My interest in this family starts with William Couper's daughter Williamina's marriage in Hong Kong to my gg grandfather Henry Mariano de Castilla, a Master Mariner on steamers plying the Pearl River between Hong Kong and Canton.
![](52_W_Castilla_3a.jpg)
Williamina's father William Couper (often referred to as Mr Cowper snr in the newspapers of the time) was kidnapped by Chinese during the Second Opium War and was never recovered. I recall being told as a child by my father that "my great grandfather's head was served to the family on a covered dish during a Chinese uprising". It was never clear just when this happened or which great grandfather it was. I am now sure that the story has its origins with my ggg grandfather William Couper's kidnapping. Newspaper accounts of the time reported that he was never found, so I do not know if there is any truth to the family story.