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Amidst the welter of expeditionary forces, minor wars and
punitive actions that characterized British colonial expansion
of the Nineteenth Century, the skirmishing that attended the
lease of the New Territories of Hong Kong from the Empire of China
can claim little attention as far as military action is concerned. But
since the whole affair was designed to avoid fighting, its lack is all
the more exemplary. By the Convention of Peking in 1898, a modest
document of some two dozen lines or so in English, China agreed to
lease to Great Britain, for ninety-nine years, an area of land north of
the Crown Colony of Kowloon which lies on the mainland a mile
across the harbour from the island of Hong Kong. The Treaty went on
to say that the exact boundaries were to be settled by a Commission.
It is interesting to note that no financial or other consideration was
specified in return for the lease.
In March 1899, Mr J. H. Stewart Lockhart, Colonial Secretary
of the Government of Hong Kong, was appointed the representative
of Great Britain for fixing the boundaries of the extension to the
Colony. A fluent Cantonese speaker, he had already visited the area
the previous year in August, which is probably the hottest month, sailing in a Royal Navy frigate around the indented coastline and
up estuaries which these days would appear impossible to enter. A
comprehensive report was produced concerning the inhabitants, the
geography, agriculture, communications, and existing administration.
Now, in company with Mr Wong Tsun Shin, who had been deputed
by the Viceroy of Canton as the Chinese Boundary Commissioner,
Mr Stewart Lockhart paid a number of visits to the proposed frontier
and induced his opposite number to agree to a natural line following
the north bank of the Sham Chun River about twenty-five miles north
of Kowloon. Strenuous efforts to include the town of Sham Chun
itself were resisted by Peking, nor was the island of Lin Tin secured,
although it had for some years from 1830-1840 unofficially formed
a useful British base for the unloading of opium and its subsequent
distribution in China. The territory obtained was, however, fairly
substantial, consisting with adjacent islands of some 390 square miles
of barren scrubby mountains with well-cultivated valleys. The east
and west sides were bounded by the sea.
The next step in taking over the territory was for Sir Henry
Blake, the Governor of Hong Kong, to despatch Mr May, the Captain
Superintendent of Police, to the market town of Tai Po on
the east coast. There being no suitable roads, a voyage of three or
four hours by sea was the quickest method of travel. Mr May duly
proceeded on 24th March with instructions to select a site for a
temporary police station.
He left a contractor on the site to begin the work of erecting a
matshed. This is a familiar Chinese temporary structure, consisting of
a bamboo framework with sides and roof of palm leaves, the whole
being lashed together with strips of rattan. Surprisingly enough,
matsheds are strong, water-tight, and quickly erected. It was therefore
with some surprise that Mr May discovered on 31 st March when he
paid a further visit of inspection that no more than the framework was standing. It appeared that the contractor had been intimidated by local
villagers who threatened violence if he continued work. A message
outlining the position was sent to Mr Stewart Lockhart in Hong
Kong, together with inflammatory placards, which were found posted
in nearby villages. Regarding the matter as serious, since it was likely
to involve the Government either in strong measures or a loss offace,
the Colonial Secretary asked the Governor for permission to visit the
Viceroy in Canton. Sir Henry Blake decided to go himself instead and
lost no time in telegraphing the news to the British Consul in Canton,
a hundred miles away. At 5.30 a.m. the next day, 2nd April, Sir Henry
set sail in HMS Fame, arriving in Canton at ten a.m. Preparations for
his arrival were elaborate and unexpected. Despite the shortness of
notice, the two miles of street between the Consulate and the Viceroy's
Yamen had been washed and cleaned, and were lined throughout with
troops bearing a variety of weapons. Flags on long poles decorated
the route, which was thronged with people, their bearing described
as "perfectly respectful". The usual ceremonies were observed at the
Yamen and the parties settled down to business, with Mr Pitzipios,
the British Consul, acting as interpreter. The proceedings were open
to the public, which packed the great hall.
Sir Henry Blake had obviously resolved to take a strong line. He
began by commenting on the need to continue the existing friendly
relations between Britain and China and even observed that Britain
was China's best friend. In these circumstances, he was unable to
understand the actions of the villagers in the leased territories,
particularly their inflammatory placards. He emphasized that he
was asking the Viceroy to exercise his undoubted powers to prevent
the leased territory being upset by agitators before the Government
of Hong Kong could assume control. To give the Viceroy time to
exert himself, Sir Henry proposed to delay the date of taking over. It
then transpired that the Viceroy contemplated retaining in the leased territory a number of existing Chinese Maritime Customs Stations.
