Henry Pottinger (1789–1856) was a British soldier and colonial administrator from an Irish military family in County Down; his father, Eldred Curwen Pottinger, was an army officer. Reaching India in 1804, he joined the East India Company in 1806, fought the Marathas as a lieutenant in 1809, and later travelled in disguise as a merchant through Sind and Persia, publishing 'Travels in Beloochistan and Sinde' in 1816; his surveying and diplomacy in India made his name, and he was created a baronet in 1840. Succeeding Charles Elliot as Britain's plenipotentiary in China in 1841, he signed the Treaty of Nanking for Britain aboard HMS Cornwallis on 29 August 1842. Under the Letters Patent issued on 5 April 1843 he was sworn in on 26 June 1843 as the first Governor of Hong Kong and received the GCB that December. He created the Executive Council and the Legislative Council and appointed official members including Alexander Johnston, John Robert Morrison and Charles Kinney; on 11 January 1844 he presided over the Legislative Council's first sitting, and on 26 February 1844 the first ordinance was passed. Fiscal strain, poor administration and disputes between British merchants and Chinese residents marked his tenure; he left office on 7 May 1844 after barely eleven months, the shortest of any Hong Kong governor. He later governed the Cape Colony and Madras, became a lieutenant-general in 1851 and died in Malta on 18 March 1856, aged 66. Pottinger Street and Mount Pottinger in Hong Kong are named after him.
As Britain's plenipotentiary at the Treaty of Nanking, Pottinger secured Hong Kong, and in barely eleven months in office he laid down the constitutional framework of the Executive and Legislative Councils. This system of rule by the Governor with the two councils lasted for more than 150 years, until 1997, making him the starting point of Hong Kong's colonial governance.
Achievements
- 1842 · Signed the Treaty of Nanking for Britain, securing Hong Kong
- 1843 · Was sworn in as the first Governor of Hong Kong and created the Executive and Legislative Councils
- 1844 · Presided over the first sitting of the Legislative Council