Charles Elliot

For the British admiral, see Charles Elliot (Royal Navy officer).

Sir Charles Elliot
Chief Superintendent of British Trade in China
In office 1836–1841
Preceded by	Sir George Robinson
Succeeded by	Sir Henry Pottinger
Administrator of Hong Kong
In office 26 January 1841 – 10 August 1841
Preceded by	(none)
Succeeded by	Alexander Johnston (acting)
Governor of Bermuda
In office 1846–1854
Preceded by	Sir William Reid
Succeeded by	Freeman Murray
Governor of Trinidad
In office 1854–1856
Preceded by	George Harris
Succeeded by	Robert Keate
Governor of Saint Helena
In office 1863–1869
Preceded by	Sir Edward Hay
Succeeded by	Charles Patey
Personal details
Born	1801 Dresden, Saxony
Died	9 September 1875 Exeter, England
Spouse(s)	Clara Windsor (5 children)
Profession	Naval officer, diplomat, colonial administrator

Sir Charles Elliot, KCB (1801 – 9 September 1875), was a British naval officer, diplomat, and colonial administrator. He became the first administrator of Hong Kong in 1841 while serving as both Plenipotentiary and Chief Superintendent of British Trade in China. He was a key founder in the establishment of Hong Kong as a British colony.^[1]

Born in Dresden, Saxony, Elliot joined the Royal Navy in 1815 and served as a midshipman in the bombardment of Algiers against Barbary pirates the following year. After serving in the East Indies Station for four years, he joined the Home Station in 1820. He joined the West Africa Squadron and became a lieutenant in 1822. After serving in the West Indies Station, he was promoted to captain in 1828. He met Clara Windsor in Haiti and they married in 1828.

After retiring from active military service, Elliot followed a career in the Foreign Office. From 1830 to 1833, he was Protector of Slaves in Guiana. In 1834, he went to China as Master Attendant to the staff of Chief Superintendent Lord Napier. He became Plenipotentiary and Chief Superintendent from 1836 to 1841. From 1842 to 1846, Elliot was chargé d'affaires and consul general in the Republic of Texas. He served as Governor of Bermuda (1846–54), Governor of Trinidad (1854–56), and Governor of Saint Helena (1863–69). He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1856.

Early career

Elliot was born in Dresden, Saxony, in 1801 to Margaret and Hugh Elliot.^[2][3] He was one of nine children.^[4] His uncle was Scottish diplomat Gilbert Elliott, 1st Earl of Minto,^[1] and Gilbert Elliott, 2nd Earl of Minto and George Eden were cousins.^[3] He was educated in Reading, Berkshire, England.^[2] On 26 March 1815, Elliot joined the Royal Navy as a first-class volunteer on board HMS Leviathan, which served in the Mediterranean Station.^[5] In July 1816, he became a midshipman on board HMS Minden,^[5] in which he served in the bombardment of Algiers against Barbary pirates in August 1816.^[6] He then served in the East Indies Station for four years under Sir Richard King. In 1820, he joined the cutter Starling under Lieutenant-Commander John Reeve in the Home Station, and HMS Queen Charlotte under James Whitshed.^[5]

West Africa and West Indies

In 1821, Elliot joined HMS Iphigenia under Sir Robert Mends in the West Africa Squadron. On 11 June 1822, he became a lieutenant while serving in Henry John Leeke. He again served in the Iphigenia on 19 June, and in West Indies Station. There, he was appointed to the schooners Union on 19 June 1825 and Renegade on 30 August. On 1 January 1826, he was nominated acting-commander of the convalescentship Serapis in Port Royal, Jamaica, where on 14 April, he served in the hospital ship Magnificent. After further employment on board edit] Guiana

After retiring from active military service, Elliot followed a career in the Foreign Office.^[6] In 1830, the Colonial Office sent Elliot to Demerara in British Guiana to be Protector of Slaves and a member of the Court of Policy from 1830 to 1833.^[7] He was brought home to advise the government of administrative problems relating to the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.^[2][6] In a letter to the Treasury in 1833, Prime Minister Lord Howick wrote:

