he came out as Her Majesty's Sole Plenipotentiary and Minister Extraordinary to the Court of Peking, and Chief Superintendent of Trade. He took up headquarters at Macao for a time, and came over eleven days later to Hongkong where he assumed office, after an inspection of the whole administrative machine. He arrived at a time when there was little done and much to do, and his proclamations soon assured doubters that Britain really meant to retain permanent possession of this island. He organised various government departments, such as the Post Office, which had not yet developed, and on the whole was a careful and able administrator. However, he become unpopular in some respects (chiefly over land tenure) with sections of the European mercantile community, who appear to have been prone to condemn any Governor who did not see exactly eye to eye with themselves. He did a great deal towards maintaining friendly relations with the Chinese so soon as the rumblings following the first war had died down.
After returning to England, Sir Henry Pottinger was made a member of the Privy Council, and Parliament voted him a pension of £1,500 a year. He was Governor of Cape Colony from 1846 to 1847, and then of the Madras Presidency until 1854. He died at Malta in 1856, when 67 years of age.
In continuation of the notes on street names in the city, we come to the origin of Caine Road, Mosque Street, Alexandra Terrace, Lyndhurst Terrace, Hollywood Road, Stanley Street, and, on the westerly waterfront Scott Lane, Gilman Bazaar and Street, and Endicott Lane. These alone provide enough material for the day: a concluding survey of the area will be published in a subsequent article.
The name Caine commemorates a former Chief Magistrate, and appropriately enough the road named after him runs just above the area where the Police Courts and central prison are located. This official's career in the Colony was the subject of much criticism from the local scribes, but nowadays we realise that it was an age of vituperation, often unjustified: not even the Governors of the Colony (particularly Sir John Bowring) were free from this ill-mannered comment in the newspapers of that period, in which the higher standards of journalism were sacrificed for the opportunity of airing a series of petty spites. In looking through the printed records of the time, therefore, we have to approach our subject prepared to accord particular personages a less lurid character than was verbally painted by the contemporary press.
Captain W. Caine (later promoted Major) of the 26th Cameronian Regiment, was appointed Chief Magistrate of Hongkong in April, 1841, by Captain Elliot, and in 1843 was one of the original Justices of the Peace appointed here. Later, when an Executive Council was formed, he was appointed to it, and also became Sheriff and Provost Marshal of the Supreme Court. He became involved in a controversy which arose in 1846 between the Chief Justice and the Magistrates, owing to the latter signing extradition warrants without trial of the fugitives; and the public sided with the Chief Justice. This probably dates the onset of Major Caine's unpopularity.
In due course he became Acting Colonial Secretary, and later, after promotion to a Colonelcy, was Lieutenant Governor of the Colony (in the Fifties). His regulations in connexion with the Police administration led to slanders and libels, for which he took action, and the contemporary European population must have made his sojourn here somewhat unpleasant. He left in 1859 for England, with a pension of £2,250 a year, and lived long to enjoy it, his death occurring in 1871, when he was 73 years of age.
473
14.
he came out as Her Majesty's Sole Plenipotentiary and Minister Extraordinary to the Court of Peking, and Chief Superintendent of Trade. He took up headquarters at Macao for a time, and came over eleven days later to Hongkong where he assumed office, after an inspection of the whole administrative machine. He arrived at a time when there was little done and much to do, and his proclamations soon assured doubters that Britain really meant to retain permanent possession of this island. He organised various government departments, such as the Post Office, which had not yet developed, and on the whole was a careful and able administrator. However, le become unpopular in some respects (chiefly over land tenure) with sections of the European mercantile community, who appear to have been prone to condemn any Governor who did not see exactly eye to eye with themselves. He did a great deal towards maintaining friendly relations with the Chinese so soon as the rumblings following the first war had died down.
After returning to England, Sir Henry Pottinger was zade a member of the Privy Council, and Parliament voted him a pension of £1,500 a year. He was Governor of Cape Colony from 1846 to 1847, and then of the Madres Presidency until 1854. He died at Malta in 1856, when 67 years of age.
It continuation of the notes on street names in the city, we come to the origin of Caine Road, Mosque Street, Alexandra Terrace, Lyndhurst Terrace, Hollywood Road, Stanley Street, and, on the westerly waterfront Scott Lane, Gilman Bazaar and Street, and Endicott Lane. These alone provide enough material for the day: a concluding survey of the area will be published in a subsequent article.
The name Caine commemorates a former Chief Magistrate, and appropriately enough the road named after him runs just above the area where the Police Courts and central prison are located. This official's career in the Colony was the ̈ subject of much criticism from the local scribes, but now- adays we realise that it was an age of vituperation, often unjustified: not even the Governors of the Colony (particu- larly Sir John Bowring) were free from this ill-mannered comment in the newspapers, of that period, in which the higher standards of journalism were sacrificed for the opportunity of airing a series of petty spites. In looking through the printed records of the time, therefore, we have to approach bur subject prepared to accord particular personages a less Aurid character than was verbally painted by the costemporary press.
Captain W. Caine (later promoted Major) of the 26th Cameronian hegiment, was appointed Chief Magistrate of Hongkong in April, 1841, by Captain Elliot, and in 1843 was one of the original Justices of the Peace appointed here. Later, when an Executive Council was formed, he was appointed to it, and also because Sheriff and Provost Marshal of the Supreme Court. He became involved in a controversy which arose in 1846 between the Chief Justice and the Magistrates, owing to the latter signing extradition warrants without trial of the fugitives; and the public sided with the Chief Justice. This probably dates the onset of Major Caine's unpopularity.
In due course he became Acting Colonial Secretary, and later, after promotion to a Colonelcy, was Lieutenant
overnor of the Colony (in the Fifties). His regulations in connexion with the Police administration led to slanders and libels, for which he took action, and the contemporary
uropean population must have made his sojourn here somewhat unpleasant. he left in 1859 for England, with a pension of £2,250 a year, and lived long to enjoy it, his death occurring in 1871, when he was 73 years of age.
473
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.