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  To M.D.E.H.

  List of Illustrations

  INSERTS

    1. Paul Revere and Christian Remick, A View of Part of the Town of Boston in New England and British ships of war landing troops, 1768. (Photograph: Historic New England, Boston/The Bridgeman Art Library)

    2. Paul Revere, The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th, 1770. (Photograph: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, DC)

    3. Sidney Smith, A View of John Hancock’s House across Boston Common in 1768. (Photograph: New York Public Library/The Bridgeman Art Library)

    4. John Singleton Copley, Samuel Adams, 1770. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. (Photograph: De Agostini Picture Library/The Bridgeman Art Library)

    5. Teapot, probably made in Derby, Staffordshire, c. 1765–1770s. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Museum Purchase (accession # 1953–417, image #DS90–557).

    6. The Boston Tea Party, illustration from Rev. W. D. Cooper, The History of North America, 1789. (Photograph: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, DC)

    7. St Nicholas Abbey, Barbados. (Photograph: Spectrum/Heritage Images/Scala, Florence)

    8. Anon, View of Bridgetown and Carlisle Bay (‘Governor Robinson Going to Church’), c. 1742. By courtesy of the Barbados Museum & Historical Society

    9. Thomas Rowlandson after ‘E.D.’, Rachel Pringle of Barbadoes, 1796. The Royal Collection, copyright © 2014 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. (Photograph: The Bridgeman Art Library)

  10. James Malton, View of Leinster House, Dublin, 1792. Private Collection. (Photograph: The Stapleton Collection/ The Bridgeman Art Library)

  11. Edward Smyth, pediment and frieze for the Custom House, Dublin, 1791. (Photograph: Michael Fewer/South Dublin County Libraries, T. J. Byrne Collection)

  12. Strickland Lowry (attr.), An Interior with Members of a Family, 1770s. (Photograph: by courtesy of the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin)

  13. Francis Wheatley, The Irish House of Commons, 1780. Leeds Museums and Galleries (Lotherton Hall). (Photograph: The Bridgeman Art Library)

  14. William Hodges, View of Cape Town & Table Mountain, 1772. William Fehr Collection Castle of Good Hope, Iziko Museums of South Africa (Acc. no. CD21). (Photograph: Africa Media Online)

  15. Thomas Whitcombe, The East Indiamen ‘Minerva’, ‘Scaleby Castle’ and ‘Charles Grant’ off Cape Town, 1820. (Photograph: copyright © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London)

  16. Francis Swaine after Jan van Ryne, View of the Old Fort William as seen from the opposite bank of the Hooghly, c. 1763. British Library, London. (Photograph: The Art Archive)

  17. Indian School, Sir David Ochterlony in Indian dress, smoking a hookah and watching a nautch in his house in Delhi, c. 1820. British Library, London. (Photograph: The Art Archive/Eileen Tweedy)

  18. James Gillray, The Bengal Levée, showing Lord Charles Cornwallis holding reception at the Old Government House, Calcutta, 1792. (Photograph: The Art Archive/Eileen Tweedy)

  19. Thomas Lawrence, Richard Colley Wellesley, Marquess Wellesley, 1813. The Royal Collection, copyright © 2011 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. (Photograph: The Bridgeman Art Library)

  20. Charles D’Oyly, View of Government House, illustration from Views of Calcutta and its Environs, 1848. (Photograph: Getty Images)

  21. Chinese School, The Opium Clipper ‘Waterwitch’ in Calcutta, c. 1850. Sze Yuan Tang Collection. (Photograph: Martyn Gregory Gallery, London)

  22. Bilingual text from the Treaty of Nanking, 1842. National Archives, Kew. (Photograph: Topfoto/HIP)

  23. Chinese School, East Point, Hong Kong, with the residence and godowns of Jardine, Matheson and Company, mid-nineteenth century. (Photograph: Martyn Gregory Gallery, London)

  24. Marciano Baptista, A view of Hong Kong harbour, 1860s. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem. Museum Purchase, 1961. (Photograph: The Bridgeman Art Library)

  25. John Thomson, Queen’s Road, Hong Kong, from the clock tower looking towards the east, c. 1868. (Photograph: Wellcome Library, London)

  26. George Chinnery, Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy with his Chinese servant, c. 1830s. Private collection.

