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History

Under a convention signed in Peking on 9 June 1898, the New Territories, comprising the area north of Kowloon up to the Shum Chun (Shenzhen) River and 235 islands, was leased for 99 years. Chinese warships were allowed to use the wharf in Kowloon City. There, Chinese authority was permitted to continue 'except insofar as may be inconsistent with the military requirements for the defence of Hong Kong. However, an order-in-council of 27 December 1899 revoked this clause and the British unilaterally took over Kowloon City. There was some opposition when the British took over the New Territories in April 1899, but this eventually dissipated. The area was declared to be part of the overall territory of Hong Kong but was administered separately from the urban area.

Initial Growth

The new settlement did not go well at first. It attracted unruly elements, while fever and typhoons threatened life and property. Crime was rife. The population rose from 32,983 (31,463 or 95 per cent Chinese) in 1851 to 878,947 (859,425 or 97.8 per cent Chinese) in 1931. The Chinese influx was unexpected because it was not anticipated they would choose to live in such a small place.

Hong Kong became a centre of Chinese emigration and trade with Chinese communities abroad. Ocean-going shipping using the port increased from 2,889 ships in 1860 to 23,881 in 1939. The dominance of trade with Mainland China made Hong Kong conform to Chinese usage and adopt the silver dollar as the currency unit in 1862. In 1935, when China went off silver, Hong Kong had to follow suit with an equivalent 'managed' dollar.

Hong Kong's administration followed the normal pattern for a British territory overseas, with a governor nominated by Whitehall and nominated executive and legislative councils with official majorities. The first non-government members of the Legislative Council were nominated in 1850, and the first Chinese in 1880, Singapore-born lawyer Ng Choy. The first non-government members of the Executive Council appeared in 1896, and the first Chinese in 1926, Sir Shouson Chow. In 1972, a long-standing arrangement that two electoral bodies, the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and the Unofficial Justices of the Peace, were each allowed to nominate a member to the Legislative Council was discontinued.

A Sanitary Board set up in 1883 became partly elected in 1887 and developed into an Urban Council in 1936.

In 1865, the Governor's instructions were amended significantly to forbid him to assent to any ordinance 'whereby persons of African or Asiatic birth may be subjected to any disabilities or restrictions to which persons of European birth or descent are not also subjected, pursuing the principle of equality of all races before the law. Government policy was laissez-faire, treating Hong Kong as a marketplace open to all and where the government held the scales impartially.

Public and utility services developed - the Hong Kong and China Gas Company in 1861, the Peak Tram in 1885, the Hongkong Electric Company in 1889, China Light and Power in 1903, electric tramways in 1904 and the Kowloon-Canton Railway, completed in 1910. Successive reclamations began in 1851, notably one completed in 1904 in Central District which produced

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