Lord Goderich [Secretary of State for the Colonies] feels himself bound to acknowledge that His Majesty's Government are indebted to him [Elliot], not only for a zealous and efficient execution of the duties of his office, but for communications of peculiar value and importance sent from the Colony during the last twelve months, and for essential services rendered at a critical period since his arrival in this country ... Elliot has contributed far beyond what the functions of his particular office required of him.^[8]

China

Elliot's residence at the San Francisco Green in Macau

In late 1833, Elliot was appointed as Master Attendant to the staff of Lord Napier, Chief Superintendent of British Trade. His position was involved with British ships and crews operating between Macau and Canton.^[9] He was appointed Secretary in October 1834, Third Superintendent in January 1835, and Second Superintendent in April 1835.^[10] In 1836, he became Plenipotentiary and replaced Sir George Robinson as Chief Superintendent of British Trade.^[11][12] Elliot wrote to Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston in 1839 that he regarded the opium trade as a "disgrace and sin ... I have steadily discountenanced it by all the lawful means in my power, and at the total sacrifice of my private comfort in the society in which I have lived for some years past."^[13]

Captain Charles Elliot

During the First Anglo-Chinese War, he was on board the Nemesis during most of the battles.^[5] In January 1841, he negotiated terms with Chinese Imperial Commissioner Qishan in the Convention of Chuenpee. Elliot declared, among other terms, the cession of Hong Kong Island to the United Kingdom.^[14] However, Palmerston disapproved of the terms and dismissed Elliot. Henry Pottinger was appointed to replace him as plenipotentiary in May 1841.^[15] On 29 July, HMS Phlegeton arrived in Hong Kong with dispatches informing Elliot of the news. His administration ended on 10 August. On 24 August, he left Macau, with his family for England. As he embarked on the Atlanta, a Portuguese fort fired a thirteen gun salute.^[16]

Historian George Endacott wrote, "Elliot's policy of conciliation, leniency, and moderate war aims was unpopular all round, and aroused some resentment among the naval and military officers of the expedition."^[17] Responding to the accusation that "It has been particularly objected to me that I have cared too much for the Chinese", Elliot wrote to Foreign Secretary Lord Aberdeen on 25 June 1842:

But I submit that it has been caring more for lasting British honour and substantial British interests, to protect friendly and helpful people, and to return the confidence of the great trading population of the Southern Provinces, with which it is our chief purpose to cultivate more intimate, social and commercial relations.^[18]

Later career

On 23 August 1842, Elliot arrived in the Republic of Texas, where he was chargé d'affaires and consul general until 1846.^[19] He served as Governor of Bermuda (1846–54), Governor of Trinidad (1854–56), and Governor of Saint Helena (1863–69).^[2] In the retired list, he was promoted to rear-admiral on 2 May 1855, vice-admiral on 15 January 1862, and admiral on 12 September 1865.^[6][11]

In Sir Henry Taylor's play, Edwin the Fair (1842), the character Earl Athulf was based on Elliot. Taylor also mentioned Elliot in his poem, "Heroism in the Shade" (1845).^[20] Elliot was made Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath in 1856.^[2] He died in Witteycombe, Exeter, England, on 9 September 1875.^[11]

Marriage and family

A portrait possibly of Elliot's wife, Clara, c. 1838^[21]

Elliot's eldest child, Harriet

During Elliot's naval service in the West Indies, he met Clara Genevieve Windsor (1806–1885) in Haiti, where she was born and raised.^[8] After marrying in 1828, they had two daughters and three sons:^[22]

• Harriet Agnes Elliot (1829–1896); married Edward Russell, 23rd Baron de Clifford, in 1853; three children
• Hugh Hislop Elliot (born c. 1831); served in Bombay Cavalry
• Gilbert Wray Elliot (born 1833); studied at Haileybury; weightlifter Launceston Elliot was his son
• Frederick Eden Elliot (1837–1916); married in 1861; four children
• Emma Clara Elliot (1842–1865); married in 1864 in St. Helena, where her father was governor

