# Introduction
1841-1844
No annual reports were written during this period, but we do have details of the financial statements covering these years. And we also have the report written by Treasurer Martin and consequent correspondence which describes the administration of Hong Kong from the beginning. We have given the references for these reports: the prefix HoC means that these files can be found in the published Papers of the House of Commons and can be seen at any of the copyright libraries in the United Kingdom (we have used the copies in the Cambridge University Library, but the references would be the same for any of the libraries).
The references for these early financial reports are as follows:
May 1841 to June 1843
July 1843 to March 1844
HoC: 1846 vol. xxvii
HoC: 1846 vol. xxvii
The references for the Martin Report and subsequent correspondence are as follows:
Despatch (of 20/Aug/1844) from Governor Davis to Lord Stanley, enclosing report by Treasurer Martin of 24/Jul/1844
Despatch (no.66 of 17/Dec/1844) from Lord Stanley to Governor Davis
Despatch (no.44 of 25/Apr/1845) from Governor Davis to Lord Stanley
Despatch (of 25/Mar/1845) from Lord Stanley to Governor Davis, enclosing a further report by Martin of 20/Nov/1844
HoC: 1857 sess 1 vol. xii
HoC: 1857 sess 1 vol. xii
HoC: 1857 sess 1 vol. xii
HoC: 1847 vol. xl
Despatch (no.85 of 24/Jun/1845) from Governor Davis to Lord Stanley
HoC: 1847 vol. xl
1844-1886
1844 saw the first Blue Book for the colony of Hong Kong, together with a report on its contents by the Colonial Secretary and further comments by the Governor in his covering letter. The Blue Book, the report and the Governor's comments were sent to London on 3rd May 1845 – they were in manuscript form and were not published; to this day, they have never been published and can be found only in the files of the Colonial Office at the Public Record Office outside London.
The following year's report was published, however, by the British Parliament as one of the reports in its series 'Reports exhibiting the past and present state of Her Majesty's colonial possessions'. This annual series comprised one omnibus report consisting of the annual reports on the Blue Book.