Nicholas Belfield Dennys

Nicholas Belfield Dennys (25 January 1839 – 5 December 1900) was a British civil servant and journalist in China. He studied Chinese folklore and wrote several studies on the language and culture.

Biography Dennys joined the civil department of the British Navy in 1855. After seeing action at the Battle of Suomenlinna in 1855 he received a Baltic Medal and resigned from the Navy to join the Consular Service in China in 1863. Here he learned Chinese and resigned to own and take up editorship of the newspaper China Mail. He edited the newspaper until 1876 while also serving as curator of the Hong Kong museum and library.