Nothing had been mentioned about their fate in the Convention of
Peking or in subsequent negotiations. Not unnaturally, the Governor
objected strongly, pointing out that under no circumstances could the
Chinese Government continue to collect customs dues in territory
leased to a foreign country; that, as soon as the British flag was hoisted,
the territory became for the period of the lease as effectually British
territory as Government House, Hong Kong. The Viceroy, foreseeing
the loss of welcome revenue which no doubt found as ready a home
in his private pocket as the public coffers, took the line that, since the
point was not covered in the Convention, the Governor's proposals
were incorrect. He clinched his argument by stating that, if Sir Henry
Blake persisted in his view, then all was at an end and there would
be no boundary. The Governor replied that, since the Convention had
been agreed upon by the two governments concerned, it was not in
the power of individuals to declare it void. Seizing his opportunity,
the Governor applied pressure. Remarking that he had no wish to
use language that was not of the most friendly character, he called
upon the Viceroy to remove all the offending placards, punish those
responsible and provide ample protection for the parties working on
matsheds and the survey of roads. A time limit was set, with 17th April
as the date for the hoisting of the flag. The Viceroy conferred with his
mandarins and eventually gave way, being rewarded with the doubtful
news, which he was reported as receiving with great pleasure, that
new legislation in Hong Kong would shortly render opium smuggling
into China impossible. Thus ended a most successful interview of
two-and-a-halfhours. Sir Henry Blake arrived back in Hong Kong at
ten p.m. that night.
With the way ahead apparently clear, Mr May returned to Tai
Po on 3rd April, taking with him six unarmed Sikh policemen
and five Chinese soldiers, the latter being under orders from the Viceroy to protect the matshed and workmen erecting it. Appearances
were deceptive. At midnight the Governor received a pencilled note
from Mr May's notebook, to the effect that a mob was attacking and
that help was needed. At the Government's request, Major General
Gascoigne, the General Officer Commanding troops in Hong Kong,
hImself proceeded to Tai Po in HMS Whiting at 3.30 a.m.,
accompanied by Mr Stewart Lockhart and a hundred men of the Royal
Welch Fusiliers. Travelling at twenty knots in dense fog, the Whiting
unfortunately struck a rock on her way but managed to continue. The
party found one matshed burnt but the other untouched; of Mr May
there was no sign. On being informed by villagers that he had rehlrned
to Hong Kong, they too left. It transpired that Mr May and his party
had been assailed by villagers with stones and other missiles, and
that his armed guard of Chinese soldiers had refused to intervene. At
the sight of a general concentration of villagers, he and his unarmed
party had prudently hidden in the hills until morning when they had
returned to Hong Kong, missing the relief party of British soldiers.
The Governor immediately telegraphed the Consul in Canton
instructing him to inform the Viceroy of the situation and requestin~
a sufficient force of Chinese soldiers to maintain order since the
?overnor was not anxious to install armed British soldiers or police
III the leased territory until the flag had been formally hoisted.
The Viceroy promised 600 soldiers, and the contractor eventually
completed the matshed by 14th April. For the hoisting ceremony on
the 17th, a public holiday had been proclaimed "by general desire"
and a large number of the inhabitants of Hong Kong had declared
their intention to be present.
On 14th April, however, Mr Stewart Lockhart received
information that there were no Chinese guards on the Tai Po
matsheds and that rowdies were about, bent on mischief. These
suspicions were only too well founded, when a police party sent round by launch found the matsheds once again burnt down. The
Governor at once sent in a company of Indians of the Hong Kong
Regiment under Captain Berger to join the police. On arrival, they
observed large numbers of what they took to be uniformed Chinese
troops, in a position on the hills to the north of Tai Po, together
with a battery of guns mounted in a regular emplacement.
The Chinese, who were estimated at 1,000 strong, opened fire,
which was sustained for a considerable time until the arrival of
HMS Fame, bearing Captain Long, the Deputy Assistant Adjutant
General, who had come round to arrange the position of the military
camp. The Fame landed a party of sixteen bluejackets under
Lieutenant Keyes, R. N, who was later in 1900 to lead another
naval detachment at the time of the Boxer Rebellion and to finish
his career as Admiral of the Fleet. The Fame opened fire whilst the
troops and bluejackets advanced to clear away their assailants who
were regularly entrenched. In this successful process, they captured
a flag bearing the inscription of one of the local land forces of China.
This brief action on 15th April brought Major General Gascoigne
to Tai Po, together with another three companies of the Hong
Kong Regiment (a Regular Indian Unit and not to be confused
with the Volunteers) and a company of the Asiatic Artillery. The
Colonial Secretary also arrived and, without the benefit of Hong
Kong onlookers or a public holiday, promptly hoisted the flag. This
regularised the position of armed British troops on Chinese soil,
which for the next ninety-nine years was to become British territory.
A message to the Viceroy to this effect only caused the latter to state
that he declined to give any reply.
Shortly after the hoisting of the flag, the British force was again
attacked but the firing was from such a distance that no casualties
occurred, whilst the assailants disappeared when a counterattack was
put in. General Gascoigne returned to Hong Kong, reporting that "he apprehended no serious difficulty": Command of the troops in
the field was handed over to the Chief Staff Officer, Colonel The
O'Gorman. For the remainder of the brief campaign, Mr Stewart
Lockhart continued to accompany the troops, acting as Government
representative and as general interpreter.
