Today in Maritime History — 15 July

1834 — Lord Napier Arrives in Macau to Sit on His Throne as Prince of Bel Air

Lord Napier was a big fan of nepotism. Almost as much as Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston, a family friend, who appointed him first Chief Superintendent of Trade at Canton (now Guangzhou), in China.

Lord Napier was tasked with the mission of expanding British trade in China. The fact that he lacked the necessary diplomatic skills and was devoid of any relevant commercial experience did not weigh heavily on the soul of either Lord.

It may, therefore, come as a complete shock that he failed catastrophically in his mission. His arrival was so unspectacular that the Viceroy of the Two Guangs, Lu Kun, and one of 8 regional Viceroys in China at the time, felt absolutely no desire to see him.

Lord Napier got his nappies in a knot and decided a show of military might was in order. The fact that he never rose higher than the rank of midshipman did not really feature in his thought process. Surely that was sufficient for him to command two frigates to sail to Whampoa and attempt to breach Chinese defences at the Bocca Tigris. I suppose a prolonged stalemate is not abject failure.

Not much is know of the good Lord’s personal hygiene but typhus got him hard. He was forced to retire to Macau where he succumbed to the disease in October 1834.

Possibly in the midst of debilitating fever, Lord Napier did finally come up with one solid thought. He was the first British representative to see Hong Kong’s strategic importance, an island he called “admirably adapted for every purpose”. To paraphrase Zhou Enlai, it may be too early to say whether it was a good idea.

Swimmingly yours,

Dim

PS. I am not a historian, nor do I play one on the internet. This is meant to be a bit of light relief and an encouragement for you to donate to The Mission to Seafarers. If you find yourself salivating over the prospect of dates, annotations, references, footnotes, and further reading, you may want to run away now.