  27. Parsi cotton merchants of Bombay, illustration from Robert Brown, The Countries of the World, late nineteenth century. (Photograph: Topfoto)

  28. George Reid, Sir Henry Bartle Frere, 1881. (Photograph: copyright © National Portrait Gallery, London)

  29. Raja Deendayal, View of Bombay showing the Municipal Corporation Building and Victoria Terminus, c. 1893. (Photograph: copyright © The Raja Deendayal Foundation)

  30. Sir George Gilbert Scott, Bombay University Library, 1878. (Photograph: Benjamin Matthijs Lichtwerk/Getty Images)

  31. William Emerson and Lockwood Kipling, water fountain, 1869. Crawford Market, Mumbai. (Photograph: Garrett Ziegler)

  32. Henry Gritten, Melbourne viewed from the Botanic Garden, 1867. (Photograph: State Library of Victoria, Melbourne)

  33. N. J. Caire, Monsieur Caron conducting the Exhibition choir, performing the Exhibition Cantata at the opening of the International Exhibition, Melbourne, 1881. (Photograph: State Library of Victoria, Melbourne)

  34. Sands & McDougall Limited, Tramway map of Melbourne and Suburbs, 1880s. (Photograph: State Library of Victoria, Melbourne)

  35. Lord Sheffield’s Australian cricket team, 1891–2. (Photograph: Mary Evans Picture Library/Graham Hales Collection)

  36. Parade of soldiers, Collins Street, Melbourne, c. 1915. (Photograph: Mirrorpix)

  37. The Nizam of Hyderabad paying homage to George V and Queen Mary at the Delhi Durbar, 1911. (Photograph: Topfoto/HIP)

  38. Aerial view of Kingsway (Rajpath) looking due East, New Delhi, 1947. (Photograph: courtesy of the Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge)

  39. View of the east end of the North Secretariat Block with the Council House in the background, New Delhi. (Photograph: RIBA Library Photographs Collection)

  40. Gandhi and Mountbatten at the Viceroy’s House, New Delhi, 1947. (Photograph: courtesy of The Trustees of the Broadlands Archives, Hartley Library, University of Southampton)

  41. Poster for the Dominion Line, 1899. (Photograph: Topfoto/HIP)

  42. View outside the Chinese shops in Pitt Street, Liverpool, illustration from Herman Scheffauer, ‘The Chinese in England: A Growing National Problem’, in The London Magazine, June 1911. (Photograph: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford (Per.2705 d.85 26 (1911) p.466))

  43. Walter Richards, Modern Liverpool, 1907. World Museum, National Museums Liverpool. (Photograph: The Bridgeman Art Library)

  44. Police move in on rioters in Toxteth, Liverpool, July 1981. (Photograph: Rex Features/ Associated Newspapers)

  45. Visualization of the Peel Group plan for Liverpool Waters. (Photograph: courtesy of Rust Studios/www.ruststudios.co.uk)

  TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS

  The Royal Yacht Britannia in Hong Kong harbour, 1997. (Photograph: Getty Images)

  Henry Pelham, Plan of Boston in New England with its environs, 1777. (Photograph: Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library)

  Slaves processing sugar cane, illustration from Histoire générale des Antilles habités par les Français, 1667–71. The British Library, London. (Photograph: The Art Archive)

  Richard Ligon,
A topographicall description and admeasurement of the yland of Barbados in the West Indyaes with the mrs. names of the seuerall plantacons, from A True & exact history of the island of Barbadoes, 1673. (Photograph: The Librarian, University of Glasgow Library (Sp.Coll. Hunterian K.3.3))

  The first coin struck for commercial use in Barbados, 1788. (Photograph: Heritage Auctions)

  Wide Streets Commission, Elevation of the west front and plan of Mountjoy Square, Dublin, 1787. (Photograph: Dublin City Library & Archive (WSC/Maps/63))

  Henry Brocas Snr (attr.), after Samuel Frederick Brocas, View of the Four Courts from Merchant’s Quay, Dublin, 1818. (Photograph: courtesy of the National Library of Ireland (Call No. ET C115))

  Sackville Street, Post Office and Nelsons Column, illustration from George Newenham Wright, An Historical Guide to ancient and modern Dublin, 1821. (Photograph: Aberdeen University Library Special Collections (KK.rr.13 no.1))

  Van de Graaff, Thiebault and Barbier, Plan van Het Cassteel en de Stad, de Goede Hoop (Plan of the Castle and Town of Good Hope), 1786. (Photograph: The Western Cape Archives and Records Service (Ref. M1/339))

  Lady Anne Barnard, Panorama of Cape Town (detail), 1797–9. Private collection.

  William Marshall Craig (after), View of the Cape of Good Hope: The Battle previous to the Surrender, 8 January 1806. National Army Museum, London. (Photograph: The Bridgeman Art Library)

  W. S. Sherwill (after), A drying room in the opium factory in Patna, India, c. 1850. (Photograph: Wellcome Library, London)

  Unveiling a statue of the Prince of Wales presented to the City of Bombay by Alfred Sassoon, from The Illustrated London News, 1879.