On 17th April, the troops pushed further westwards across the
mainland up the Lam Tsun Valley where at four p.m. Captain Berger
with 250 Indians of the Hong Kong Regiment met heavy fire at a
range of 2,500 yards. A detachment of artillery was sent forward to
assist Berger but unfortunately went in the wrong direction. In the
event, the guns were not required. Despite the fact that the Chinese
fired almost incessantly for one-and-a-half hours, pouring in round
shot of three-and-a-half inches from muzzle loaders in addition to
musketry fire, the company of the Hong Kong Regiment drove the
enemy before them, capturing three guns and forcing the Chinese
to flee over the pass at the top of the Lam Tsun Valley and down the
other side to the village of Sheung Tsun. Almost the only casualties
were a Private and Major Brown, R.A.M.C., who was slightly
wounded in the right upper arm by a spent bullet. At any rate, the lack
of casualties despite the volume of fire was attributed to the Chinese
concentrating their fire on known paths, although no targets could be
seen, whilst in fact Captain Berger's troops moved solely over the
rough hillsides without using paths. No estimate could be made ofthe
enemy's casualties, since they made it a practice to remove all dead
and wounded.
Simultaneously with the advance from the east, General Gascoigne
was at daybreak on 19th April landed with a force at Deep Bay on
the north-west side of the leased area. The force marched through to
Castle Peak, a distance of about ten miles, but, finding no opposition,
embarked again.
Feeling that the battle was departing from them, Colonel The
O'Gorman and Mr Stewart Lockhart set forth at daybreak on 18th
April to catch up with Captain Berger, who had meanwhile reached
Sheung Tsun. Rations were brought up and a short halt was made
in a courtyard where the troops made themselves comfortable on
dry straw. At 2.30 p.m. that day, a large force of Chinese was seen
approaching. Berger made his preparations and awaited the enemy,
who advanced in three lines in fairly regular formation, waving
banners and shouting loudly. The report says that this was "distinctly
a determined advance for Chinamen", being made over a perfectly
level plain of dry ploughed land. The enemy opened fire at long range,
mostly with three-and-a-half inch diameter shot and jingal fire; a few
rifle bullets were heard. At 500 yards Berger ordered a couple of
ranging shots to be fired. As they appeared to disconcert the Chinese,
Berger advanced to place his men under cover in a dry water course.
From there, the Hong Kong Regiment went straight for the enemy
who bolted without firing another shot. As fire from the Regiment was
controlled, few casualties were inflicted on the Chinese, in accordance
with policy not to mow down "misguided creatures, badly armed and
untrained to war, a foe unworthy of a soldier's steel". It was clear that
the Chinese, who numbered something like 2,000 in this action, had
no idea of the power of the modern rifle. Having apparently staked
their all on the issue of this action, there was little real opposition
from now on. Reliable information disclosed that at least one-third
of the enemy had come from the other side of the border. Having lost
so much face, it was inevitable that the local villagers should cease
resistance to a power which was obviously more powerful than the
agitators from China.
Mr Stewart Lockhart busied himself with speaking to the few
villagers who had remained behind and in trying to discover the
organization that had set up this opposition. It appeared that, even if the Viceroy in Canton had not actually sent the Chinese troops,
he must certainly have connived at their assistance in the revolt. It
remained now to root out the small pockets of resistance. The gates
of two walled villages in Kam Tin were blown in. The sequel to this
event is that one pair of these wrought iron gates was removed and
eventually found its way to an ancestral home in the south of Ireland,
where it remained for twenty years until purchased and restored to the
village of Kam Tin by Sir Cecil Clementi, a celebrated Governor of
Hong Kong. The advance now continued to the villages ofYuen Long,
Ping Shan, and Ha Tsun, all of which are now thriving townships.
Mr Stewart Lockhart harangued the villagers who by now had quite
changed their tune and were prepared to 'kow tow', with the profuse
explanation that the trouble had been caused by outsiders from
China. The occasional discovery of caches of arms and ammunition
belied these explanations. Lieutenant Hillman and a small party of
bluejackets caught up with the force, leading a convoy of provisions
for the men "but nothing for officers".
Although all armed hostilities had ceased, the inhabitants of the
New Territory (which later became the New Territories) remained
sullen and resentful, even the livestock. It was reported that Major
Watson, R.A.M.C., was attacked by a buffalo on 25th April and severely
injured. The military was split into parties which covered the entire
area, visiting villages, collecting arms, posting up proclamations and
generally presenting a visible sign of strength with which to keep
the peace. It remains to say that handsome tributes were paid to all
concerned by the Secretary of State for War and his colleague for the
Colonies, in recognition of the speed and moderation with which the
whole affair had been handled.
Note: Jingal (Urdu): a heavy musket fired from a rest.
I wrote this in about 1954 whilst District Officer, Yuen Long, on the
western side of the New Territories. In the office I had discovered a
series from the turn of the Nineteenth Century of Sessional Papers of
the Legislative Council, which had somehow survived the Japanese
Occupation during the Pacific War. I summarized the lengthy reports
to produce the above account.
It is interesting to note that the District Office, Tai Po ,
where I had earlier served as District Officer from 1949 to 1951,
is built on top of the hill where Lieutenant Keyes and his party of
bluejackets had stormed ashore at the foot of the hill in 1898.
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