CO129-061 - Public Offices - 1856

and of This Superintendent having been abolished and Captain Elliot as Second Superintendent having been declared to be Chief Superintendent.

Mr. Johnston was appointed by Foreign Secretary Palmerston, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in consequence of his public services, Deputy Superintendent in China, with the power of acting as Chief Superintendent in the event of the death or absence of that functionary.

Mr. Johnston held this high and responsible office from May 1837 to August 1843, and during the first part of the time of his holding that office, he discharged the duties of the Chief Superintendent during that functionary's absence from one or the other of those places; particularly during the time when the Chief Superintendent, the English community, and all the other Europeans and Americans were at Canton and Macao, the Island of Hongkong not having been at that time ceded to the British Government;