A rare portrait of Hong Kong’s first governor is the subject of this third and final part of a short series looking at treasured items to be found in the collection of antiquarian Jonathan Wattis in his current exhibition Hong Kong Round and About, showcasing pictures, ephemera and memorabilia of Hong Kong from 1842 to […]...
The hijacking of the SS Namoa awakened Hong Kong to a terrifying new reality: that a great steamship under the protection of the British Empire could be seized by pirates almost within sight of the colony....
Early Hong Kong saw the spectacular rise and fall of one of the colony’s most mysterious characters, the maybe-Eurasian, maybe-pirate Daniel Richard Caldwell....
At the turn of the 19th century Hong Kong was home port to the world's most daunting pirate fleets and the scene of devastating battles with the Chinese and foreign navies....
Part I: The making of the fragrant harbour
Context: When the Portuguese established Macao as a permanent trading settlement with the permission of the local Chinese mandarinate in about 1557, the face of South China trade changed. ...