It appears that upon establishment of this Colony, the late Lord Derby (then Colonial Minister) appointed a Treasurer with a salary of twelve hundred pounds (£1200) per annum. It would seem that half this salary was at first paid by the Imperial Government, for, so long as the Governor of Hongkong was also Minister Plenipotentiary for China, much business was transacted for the Foreign Office by the Hong Kong Treasury. It further appears that when this arrangement had ceased, and it had been provided that the Government money should be handed to the custody of the local Banks, the duties of the Treasurer were greatly diminished, and his salary consequently reduced to two hundred pounds (£200) per annum, and his office, one of the most important in all estates and Colonies, was made, at different periods, subordinate to various other posts.
There is much official correspondence on record respecting these several changes.
Secretary of State to Governor of Hongkong 1.23 of December 30, 1843.
323
i.e. nine hundred and sixty dollars ($960).