P.A.G.
蓼蓼
HONG KONG EARLY HISTORY
I am not an "old timer" so I could not possibly oblige you by writing anything of interest, but I think I could help to make your columns famous by asking questions which would give answers of interest and pleasant to readers
"Post". of the
According to geographies and some other school text books, we are told that Hongkong was ceded to Great Britain in 1841, etc., etc., but they did not say who led the expedition over to take it, and what happened, etc. So I hope you will oblige us youngsters by writing an article about the origin of this world-famous Hongkong. Ah, another thing, Hongkong we are told was the home of pirates who terrorized this part of China. Why did the British call this barren island Hongkong? Was it because Hongkong was the name of the chief pirate or what? "Heang" means "Sweet snelling" in Chinese now what does long mean.
According to information from the old folks, I was informed that Kowloon once was a deserted and wild territory of low hills and that a few villages dotted among the "valleys." They say that when they were of my age they used to go over to Kowloon in sampans and picnicked there. Chatham Road then was a beach of wide fame to Hongkong residents, and nobody seemed willing to tour the places around Kowloon Tong because of frequent "hold ups." Boy, I certainly would like to live in those days. Well I think I have written enough but before signing off, I would like to thank you in anticipation for your answers.
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I hope the following note will meet "P.A.G's" query. The decision to take over Hongkong as a British settlement in place of the "factories" at Canton, which had aroused the hostility of the Chinese, was made in 1840. Britain was then practically at war with China, but hostilities ceased at the beginning of 1841, and on January 20, 1841, a Circular was issued from Macao by Captain Charles Elliot, R.N., who was Chief Superintendent of Trade and Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary in China, announcing the cession of the island and harbour of Hongkong to the British Crown. Captain Elliot took formal possession of the Colony on January 26, and from aboard H.M.S. Wellesley, in harbour at the time, issued a Proclamation of February 2, 1841, whereby he became the first Governor (pro tem) pending an appointment from England. By that Proclamation all Chinese residing on the island became British subjects: they then numbered approximately 5,000. Captain Elliot's name is perpetuated by Elliot Battery and Elliot Crescent. It will be seen, incidentally, that as in the case of many other Colonial acquisitions the first official step was taken by members of the Royal Navy. Elliot was succeeded in the middle of that year by Sir Henry Pottinger, Bart., who had been a Colonel in the service of the East India Company. In Pottinger Street, we have, therefore, a commemoration of one of the first administrators of this Colony.
5
Capt.
The correspondent's other reference, to the "wildness" of the mainland up to a fairly late period, is well known. Indeed, it is on record that up to the Sixties it was dangerous for Europeans to walk alone in the suburbs of Hongkong even in broad daylight, cases of assault and robbery being constantly reported.