Charles Hannigan was born on 1 December 1877 at Rathdowney, Queen's County, and was educated at Ranelagh School, Athlone.
[1][2] In 1919, he was transferred to Singapore where he was appointed Chief Police Officer and later Superintendent of Police,[3] and was involved in the anti-Japanese riots when martial law was declared and troops were employed to restore order.
[5] During his tenure he was credited with reforming and improving the police force, and introducing modern methods such as the creation of a Criminal Registry.
[1] Before retiring in 1931, in his last report he wrote that the economic depression had led to a sharp rise in crime as a consequence of large numbers of workers having been laid off in the tin mines and on the rubber plantations who turned to theft, burglary and gang-robbery to obtain a livelihood.
[7] When the Second World War broke out he moved to Ireland but returned to live in Buckinghamshire in 1946.