 27th April 1879."