HKG-CAR1844-1886 — Page 6

Introduction

This collection of administration and other reports covers the first 100 years of British rule in Hong Kong. On 26th January 1841 Hong Kong was occupied by British forces; two days after this initial occupation, on 28th January 1841, a Royal Proclamation placed the civil administration in the hands of Captain Elliot, then Chief Superintendent of Trade of British Subjects in China. Captian Elliot was succeeded in his post as Chief Superintendent by Sir Henry Pottinger on 11th August 1841. A year later, on 29th August 1842, the British occupation of Hong Kong was recognised and confirmed in the Treaty of Nanking. The final stage of this takeover took place on 26th June 1843 when Hong Kong was proclaimed a Crown Colony and Sir Henry Pottinger became its first governor.

There are no annual reports for these earliest years of the British presence in Hong Kong; but there are details of the income and expenditure of the fledgling administration which were presented to the British Parliament. In addition, there is the Report presented by the Colony's Treasurer, Mr Martin, (together with the consequent correspondence) which describes the administration of the area at this time.

It naturally took time for the whole apparatus of colonial government to be developed in Hong Kong and for the standard reporting back to London to be established. Foremost among the reports that had to be sent back to London was the annual Blue Book: the collection of all available statistics of

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