  Four suburban house plans, from Sands and McDougall, The Melbourne Directory, 1885.

  ‘Enderby’, the residence of William John Mountain Esq., in south Melbourne, 1888. (Photograph: National Library of Australia (ref. an8711798))

  Sir Herbert Baker and Edwin Lutyens on an elephant, 1913. (Photograph: RIBA Library Photographs Collection)

  Edwin Lutyens, ‘Layout Plan of Imperial Delhi from Government House to Purana Kila’, c. 1920s. Whereabouts unknown.

  List of Maps

  The Growth and Decline of the British Empire

  Boston, c. 1750s

  Bridgetown, c. 1760s

  Dublin, c. 1800s

  Cape Town, c. 1800s

  Calcutta, c. 1810s

  Hong Kong, c. 1850s

  Bombay, c. 1880s

  Melbourne, c. 1900s

  New Delhi, c. 1930s

  Liverpool, c. 1940s

  Acknowledgements

  For their generous assistance with the research, writing and production of this book, the author would like to thank James Baker, Chris Bayly, Sara Bershtel, Paul Bew, Vivian Bickford, Chloe Campbell, Georgina Capel, Michael V. Carlisle, James Cronin, Thi Dinh, Richard Duguid, Donald Futers, Carrie Gibson, Julia Hobsbawm, Riva Hocherman, Julian and Marylla Hunt, Jennifer Huntington, Shruti Kapila, Peter Kilfoyle, Alan Lockey, Cecilia Mackay, Carrie Martin, Rana Mitter, Ruaridh Nicoll, Michael Parkinson, Stuart Proffitt, Gaye Blake Roberts, Hannah O’Rourke, Miri Rubin and the Department of History, Queen Mary, University of London, Claire Sandars, Ben Shephard, Owen Stanwood, Rory Stewart, Phil Tinline, Juliet Thornback, Imogen Walford, Ian Wason, David Watson, Alison Wedgwood, Benjamin Wegg-Prosser, Jon Wilson.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  List of Illustrations

  List of Maps

  Acknowledgements

  Introduction

  1 Boston

  2 Bridgetown

  3 Dublin

  4 Cape Town

  5 Calcutta

  6 Hong Kong

  7 Bombay

  8 Melbourne

  9 New Delhi

  10 Liverpool

  Photographs

  Bibliography

  Notes

  Index

  Also by Tristram Hunt

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Introduction

  On a sharp winter’s day in December 2010, the Hong Kong Association and Society held its annual luncheon in London’s Hyde Park. The venue, of course, was the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, part of the Jardine Matheson group, perched lucratively amidst the billionaires’ playground of Knightsbridge, and all the great tai-pans of British corporate life were in attendance. However, the Association’s guest of honour was not some old China hand, flown in from the Hong Kong Club, to wax lyrical about Britain’s ‘easternmost possession’. Instead, it was the tall, suave and studiously loyal ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, His Excellency Mr Liu Xiaoming.

  In syrupy diplomatese, Beijing’s man in London spoke rhapsodically of the ‘Pearl of the Orient’ and the achievements of British business in building up the colony, and then reaffirmed his government’s commitment to the vision of Hong Kong proclaimed by Deng Xiaoping: one country, two systems. Communist China would not impose ‘Mao Zedong thought’ on Hong Kong. Instead, it was determined to preserve freedom of speech, the rule of law, private property rights and, above all, the low-tax, free-trade model that underpinned the once-imperial city’s prosperity. The future of this ‘international city’ was as a global finance centre and, for British companies, as a bridge to mainland China. A pleasing statement of business as usual, the message was smartly tailored to the merchant princes of the Mandarin Oriental.

  Thirteen years earlier, when Britain’s ninety-nine-year lease on Hong Kong came to an end, there was little evidence of such Sino-British harmony. Then, it was all tears and angst, pride and regret. At the stroke of midnight the Union Jack was lowered to the strains of ‘God Save the Queen’, the Hong Kong police ripped the royal insignia from their uniforms, and Red Army troops poured over the border. Britain’s last governor, Chris Patten, recorded the final, colonial swansong in all its lachrymose glory: its ‘kilted pipers and massed bands, drenching rain, cheering crowds, a banquet for the mighty and the not so mighty, a goose-stepping Chinese honour guard, a president and a prince’. Steaming out of Victoria Harbour, as the Royal Marines played ‘Rule, Britannia!’ and ‘Land of Hope and Glory’, on the last, symbolic voyage of the Royal Yacht Britannia, ‘we were leaving one of the greatest cities in the world, a Chinese city that was now part of China, a colony now returned to its mighty motherland in rather different shape to that in which it had become Britain’s responsibility a century and a half before’.1

