East India Company in Hong Kong?
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I have been trying to look for landmarks and places related to the East India Company in Hong Kong. I have a few ideas and I am wondering if anyone has any more suggestion/addition to the list below?
- Places related to the Parsees community in Hong Kong (though the Parsees were here before the British came, plenty of them were brought here by the East India Company later and also a huge amount of their trade were related to the EIC later on before the monopoly ended)
- Graves at the Happy Valley cemetery, such as the grave of Eldred Pottinger who was an EIC soldier and the nephew of Henry Pottinger, the 1st governor of HK. He died enroute in HK whilst he was visiting his uncle. Henry P of course also founded his career in the EIC.
- William Jardine (of Jardine Matheson) related places. Jardine worked on EIC ships before the EIC monopoly ended and founded his own company trading in opium.
- There is also the Old Cemetery in Macau which is originally formed and used by EIC personnel. But I am trying to make this as HK related as possible so at the moment I will just bear that in mind. Close to HK there is also the site of the old 13 factories in Canton.
If anyone has any suggestions that will be very much appreciated. Does anyone know if there are any symbols and emblems of the EIC that is in HK? I am doing this purely out of interest. I do write about different subjects but it's just a hobby so it depends on my free time. But if anyone is interested in the EIC I am looking to post up whatever I found on my travels here on the blog: https://www.facebook.com/KaWingTravelogue/ Probably looking at compiling a list of EIC related places from London, Calcutta to HK at some point when I got time to write.
HEIC
I came across your post and don't have any places but I do have a family, mine, that had significant roles in the East India Company. The Family name is Hyndman. The following is an excerp from J.P. Braga's The Portuguese in HK and China. In this case it is the Scots in HK and Macau.
"A survivor of the East India Company days in Macao, in the person of Mr. J. Hyndman, is named in the Directory of 1849. In Hongkong he was first employed in the office of His Majesty's Plenipotentiary and Chief Superintendent of Trade. He is listed in the Directory as acting Fourth Assistant in the Diplomatic Department. Mr. Hyndman's father, Captain Henry Hyndman, was in the service of the English East India Company, at Singapore, but resigned his commission and settled down in Macao, where he married; his sons acquiring Portuguese citizenship thereby. His failure to retain the citizenship of his grandfather (General Henry Hyndman) probably militated against Mr. João Hyndman's preferment to the higher posts in the Hongkong Government Service. Upon his retirement Mr. Hyndman withdrew to Macao where he held a number of honorary commissions of great importance. He married twice, his first wife being the sister of his office colleague Mr. Grande-Pré, and he left a large family."
The key figure in this statement is Colonel (not General) Hyndman who was with the HEIC in Bengal and made a fortune during his time with the HEIC. He was born in Ayrshire, Scotland from a prominant family and started with the HEIC as a cadet. He died on board ship, returning to Scotland from Bengal. His first wife, Joana Polair, my 5x Great Grandmother, is a mystery and I have been searching for information about her, including birth and death and burial sites. I believe he met her in India. The Colonel is also an interesting figure and I have been unable up to this point on discovering how he made his "fortune". His and Joana's offspring ended up in HK and Macau and married into prominant families including the Lobo's.
I would be very interested in grave markers etc that you might run across in your travels in particular for Joana Polair Hyndman. Most likely in Bengal. Or any buildings or markers or business with the Colonel's name attached. Again most likely in India/Bengal.
Regards,
Francesca