SIR JAMES HALDANE STEWART LOCKHART
65
present in the New Territories, he was much involved in its administration and in the drafting of proper legislation for its people. His continued interest in the New Territories is revealed in the three excellent annual reports he prepared for the years 1899 to 1901.
In March 1901 Lockhart was taken seriously ill - no doubt as a result of gross overwork and had to leave the Colony under medical orders and did not return until June 1901, when he continued to hold the post of Colonial Secretary but not that of Registrar General. In that same year he was appointed Civil Commissioner of Weihaiwei, the administration of which he assumed on 3 May, 1902. Except for two short periods of leave, Lockhart was to be continuously in charge of Weihaiwei for nearly 19 years. In his report on the New Territories for 1901 he wrote: 'This will be my last report on the New Territories and, in bidding it farewell, I do so with much regret, mingled with pleasant reminiscences of conflicting work carried on in the midst of its charming and beautiful scenery, and lessened by the recollection that I have been and still am a staunch believer in its future.'26 The leased territory of Weihaiwei to which Lockhart now moved resembled in many ways the New Territories, of which he had been the first administrator.
CIVIL COMMISSIONER OF WEIHAIWEI
Weihaiwei was leased from China on 1 July, 1898, as a counterpoise to the Russian occupation of Port Arthur in March of the same year, for Weihaiwei at that date was the only port of any significance in north China available for occupation by a foreign power. Under the terms of the 1898 Convention the port was leased to Britain for as long as Russia occupied Port Arthur. The territory of Weihaiwei was situated on the north-eastern coast of Shantung Peninsula and was formerly a part of the Chinese Province of Shantung. The total leased area was 288 square miles and comprised a belt of land, in the shape of an arc, ten miles wide with a coast line of 72 miles, containing the small village of Ma-t'ou, which was its only port, and some 320 villages, of which only four could be dignified as small market towns. Off Ma-t'ou was the small island of Liukung. In 1902 the population was estimated at 124,000, among whom only one family could be called wealthy, and consisted mainly 'of the orderly, hard working, conservative peasantry of the Shantung Peninsula.'27
SIR JAMES HALDANE STEWART LOCKHART
65
present in the New Territories, he was much involved in its admin. istration and in the drafting of proper legislation for its people. His continued interest in the New Territories is revealed in the three excellent annual reports he prepared for the years 1899 to 1901.
In March 1901 Lockhart was taken seriously ill - no doubt as a result of gross overwork and had to leave the Colony under medical orders and did not return until June 1901, when he con- tinued to hold the post of Colonial Secretary but not that of Regis- trar General. In that same year he was appointed Civil Commis- sioner of Weihaiwei, the administration of which he assumed on 3 May, 1902. Except for two short periods of leave, Lockhart was to be continuously in charge of Weihaiwei for nearly 19 years. In his report on the New Territories for 1901 he wrote: 'This will be my last report on the New Territories and, in bidding it farewell, I do so with much regret, mingled with pleasant reminiscences of con- flicting work carried on in the midst of its charming and beautiful scenery, and lessened by the recollection that I have been and still am a staunch believer in its future.'26 The leased territory of Wei- haiwei to which Lockhart now moved resembled in many ways the New Territories, of which he had been the first administrator.
CIVIL COMMISSIONER OF WEIHAIWEI
Weihaiwei was leased from China on 1 July, 1898, as a coun- terpoise to the Russian occupation of Port Arthur in March of the same year, for Weihaiwei at that date was the only port of any significance in north China available for occupation by a foreign power. Under the terms of the 1898 Convention the port was leased to Britain for as long as Russia occupied Port Arthur. The territory of Weihaiwei was situated on the north-eastern coast of Shantung Peninsula and was formerly a part of the Chinese Province of Shan- tung. The total leased area was 288 square miles and comprised a belt of land, in the shape of an arc, ten miles wide with a coast line of 72 miles, containing the small village of Ma-t'ou, which was its only port, and some 320 villages, of which only four could be dig. nified as small market towns. Off Ma-t'ou was the small island of Liukung. In 1902 the population was estimated at 124,000, among whom only one family could be called wealthy, and consisted main- ly 'of the orderly, hard working, conservative peasantry of the Shan- tung Peninsula.”27
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