It Happened Here: British occupy Hong Kong, January 26, 1841
On January 26, 1841, the British Royal Navy landed on Hong Kong Island and Commodore Sir Gordon Bremer raised the Union Jack at Possession Point. A gun ceremony followed to mark the British occupation of Hong Kong.
Qing Dynasty China lost the First Opium War (1839-1841) to Britain, leading to the Convention of Chuenpeh (or Chuanbi Convention), which ceded Hong Kong to the British but was never formally ratified. The British moved in on Hong Kong anyway, despite the fact that right wasn’t formally granted until the signing of the Treaty of Nanking in 1842, which ceded Hong Kong Island "in perpetuity" to Great Britain.
On arrival, Captain Charles Elliot of the British Royal Navy declared the island a "barren rock". The island’s first census, carried out in the same year, recorded a population at about 7,500. In August 1841, Sir Henry Pottinger was inaugurated as Hong Kong’s first governor. Pottinger would later instigate long-term building projects, and he awarded land grants to settlers despite British cynicism.
Possession Point has since disappeared from the coastline because of land reclamation. It was situated on Hong Kong Island’s North coast. To get close to it, head to Possession Street in Sheung Wan – it runs at a right angle between Queen’s Road West and Hollywood Road.
Jinxin Ma
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