  In London, responses to the handover ran the gamut, from anguished to humbled, emblematic, in a way, of the conflicted reexamination of Britain’s colonial legacy that has been underway for some years. At the shrill end of the spectrum: ‘The handover of Hong Kong to China strikes many westerners as a disgrace and a tragedy,’ thundered The Economist. ‘Never before has Britain passed a colony directly to a Communist regime that does not even pretend to respect conventional democratic values.’2 Historian Paul Johnson, writing in the Daily Mail, concurred: ‘The surrender of the free colony of Hong Kong to the totalitarian Communist government is one of the most shameful and humiliating episodes in British history.’ The scuttle from Victoria Harbour gave Fleet Street just the cue it needed for an enjoyable bout of colonial self-indulgence. ‘All the rest of our empire has been given away on honourable terms,’ continued Johnson. ‘All the rest of our colonies were meticulously prepared for independence, by setting up model parliaments … and by providing a judiciary professionally educated on British lines to maintain the rule of law.’ Shamefully, the same could not be said of Hong Kong.3

  The end of the line. Her Majesty’s Ship the Royal Yacht Britannia sails at Hong Kong harbour, 23 June 1997. The ship, which became the floating base for Prince Charles, arrived a week before the territory was to be handed back to China after more than 150 years of British rule (1997).

  Other brave commentators suggested there might be a more complex pre-history to this handover. Author Martin Jacques thought the ceremony show
ed, ‘no sense of contrition, of humility, of history. This was British hypocrisy at its most rampant and sentimental.’4 Instead of a moment of self-regard and imperial nostalgia, the journalist Andrew Marr thought this final, colonial retreat should have been an opportunity for a new British identity to emerge. ‘So enough Last Posts and folded Union Flags. Enough “Britannia” and enough weary self-deprecation from the Prince of Wales. We should not leave Hong Kong with too much regret.’5

  In his memoirs, Prime Minister Tony Blair admits to a startling failure to appreciate the historic significance of the return of Hong Kong to China, as a rising, newly prosperous country sought to take its place in the world and shed the memory of its ‘century of humiliation’ at the hands of British, French and American forces.* After President Jiang Zemin teased the jet-lagged and jejune British premier about his poor knowledge of William Shakespeare

  he then explained to me that this was a new start in UK/China relations and from now on, the past could be put behind us. I had, at that time, only a fairly dim and sketchy understanding of what the past was. I thought it was all just politeness in any case. But actually, he meant it. They meant it.6

  However, one member of the British delegation remained determined to cling on to the past. In a confidential diary entry entitled ‘The Great Chinese Takeaway’, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales laid bare his despair at seeing the Crown colony returned to the mainland. Watching another piece fall from his family inheritance, the prince lamented the ‘ridiculous rigmarole’ of meeting the ‘old waxwork’ Jiang Zemin, and the horror of watching an ‘awful Soviet-style’ ceremony in which ‘Chinese soldiers goose-step on to the stage and haul down the Union Jack’. Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor knew all too well that, when his time came to assume the throne, the loss of Hong Kong meant Britain’s imperial role would be long past. ‘Such is the end of Empire, I sighed to myself.’7

  * * *

  As Great Britain’s formal empire finally receded into the distance, the public debate about the legacies and meaning of that colonial past has grown only more agonized.8 Famously, in his 2003 book Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World, the historian Niall Ferguson made a stirring and influential case for the British Empire as the handmaiden of globalization and force for progress. ‘No organization has done more to promote the free movement of goods, capital and labour than the British Empire in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. And no organization has done more to impose Western norms of law, order and governance around the world,’ he wrote. Since globalization and the modern world were, for Ferguson, a ‘good thing’, this also meant the British Empire – for all its messy crimes and misdemeanours – was equally praiseworthy. ‘Without the spread of British rule around the world, it is hard to believe that the structures of liberal capitalism would have been so successfully established in so many different economies.’ Much of the chaos of the twentieth century was, he suggested, a product of the decline of transnational empires. And he went on to urge the White House of President George W. Bush to take up what Kipling called ‘the white man’s burden’ and show some imperial leadership. For Ferguson, the British Empire offered the most salient guide for Washington’s diplomats and generals as they sought to craft their own Pax Americana across the Middle East.9