Elliot's wife accompanied him to Guiana from 1830 to 1833, and to China from 1834 to 1841.^[22]

Places named after Elliot

• Elliot's Vale, renamed Glenealy, Hong Kong^[23]
• Elliot Island; located in the Chusan archipelago, the name endured in maps into the 20th century^[24][25]
• Port Elliot, South Australia^[26]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Endacott 2005, p. 1
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Dod, Robert P. (1864). The Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, of Great Britain and Ireland for 1864, Including All the Titled Classes. p. 251.
3. ^ ^{a b} Hoe & Roebuck 1999, p. 4
4. ^ Hoe & Roebuck 1999, p. 256
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} O'Byrne, William R. (1849). A Naval Biographical Dictionary. p. 332.
6. ^ ^{a b c d} Endacott 2005, p. 2
7. ^ Hoe & Roebuck 1999, p. 5
8. ^ ^{a b} Hoe & Roebuck 1999, p. 11
9. ^ Hoe & Roebuck 1999, p. 1
10. ^ Hoe & Roebuck 1999, p. 261
11. ^ ^{a b c} Dictionary of National Biography (1889). Volume 17. p. 251.
12. ^ Hanes, William Travis; Sanello, Frank (2004). The Opium Wars: The Addiction of One Empire and the Corruption of Another. Sourcebooks. p. 33. ISBN 1402201494.
13. ^ Additional Papers Relating to China (1840). London: Printed by T. R. Harrison. p. 5.
14. ^ The Chinese Repository (1841). Volume 10. pp. 63–64.
15. ^ Le Pichon, Alain (2006). China Trade and Empire. Oxford University Press. pp. 39–40. ISBN 0197263372.
16. ^ Eitel, E. J. (1895). Europe in China: The History of Hongkong from the Beginning to the Year 1882. p. 177.
17. ^ Endacott 2005, p. 8
18. ^ Hoe & Roebuck 1999, p. 225
19. ^ Hoe & Roebuck 1999, p. 201
20. ^ Hoe & Roebuck 1999, p. 204
21. ^ Hoe & Roebuck 1999, pp. 24–25
22. ^ ^{a b} Hoe & Roebuck 1999, pp. 257, 261–262
23. ^ Wordie, Jason (2002). Streets: Exploring Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong University Press. p. 63. ISBN 9622095631.
24. ^ Hoe & Roebuck 1999, p. 134
25. ^ Wright, Richard N. J. (2000). The Chinese Steam Navy 1862–1945. Chatham Publishing. p. 120. ISBN 1861761449.
26. ^ "Port Elliot". The Sydney Morning Herald (13 November 2008). Accessed 22 December 2009.

References

• Endacott, George Beer (2005). A Biographical Sketch-book of Early Hong Kong. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 9622097421.
• Hoe, Susanna; Roebuck, Derek (1999). The Taking of Hong Kong: Charles and Clara Elliot in China Waters. Curzon Press. ISBN 0700711457.

Further reading

• Blake, Clagette (1960). Charles Elliott, R. N. 1801–1875: A Servant of Britain Overseas. London: Cleaver-Hume Press.

Government offices
Preceded by Sir George Robinson	Chief Superintendent of British Trade in China 1836–1841	Succeeded by Sir Henry Pottinger
Preceded by (none)	Administrator of Hong Kong 1841	Succeeded by Alexander Robert Johnston (acting)
Preceded by William Nelson Hutchinson (acting)	Governor of Bermuda 1846–1852	Succeeded by William Hassell Eden (acting)
Preceded by Arthur William Byles (acting)	Governor of Bermuda 1853–1854	Succeeded by Montgomery Williams (acting)
Preceded by L. Bourchier (acting)	Governor of Trinidad 1854–1856	Succeeded by B. Brooks (acting)
Preceded by Sir Edward Hay Drummond Hay	Governor of Saint Helena 1863–1869	Succeeded by Charles George Edward Patey

Persondata
Name	Elliot, Charles
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1801
Place of birth	Dresden, Saxony
Date of death	9 September 1875
Place of death	Exeter, England