Sir Henry Pottinger: First Governor Of Hong Kong

This book report is wrote upon the book Sir Henry Pottinger: First Governor of Hong Kong, written by George Pottinger, who’s a posterity of Sir Henry Pottinger’s brother. The book is published in 1997 by Sutton Publishing Limited, copyrighted by George Pottinger. It gives a full descriptive record of Sir Henry Pottinger’s “odyssey of battle” and explores how a cadetship in the India Army build up his distinguished career to become the first Governor of Hong Kong. This book is an examination of Sir Henry Pottinger’s career. The author proposes that: Pottinger’s role is important in a number of great military issues in the nineteenth-century, but for Hong Kong, it was decisive. He emphasizes that Hong Kong is unlikely to be colonized by British

By deeply describing the events he overcame, author shows how Pottinger played a leading role. For instance in 1804 he explored the land between Indus and Persia, and in 1841 he was sent to China as the sole Plenipotentiary in which he brought Hong Kong under the Crown and became its first Governor. With the wealth of official records, memoirs and the letters of whom involved in the campaigns, the book proves convincingly that Sir Henry Pottinger is of significant importance in the history, especially in that of Hong

This might related to the author’s identity as the descendant of Sir Henry Pottinger’s brother. The author emphasizes time and again that the credit of the acquisition of Hong Kong for the Crown belongs to Henry Pottinger (Pottinger, 1997).He is more or less ignoring the others’ contribution. Undoubtedly, Pottinger played a key role in the colonization of Hong Kong; the author over-touts his merits. The role of Pottinger in the issue is magnified in the book while that of the others are diminished. For instance, Charles Elliot, as the Superintendent of British Trade foresaw the potential of Hong Kong as a major entrepôt ahead than most, even earlier than Pottinger and believed that it would be a good base for trade (Welsh, 1997). He spent a lot effort in obtaining Hong Kong and declared the cession of the Island to British in 1841 under the Convention of Chuenpee, which was later disapproved by both the British and the Imperial government. Although unsuccessful, Elliot was the pioneer and had made an important step towards the takeover of Hong Kong. Elliot was the one to initiate the plan while Pottinger was the one who finished it. Colonization of Hong Kong was not only the work of Pottinger, but the effort of a number people together. Saying that the credits belongs to Pottinger in a large part may be a fairer way. Besides, in the initialization of Hong Kong into a center of trade, the book also