The taking of Hong Kong : Charles and Clara Elliot in China waters
The First Opium War and the taking of Hong Kong still underpin the relationship between Britain and China. Here, those events are revisited through the correspondence of Britain's plenipotentiary Captain Charles Elliot and his wife, Clara
History
xxi, 290 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
9780700711451, 0700711457
41574956
Machine generated contents note: 1 WHENEVER THERE IS A BREEZE (1801-34) 1
2 BY WARSHIP TO CHINA (1834) 14
The Journey 14
To Canton 21
3 INTO THE TIGER'S MOUTH (1834) 24
Macao 24
Forcing the Bogue 31
4 CLIMBING THE LADDER (1834-6) 37
5 THE OPIUM TRADE (1836-7) 48
To Lintin 48
The Opium Question 51
To Canton 56
Back to Macao 60
6 SOME GROSS INSULT (1838-9) 64
Commissioner Lin's arrival 64
The Sailing of the Melbourne 70
Elliot to the Rescue 71
Commissioner LinScholar and Activist 77
7 ELLIOT'S 'TROUBLESOME FRIEND' (1839) 81
Back to Macao 81
The End of Some Opium 82
The End of Trade 86
8 ALL ENGINEERED BY ELLIOT (1839) 91
To Hong Kong Harbour 91
To the Opium War 95
Commissioner Lin and Superintendent Elliot 99
9 CHARLES ELLIOT ALONE (1839-40) 102
The Waiting Game 102
The Expeditionary Force Dispatched 104
Clara Elliot to Singapore 108
The Elliots and the Windsors 111
10 LOOKING WESTWARDS (1840) 116
The Cousins 116
Words at Westminster 123
11 TWO SUCH IMBECILES (1840) 128
North With the Admiral 128
Clara in Calcutta 140
12 THE ROAD TO GLOARY (1841) 145
The Taking of Hong Kong 145
Cession or Cessation 152
How the News was Received 156
13 WHIMSICAL AS A SHUTTLECOCK (1841) 160
Towards Canton 160
April Letters 168
14 WHIPPING OFF THE FOX-HOUNDS (1841) 174
To Take Canton? 174
Ceasefire, Again 177
15 WRECKED ASHORE (1841) 181
The Wreck of the Louisa 186
16 THE WEB OF CALUMNY (1841-43) 189
Homeward Bound 189
Home Again 195
17 ELLIOT, WHERE IS HE? (1843) 201
Exiled to Texas 201
Elliot's Successor in China 203
Finances 210
18 EXILED TO ST HELENA (1843-75) 212
19 EPILOGUE 224
Notes 228
Genealogies 255
Biographies 259
Bibliography 269
Published Works 269
Unpublished Documents 274
Chronology of Family Lettersfrom Charles and Clara Elliot 276
Index 278