Elliot did NOT raise the Union Jack.
It was (Sir) Edward Belcher, HMS Sulphur in China, 1840-41, London 1843. (See J.R. Jones, Who Raised the Union
· Jack in Hong Kong? Royal Asiatic Society 1972 (?).
Elliot is represented here as a harsh character but he was not (see G. Endacott, A Biographical Sketch Book of Early Hong Kong, Singapore, 1962 p.8-9). Elliot was very conciliatory to the Chinese, according
to Endacott. N.B. Some people thought it foolish for Hong Kong to be incorporated in the 'Empire'.
Palmerston himself for one - "a barren hill with
hardly a house". Robert Montgomery Martin (Treasurer)
"we should not spend a shilling on it" and Queen Victoria was "much amused". Hong Kong's value was a subject
of keen debate. The sceptics were many.